Why I refuse to support my FLGS

[woodelf]

It is my fervent hope that LGS's DON'T dissapear. While it is likely that the Internet can help satisfy the established base of the hobby, it can't draw people in like a LGS- no one surfing the net is going to accidentally find a page and wonder "What's with the funny die and the little metal warrior?" and have someone respond "That's D&D little fella! Its a game that lets you pretend to be in those books you like...with your buddies! Let me tell you more..."

oh, i dunno. Given how easy it is to stumble upon a porn site when you're not looking for one, surely it would be possible to make RPG sites as in-your-face ubiquitous?

 

[woodelf]

So what is being said here? We should keep the small “mom and pop” store in business, be it a gaming store, book store, coffee shop, retail store, whatever? Is this just out of spite towards the huge chain store that everybody hates, but everyone still frequents?

I hope the only people who hate them and still frequent them (1) live somewhere where there is no other choice and (2) didn't frequent them when there still was a choice. 'Cause, otherwise, i got no sympathy for them. Me? I don't like the large chains with predatory pricing practices and horrible employee policies--so i don't shop at them. Save perhaps in desperation.

And disliking a business for reasons of how it does business is not "just out of spite"--it's the cornerstone of a free market: the ability to decide how you want to do business, both as producer and consumer. In my particular case, there are concrete differences between the big-box chains and local businesses, and i want to encourage the latter and discourage the former, so i spend my dollars appropriately. I'm doing what little i have in my power to say "if you do business in this way, it will cost you money, no matter what your prices are."

 

[woodelf]

I think browsing is overrated. The people that are going to buy material from smaller publishers are probably already aware of what the product is from message boards like EN World. You can also read reviews. Browsing isn't worth $10 in my book.

And as Mystery Man said, why not go browse and then by online?

Because then the store won't be there to browse at, in the future. If you see value in browsing, then you should be giving your money to the business that supports your browsing habit. If you don't see value in browsing, then quit browsing.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

Have at it. No one is telling you what to do.

I just don't think Wal-Mart is going to carry Burning Wheel, or CoC, for that matter.

No Burning Wheel, but CoC...yup.

I really wish there was an FLGS in my hometown. As I've mentioned before, there are two about 30 to 40 miles from me, but I refuse to patronize one and the other is just too far off the beaten path for me. I lived a year in St. Louis (2000-2001) and the Fantasy Shoppe chain of FLGS's was exactly that... Friendly and Local. 7 or 8 stores in the StL metro area, stocked to the gills with gaming goodness. I wish wish wish there was just one store like that within reasonable distance from me, because I'd gladly pay the extra amount to support a small, local business.

I buy either online or from Hastings (the latter of which seems to be carrying fewer and fewer items and publishers of gaming material) and they no longer offer the standard 10% discount on new items like they used to for gaming related publications. So it's online for me.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

oh, i dunno. Given how easy it is to stumble upon a porn site when you're not looking for one, surely it would be possible to make RPG sites as in-your-face ubiquitous?

The porn industry makes more money than "legitimate" Hollywood and has a larger market than the total number of voters in the last election. They can afford the money to pay for pop-up ads.

The RPG industry can't compete with that.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

The three role-playing gaming stores in Sydney proper don't offer me as a roleplaying gamer anything other than products which may or may not be competititvely priced. One of the three stores hosts gaming events, but this takes the form of Magic: the Gathering or Legend of the Five Rings drafts and the like.

Ironically, the one that does this is also far and away the least friendly of the bunch - the staff are generally cool (I've worked there myself for a few months, and the current staff includes two friends of mine from my university gaming society) but the proprietors are dismissive and seem to wish that they could survive selling only jigsaw puzzles and board games.

They have a very good range, but it's not any better than at the other dedicated gaming store in the city. This second store has a much friendlier staff, but unfortunately has little to offer apart from their range - their prices are generally slightly higher than at the first store, which has the advantage of being vertically integrated (so to speak) with its proprietors' importing and distribution company.

The third store majors in historical wargaming and only minors in roleplaying games, but tend to have pretty good prices. It's good for major releases, basically.

I understand that there is a store in Burwood and another in Blacktown which offer actual roleplaying gaming action, but I have no desire to drive that far to a single store.

Besides which, I have no need or desire to game in-store. Sydney has three universities with fairly active gaming clubs - and several annual conventions if you're into that sort of thing - so it's not too hard to find gaming action.

Admittedly, though, I personally know several people who found these clubs by asking the staff at various gaming stores.

I like to shop at them when I can, but sometimes it's just not worth the hour's drive into the city from my home. Realistically, I have to factor the cost of the drive and parking into the cost of the books.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I didn't have the advantage of internet shopping when I lived in Kansas, but I could have ordered stuff by mail from fine shops all over the USA who advertised (and still do) in Dragon Magazine. Instead, I supported my locals...even when those "locals" were 2 hours away in KC or Wichita. Most regular purchases were made in Manhattan (KS), but once every month or 2, I'd go to KC and buy something in "the big city"- sometimes I'd even take and fill orders from other gamers.

I don't think anyone thinks you should support a store just because its local, and price IS a valid consideration. However, in this as in all consumer transactions, you should subscribe to the doctrine of enlightened self-interest. That is, you should try to be an informed consumer.

IMHO, price should not be your sole criterion for deciding where to buy anything. Customer service, is another important factor. Shopping environment is another consideration. Behavior of the competition is still another-if the competition is price cutting just to get market share, I avoid them- and that is one of the MAJOR tactics the big guys use.

 

[Li Shenron]

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.

When I go shopping, the cost is a factor but it is not the only factor.

If I know that the company which makes what I'm buying (or the shop which is selling it) is responsible of acts which I consider ethically unacceptable, I just don't buy their stuff. I instead go to a different shop, or (if the manufacturer is to blame) I buy something equivalent from a different manufacturers. Often the choice has a personal cost, such as having to say "no" to my favourite chocolates, having to settle for second-choice shoes or having to drive the car to the next gas station.

Most of the times there are no such serious issues (well, there probably are, but we just don't know enough of them), but I still make choices to "support" what I think it would improve the general state of things. In general, when I have to buy something, I give precedence to stuff made in my country, and secondary I give precedence to stuff made in the EU. I don't mind if these products cost a little more, but obviously if the difference becomes large enough I surely buy a US or Chinese product.

Similar thing with little shops: if the price isn't so different I prefer to buy from small shops rather than big malls. It's not so important with RPGs, but with food for instance it is. I have good reasons to believe that concentrating business in few large-scales mall companies reduces the competitivess of the market, brings too much power in their hands and bla bla bla...

Now, in the case of your book, there clearly is too much of a difference in the price. I would have never felt guilty for having bought that book half-price from a big mall (big vendors can afford to sell stuff under-cost sometimes, because it can actually be profitable to do so). If your LGS is overpricing stuff regularly, they either (1) have problems with keeping their expenses low and aren't making enough money to survive as a business or (2) have a too high expectance of how money they should make. If you find out the reason, that would help you make a choice.

 

[Mark Chance]

If all FLGS went out of business I think that the role-playing gaming hobby would take a serious hit and most likely have serious repercussions to the well being of gaming companies.

That may very well be true.

But, I have everything I'll ever need to game right now in the very room I'm sitting in. Every single gaming store and RPG publisher in the universe could go under tomorrow (God forbid!), and it wouldn't affect my gaming a bit.

 

[Gentlegamer]

Let me ask you all advocating buying from local shops: do you also support buying only books and RPG materials manufactured in the US (if you're American)?