Where do you buy books?

[Ahwe Yahzhe]

Paying the price premium - FLGS

I like having an FLGS with a dozen tables for games and events. I like being able to phone in an order and pick it up a couple of days later. And since my FLGS is a Wizards Premier store, I love the fact that I was able to buy my Player's Handbook 3 last week. I will only buy the occasional splat book online because of the lower price point, but if it's a core book, or something I really want, I pay full price at my FLGS.

 

[Aeolius]

I wonder what RPG publishers, if any, will be on board with the iPad, when it launches in a few weeks.

 

[Festivus]

I voted Mostly from my FLGS. I want to support them, they have a great place where I go an play D&D all the time. If that wasn't around I wouldn't be playing nearly as much as I do.

 

[Wombat]

I buy most of my books at the FLGS mainly because I want to look through them first and see if they are what I want; with very rare exceptions with gamelines, I am not a completist -- I only pick up what I want/need.

Dealing with online may be cheaper, but if I get product that I don't want, it is a major hassle to get it back to the company and have them accept it again. I don't want to be stuck with product that I will not use. On top of this, I get much, much better suggestions face-to-face than through online reviews.

 

[Mercule]

Mostly online, especially if you count DDI as "books".

That said, with DDI, the only reason to buy crunchy books is for completeness. Thus, crunchy books come via the cheapest route for me. Thus, Amazon. Even then, I pretty much only get the Martial Power stuff, because 4/5 of the PCs are martial powered.

But, because we finally have a nice FLGS, I do go and get my fluffier books (campaign settings, especially) at the FLGS. It doesn't bother me to pay full price for stuff I'll use outside the constraints of the Character Builder. The FLGS also gets my money for board games.

 

[Victim]

I buy mostly from Amazon, but also from Borders (with coupons and often gift cards).

 

[Edgewood]

For me it's an equal mix. I order online for old out of print stuff from noble Knight Games and go to my local shop for updated. The gaming store I go to in Winnipeg is Pendragon which is exclusively a gaming store (no comics) and has a huge selection. He's a bit more expensive than online but I want to support the store.

 

[Voadam]

one of my new years resolutions is to support my local store so I am now purchasing there even though it is more expensive and 50 miles away.

We have different definitions of local.

I haven't bought a book for myself in a bookstore in years.

If I had a local store with used RPG books I'd peruse it but its been more than a decade and a couple moves through different states since I've seen anything like that except for library sales. I keep my eye out at the library in their used book sales but RPG books are few and far between there.

 

[Dark Mistress]

I voted mostly online which is true. But that has a lot to do with, the local stores only stocking a few certain items and if I have to order something they take anywhere from 2 weeks to a month to get it. Or I can order it online and have it the same week. Plus a lot of what I buy is Pathfinder which the subscription for the free PDF is nice. I do try and buy some stuff from the local game stores when I can, but sadly they rarely have what I want. Rarely know what I am talking about(unless it is a major game like 4e or PFRPG) and then take for ever to order it. So i only buy stuff from them when they have something in stock I want.

 

[karlindel]

I use Amazon for most rpg books, and for the vast majority of novels. I also have monthly subscriptions with Paizo. I'll also pick up the occasional book online through other avenues, such as ebay, Noble Knight Games, or directly.

I'll also stop by the local Borders when I have a 30% or 40% off coupon from them.

I used to shop semi-regularly at my FLGS, but I moved across the country and the nearest one is a longer trip for me now. Also, the nearest FLGS shrink wraps their gaming books, making it less of an enjoyable place to go to browse and making it unlikely that I will impulse buy anything when I do go.