To shrink wrap or not to shrink wrap...

[ColonelHardisson]

A place I go to does this. I like the place, and the people are friendly enough (although I don't know how much into pen & paper RPGs they are; it's primarily a comic shop, with a lot of computer terminals for online gaming), but...when I found a game shop where they don't do this, I switched. I love books, and I like to look at them before I buy them.

 

[WayneLigon]

I won't buy a shrinkwrapped product. Our FLGS - because of an inabvility to scan the existing barcode (this was before most barcodes were as standardized as they are now) had to sticker their product. The barcode stickers were almost impossible to get off without damaging the product (not even with fingernail polish remover, which hurt the book more than removing the barcode did). It got to the point where I'd look at something then have them order me a copy under the condition that they would not barcode it when they got it in.

 

[Sanackranib]

shrinkwrap

we have a really good gaming store about 1/2 an hour from me that shrinkwraps all their games and books. As I am not shy by nature I just went up and asked the owner/manager if I could open the book up so that I could get a better look and decide if it was what I wanted. she said "sure go ahead. if you decide you don't want it we can always rewrap it. So for me the shrinkwrap issue has never been a problem (of course the manager was a gamer too so she understood.)

when in doubt ALWAYS ASK. whats the worst the could say, no?

 

[Sixchan]

What Sanackranib said!
When in doubt, always ask for an unwrapped version. I think I was once in a game shop that had signs that said for people to ask at the counter for open books. Seems like the most sensible way to do it, so I get to look at the book and still go home with a pristine new copy.

 

[Kilmore]

Sixchan's suggestion would seem to be the best besides the fact that the store may have to eat a copy of everything it sold, or sell the review copy at a loss once the other ones were gone. I don't know what kind of money that would cost in relation to what it would earn them.

 

[Tetsubo]

Sixchan's suggestion would seem to be the best besides the fact that the store may have to eat a copy of everything it sold, or sell the review copy at a loss once the other ones were gone. I don't know what kind of money that would cost in relation to what it would earn them.

I shouldn't have to ask an employee to look at a product. Or have to unwrap a product so that I can decide if I will purchase it. This makes my "job" as a consumer more difficult. Which is bad business.

Additionally shrink wrapping a product presupposes that I am going to attempt to damage it. Before I even enter the store. Which is insulting and prejudicial. Again, offending your consumer base is also bad business.

If a store has a history of book damage there has to be a better method of dealing with it than this. But don't decide before I ever enter the store that *I* am going to damage something.

 

[Darrin Drader]

Is anyone else annoyed by shrink wrapped games?

Yes, but the last time I ran into that problem was with the Codex of Erde, which was inexplicably wrapped. After asking permission to unwrap it from the people behind the counter, I looked it over and decided to put my money down on it.

I've never run into a game store that shrink wraps everything, but I doubt I would buy from them unless I was buying the book based on the publisher alone. Even then I would probably mention to them why their RPG sales may be slumping.

 

[Sixchan]

I shouldn't have to ask an employee to look at a product. Or have to unwrap a product so that I can decide if I will purchase it. This makes my "job" as a consumer more difficult. Which is bad business.

Additionally shrink wrapping a product presupposes that I am going to attempt to damage it. Before I even enter the store. Which is insulting and prejudicial. Again, offending your consumer base is also bad business.

If a store has a history of book damage there has to be a better method of dealing with it than this. But don't decide before I ever enter the store that *I* am going to damage something.

Oh come on! I doubt very much that any gaming store is ever supposing that any specific person who comes in the store will damage it, just that someone will. If there was one copy of a book left, would you rather it was covered in chocolate stains? Is not asking at the counter that important? And I hardly think that asking the guy at the counter to see the book makes you 'job' so much more difficult.

 

[Tetsubo]

Oh come on! I doubt very much that any gaming store is ever supposing that any specific person who comes in the store will damage it, just that someone will. If there was one copy of a book left, would you rather it was covered in chocolate stains? Is not asking at the counter that important? And I hardly think that asking the guy at the counter to see the book makes you 'job' so much more difficult.

You are missing my point. How many main stream book stores shrink wrap their products? B&N, Borders, used book stores, etc? Have you ever seen a books store that shrink wraps EVERY single product? I know I haven't. And I visit every book store I can. So why is a gaming store any different? Are gamers some sort of book destroying group of fiends? It just seems completely counter to good consumer relations.

And yes. Asking at the counter to look at every single gaming book I might wish to review is asking too much. I can look at a dozen or more books every time I enter a gaming store. And that's a store I visit weekly or bi-monthly. Put me in a gaming store that carries items I don't get to see often and I might look at 30 or more books. That is asking too much. Far too much. So much that I will not buy any products from that store. I will also encourage others to not purchase items from that store.

If a store treats me well I will bend over backwards to support that store. But if a store treats me badly, such as preventing me from seeing their products, I'm going to decry their behavior to hill and dale. Word of mouth (or via the internet) is a powerful tool.

Annoying your consumer base is bad business.

 

[Psychotic Dreamer]

Oh come on! I doubt very much that any gaming store is ever supposing that any specific person who comes in the store will damage it, just that someone will. If there was one copy of a book left, would you rather it was covered in chocolate stains? Is not asking at the counter that important? And I hardly think that asking the guy at the counter to see the book makes you 'job' so much more difficult.

I can indeed see where you are coming from in that respect. However all the gaming stores I have been to have never used any kind of shrink wrap (other than what the publisher used) and I have never found any books that were damaged or stained or in any way ruined.

Plus shrink wrapping makes it impossible for me to just flip through books. Sometimes I used to go to my local gaming store (before I realized they were jerks, but thats a different thread) and would flip through about 30-40 different books to see if anything caught my eye. I really do not want to have to ask for 30-40 different books, especially when I have no idea what I am acctually in the mood for.