Why I refuse to support my FLGS

[Roudi]

I would just like to point out that "FLGS" stands for "Friendly Local Gaming Store." If the folks at your local gaming store aren't friendly, then you probably shouldn't refer to it as an FLGS.

Personally, I refer to my local gaming store as an NSFLGS ("Not-So-Friendly Local Gaming Store"), because they aren't friendly. Their markup is way too high, they have no respect for roleplay gamers (they're primarily a miniatures / collectible minis shop), and are generally not nice people. They make me feel like I'm walking into a used car dealership, constantly sizing me up and trying to push sales on me for stuff I don't want.

Anywhoo, just nitpicking a little detail. If your FLGS ain't friendly, then it ain't an FLGS.

 

[Nailom]

My local gamingsstore sucks. They need about 6 weeks to order books I could get within 2 days via onlineshop and then they want 38€, thats more then 45 US-$, for the Draconomicon which I could get for about 27 US-$ a most online shops.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

Maybe mine would be a RBLGS, then.

 

[mcrow]

I buy about 90% of my gaming books from my LGS. I would buy from them even if they were more expensive than a chain store or internet. When I go there they have a lot of clean table space for us to use as well as nearly every in print rpg you can think of and some OOP too. My FLGS has campaigns that are run by employees that are public, so if your group falls apart you can still get some gaming in. The staff really knows gaming and the industry and if by some odd chance you find that they don't carry a gam you are looking for they will alway special order for you.

As a side note: I think my FLGS ( Source Comics & Games in Falcon Hieghts MN) is owned by Atlas Games. I have also heard that Fantasy Flight Games is also part owner but never been able to confirm that.

 

[hexgrid]

The Local Gaming Store is sort of a dying market. The internet is a better model for selling niche products.

This is how I see it. Supporting the local game store is considered some sort of moral imperative, but why? The game store will have what what I'm looking for maybe 20% of the time. Internet retailers will have what I'm looking for 100% of the time.

If the business model of the FLGS doesn't make sense in this day and age, why shouldn't we let it die out?

If the only purpose the FLGS serves is as a place for gamers to gather, well, we should find a different place to gather.

 

[was]

-I understand that there are secondary costs of doing business (labor, utilities etc..) and am I sympathetic to the inability of local gaming stores to buy in bulk.
-That being said, there are many times that I just cannot afford to shop there. I have financial obligations as well and often have to stretch every dollar to cover them. I buy local when I can, but when I find the books I want online for $10-$15 less (even after S/H), that's where I buy them.

 

[Sebastian Francis]

You do not have a clue. Attack! probably cost the FLGS $35.00 because they cannot order in bulk. The toy store chain probably bought 20,000 copies and decided to sell it below cost in order to get people to visit them rather than store like the FLGS.

This is why you could get the D&D Basic Game at Walmart for $16.00 when it retailed for $25.00. Walmart paid $16.50 for them, the sold them at a lower price in order to shut down their competition.

Shrug. Whaddever. If it's cheaper, that's where I'm going. I'll save a noble attitude for noble causes.

 

[Joshua Randall]

I exclusively buy either online (if I can be patient) or in a major chain store (Borders, for example) if I'm feeling impatient. The price differential between those outlets and a so-called FLGS is simply too great for me to patronize the latter.

So does this make me a bad person? I don't feel bad. I agree with hexgrid -- if the small business game-store owners want to survive in this day and age of online retailing and Wal-Mart, then they need to find other ways to compete. Because they cannot compete on price.

 

[Venport]

hexgrid:



Do you honestly think that the RPG Market will keep going if we loose all of your FLGS? I don't I see them as the cornerstone of the industry and without them we will have no more Support for your favorite hobby... the only good thing i can see is that if the support dose fall we can still play because it is not the kind of hobby that require constant support.. however it dose help change things up...

 

[reveal]

Shrug. Whaddever. If it's cheaper, that's where I'm going. I'll save a noble attitude for noble causes.

How about you save the childish attitude for childish boards? You may not like the tone, but what BelenUmeria is spot on in his reasons why it costs less at Toys R Us. If you're going to come on here and whine about the cost of games, try doing a little thinking first. It's basic economics: If a company can afford to buy a product in bulk, they buy it cheaper and can sell it cheaper.