Why I refuse to support my FLGS

[haiiro]

Side rant: What's all this nonsense about "supporting" our FLGS, anyway? What are they, charities? Support, my ass. If I want to give "support" to something it will be my family, my friends, my church, my co-workers, or my local charities. Dear FLGS, you're a *business*, for frick's sake. Support *yourself* and stop whining. And while you're at it, stop jacking up the price of Attack! and other games.

On average, I don't think gaming stores tend to make a whole lot of money. Some of them probably make good money, others struggle, and some fail entirely. It's a niche market, as has been pointed out, and it's often a fairly fickle niche market to boot.

Sure, it's a business -- but the good FLGSs provide things that you can't get from an online retailer like Amazon. Don't get me wrong: I like buying gaming material online, mainly because it's a lot cheaper, and Amazon (among others) provides excellent service, IMO.

But a good FLGS gives you a chance to browse before you buy, a place to meet and possibly game with people who share your interests, and ideally has employes who know what to order and are knowledgeable about the products. Atmosphere is a lot harder to quantify, but my FLGS back in Ann Arbor was just a great place to shop: good selection, friendly staff, nice used section, good layout, and just a good vibe overall.

Add all of that up, and -- to me -- it's worth spending more money on a book from time to time to help ensure that my FLGS stays in business, so I can keep enjoying what it offers.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Anyone notice how many small coffee shops have gone under since Starbucks took over the world?

DESPITE the fact that the small guys generally (not always) had better coffee?

As for profit margins- I imagine that game stores operate on profit margins similar to that of most retailers in competitive industries (like grocery stores)- between .5 to 2%.

As for "jacking up the price"- that's not what they're doing. They're usually charging a set markup- less than 5%. What you percieve as them raising the price is really the big guys using predatory pricing to artificially LOWER the price.

 

[Argonel]

I have to throw my 2 coppers in the mix and say that in general I'll suuport my FLGSs for many of the same reasons as have been mentioned earlier. In my mind the intangibles are worth it, and despite moaning over my budjet I can afford the price premium. I do most of my gaming at friends houses, but my local stores offer gaming tables, demo copies of games to play and in store gaming groups. They also let me browse the selves and flip through material, give me an accurate heads up on what is coming out and sometimes more importantly give me a place to sneak out to on my lunch break and just shoot the breeze for a while. In addition to plugging The Source in Falcon Heights as a store with a great selection, I've also patronized Unicorn Games in Oakdale, and my local store is the Gamers Den in Cambridge, MN. I see the higher prices as a tax to keep my hobby healthy, and support a local economy so people can buy what my company makes which keeps me in a job so I can afford games at any price. I see it as a philosophical choice that I am not helping billionares get richer by exploiting cheap labor here and abroad.

 

[Bront]

My FLGS is almost a 30 mile treck from my house. I've been there 3 times in the past 2 years. Of course, almost all of my miniatures I've purchased over that time have come from there, and I have probably spent less than $150 total on gaming stuff due to general free cash issues.

 

[reveal]

Anyone notice how many small coffee shops have gone under since Starbucks took over the world?

DESPITE the fact that the small guys generally (not always) had better coffee?

Nope. A lot of places I've been to have both a Starbucks or two and a local place or three.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Dallas: 6 coffee shops.
Fort Worth: 2 coffee shops.

(Note: In all honesty, did not look at # of coffee shops in the other 14+ cities in the metroplex- but expect to find max 2-4 to per city, for another 28 such shops. Also did not include locations like Books-A-Million's J Muggs, which are essentially another version of Starbucks- albeit a competing one.)


Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex: 134 Starbucks locations.


Winner: Starbucks.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I fully agree, if $15/month is indeed a small amount to you. However, when that same amount represents 3 hours of labor helping rude mall kids find the latest gothic trends so they will look like everyone else trying NOT to look like everyone else, the plight of the the LGS and the mid tier companies is significantly less important.

$15/month represents roughly 3 hours of work to me, too. Not doing what you do, thankfully, but three hours all the same.

It's still a paltry expense to me. If I (and sufficiently large numbers of other people in my metro area) didn't pay it, I would be unable to game. If Erik Mona is correct, I would probably lose my job because of the rising costs thereof and, perhaps, the closure of certain markets.

So that $15/month is paying for more than $1000/month of services, career opportunities and entertainment.

I'm reading some of these posts and watching some of these posters catch heat for doing what benefits them financially and I can't help but wonder if these same posters would b like this face to face.

I assume you mean would the same posters be giving said 'heat'? I can't speak for the rest, but I know I would (and am) like this face to face.

My livelihood may literally depend upon the FLGS, and I'm not even an employee there.

Even if that weren't true, basically all out-of-the-house entertainment activities I engage in depend on the FLGS.

 

[reveal]

Dallas: 6 coffee shops.
Fort Worth: 2 coffee shops.

(Note: In all honesty, did not look at # of coffee shops in the other 14+ cities in the metroplex- but expect to find max 2-4 to per city, for another 28 such shops.)


Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex: 134 Starbucks locations.


Winner: Starbucks.

I've never been to Dallas/Ft. Worth.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Come on down!

The coffee isn't the big draw... Its the steaks!!! (We have a ridiculous # of steakhouses.) And the BBQ & Beer are also damn good, too.

Oh yeah...we game as well!

 

[amazingshafeman]

My livelihood may literally depend upon the FLGS, and I'm not even an employee there.

I would say this biases your opinion a bit.