Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
WotC and brick and mortar retail stores - Greg Leeds weighs in
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Skallgrim" data-source="post: 5131128" data-attributes="member: 79271"><p>I'd also like to point out something about Barnes & Noble and street dates.</p><p></p><p>First, I am a Barnes & Noble employee and have been for 13 years. I do know what I am talking about, when I am talking about that company.</p><p></p><p>There are "street dates", which are the dates that a company says a book will be released on. </p><p></p><p>Then, there are "Strict On-Sale" dates. These are different, at least in their terminology and usage at B&N.</p><p></p><p>For a Strict On-Sale (SOS) date title, we have signed a contract with the publisher agreeing to not sell a particular title until a particular day that they specify. This is normally ONLY done when that title has massive sales potential (sadly not the case for most D&D books<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite3" alt=":(" title="Frown :(" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":(" />). This is ALSO only done when all other retailers are also bound by the SOS date. This allows the publisher of say, the latest Dan Brown novel, to ship it out to stores all over the nation early, and then they all hold it in their stockrooms until the SOS date, and all sell it on the same day.</p><p></p><p>I'm not going to pretend that no Barnes & Noble has ever violated a SOS date. Heck, we've accidentally done it with a SOS title that shipped in a box with other non SOS titles ourselves. However, it can have serious repercussions (the publisher can decide, for example, to withhold other new releases from your store for a period of time). </p><p></p><p>Not a single D&D rulebook received since I started with the company has been a SOS title.</p><p></p><p>Now a "street date" is not such an agreement. A "street date" is simply the date that the publisher has told us that we should expect a book to be delivered on. It might be delivered before that date. It might be delivered on that date, or even after that date. Places near the distributor might get it early, and other places late. There is NO contractual agreement about breaking "street dates". </p><p></p><p>Breaking a "street date" simply means you got the book before expected, and you put it out for sale. There's no dishonesty, no malice, and no incompetence. Most books are put on sale when you get them. This is the default condition for books.</p><p></p><p>What WOTC did (which is very cool of them) is <u>ship</u> PHB3 to game stores that were holding D&D Encounter Events earlier than their other shipments. That way, these stores could get the book early, use it with their events, and capitalize on the sales. This is not uncommon at all in the Graphic Novel industry, where publishers may send books to dedicated comics retailers a month or more before they are available to B&N and other (even non-big box) book retailers. </p><p></p><p>While this did hurt the sales of PHB3 in "my" department, I really support this sort of strategy. I frequent a local very friendly game store, and I always want to see them succeed. They are very focused on being a destination for gamers, and do a great job. </p><p></p><p>I can't speak for any other bookstores, but I did want to try to correct the assumption that "breaking street date" = "breaking the rules". There are rules out there in the book business, but "street date" isn't one of them.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Skallgrim, post: 5131128, member: 79271"] I'd also like to point out something about Barnes & Noble and street dates. First, I am a Barnes & Noble employee and have been for 13 years. I do know what I am talking about, when I am talking about that company. There are "street dates", which are the dates that a company says a book will be released on. Then, there are "Strict On-Sale" dates. These are different, at least in their terminology and usage at B&N. For a Strict On-Sale (SOS) date title, we have signed a contract with the publisher agreeing to not sell a particular title until a particular day that they specify. This is normally ONLY done when that title has massive sales potential (sadly not the case for most D&D books:(). This is ALSO only done when all other retailers are also bound by the SOS date. This allows the publisher of say, the latest Dan Brown novel, to ship it out to stores all over the nation early, and then they all hold it in their stockrooms until the SOS date, and all sell it on the same day. I'm not going to pretend that no Barnes & Noble has ever violated a SOS date. Heck, we've accidentally done it with a SOS title that shipped in a box with other non SOS titles ourselves. However, it can have serious repercussions (the publisher can decide, for example, to withhold other new releases from your store for a period of time). Not a single D&D rulebook received since I started with the company has been a SOS title. Now a "street date" is not such an agreement. A "street date" is simply the date that the publisher has told us that we should expect a book to be delivered on. It might be delivered before that date. It might be delivered on that date, or even after that date. Places near the distributor might get it early, and other places late. There is NO contractual agreement about breaking "street dates". Breaking a "street date" simply means you got the book before expected, and you put it out for sale. There's no dishonesty, no malice, and no incompetence. Most books are put on sale when you get them. This is the default condition for books. What WOTC did (which is very cool of them) is [U]ship[/U] PHB3 to game stores that were holding D&D Encounter Events earlier than their other shipments. That way, these stores could get the book early, use it with their events, and capitalize on the sales. This is not uncommon at all in the Graphic Novel industry, where publishers may send books to dedicated comics retailers a month or more before they are available to B&N and other (even non-big box) book retailers. While this did hurt the sales of PHB3 in "my" department, I really support this sort of strategy. I frequent a local very friendly game store, and I always want to see them succeed. They are very focused on being a destination for gamers, and do a great job. I can't speak for any other bookstores, but I did want to try to correct the assumption that "breaking street date" = "breaking the rules". There are rules out there in the book business, but "street date" isn't one of them. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
WotC and brick and mortar retail stores - Greg Leeds weighs in
Top