Hey guys,

I was just going over all of the Wave 5 and 6 releases and what I am going to be paying If I was to buy for retail at the Local B&M compared to Miniature Market.

Retail MM

2X Most Wanted $79.90 $55.14

2X Decimator $79.90 $55.14

3X YT2400 $89.85 $59.97

4X Starviper $79.80 $55.08

6X M3A Intcptr $89.70 $59.94

2X IG2000 $59.90 $39.98

Total $479.05 $325.25

I play at this store once or twice a month, and paid full retail for 3x Phantoms,Defenders,EWings, z95s and 2X Rebel Aces. Also paid full retail for a Transport and a Tantive.

I have a good relationship with the Owner and even donated a display case to him to display some of his 40K stuff.

Any thoughts (Minus don't be a cheap @$$, or F that guy) would be appreciated.

I'd say that there's no harm in asking, and to be aware that you might have differing ideas as to what constitutes a large order. Also,don't expect them to be able to match an online discount if they can offer any discount at all.

It certainly cant hurt to ask, just be polite, tell him that you are looking online at some cheaper rates, but you would rather buy from a store that you play at and that your considering a bulk order and ask if he can offer a discount. If anything he should consider it a business opportunity rather than you just buying online to begin with.

I buy local 95% of the time even though it costs me about 70% more than I can get online, I play at the shop every week and would like that to continue rather than pinching a few pennies and having nowhere to play.

I'd say that there's no harm in asking, and to be aware that you might have differing ideas as to what constitutes a large order. Also,don't expect them to be able to match an online discount if they can offer any discount at all.

Yeah I wasn't expecting a price match, but 5-10% would be helpful.

Thank you.

There's no harm in asking and if your splashing some cash about the smallish loss in profit is worth it opposed to losing 100% of the sale to an online competitor.

In fact in most shops you can get a bit knocked off if your willing to haggle.

Also if your in good enough and willing to wait he might be able to give you a discount if he can put it on his next order through his distributor. Back in the day I got discounts at a B&M if i could get the owner the info before he placed his order.

It doesn't hurt to ask (in a constructive way) and your right to ask; however it is also their right and decision to say no, goes both ways.

You have not because you ask not.

Haggling was once the law of the land although it now seems to be a lost art.

With an order the size you are looking for you certainly shouldn't feel bad about asking because you never know what you can get. If you have a direct, and confirmable, comparison it would even give you more fuel to ask.

When you do ask you need to be ready to accept a "NO" or consider some kind of counter offer or other compromise. It is possible your B&M doesn't have everything you are looking for which would make matching it impossible. Even if the B&M can get the stuff it may take longer so you need to be prepared for that.

Looking at those lists in the original post I'm sure any shop owner should recognize that barter should be in their best interest. Comparing $479 to $325 is a $154 difference which is pretty significant. Even paying taxes on both orders the one will clearly pay less because it costs less. S&H cost should be factored in when looking online but when you get free shipping there goes that added expense.

Definitely ask about it. When dropping that much money for an order, I wouldn't necessarily feel bad about ordering ships through MM if they say no.Or, buy most of what you want through MM and then pick up a few things at your shop. For wave 4 I split it half & half.

It's not tacky. In fact in a business environment you'd be considered a bad purchaser or a rube for not even trying. Sellers would love you, your boss would find someone else with a little more balls to do the job.

Your not inclined to spend your money at his shop, so of course its ok to ask. If he wants the sale, then let him know it has to be worthwhile for both of you.

No harm in asking, but be sure that you don't phrase it awkwardly. You don't want him to feel like you are trying to shake him down.

No harm in asking, but be sure that you don't phrase it awkwardly. You don't want him to feel like you are trying to shake him down.

Yeah don't walk in demanding 30% off just mention your planning on a big order and ask if there's a deal to be had, just say you like playing there and want to support the store but it is alot of money.

He can probably knock off 10% or 20% and still make a nice profit.

I had a similar dilemma.

A lot of online stores (and bricks and mortar stores in other towns) were a fair bit cheaper than my local store.

So i said 'look i'd like to support business in my town but I can get a A wing for 'x' pounds from this other place. If you can match their price i'll buy everything from you, save myself the waiting on post, give you my money.'

Local store couldnt quite match that but did me a decent enough discount to make it very close so i now buy from them. The only exception being if they dont have something in stock and wont have for more than a month, then they know i'll buy online.

I don't think its rude, its building up a good customer/seller relationship.

Said store has extended that discount to my gaming group so he's probably made close to a grand out of us over the last six months in total. Sure its probably cost him a hundred of so more than it would have if he'd have just sold to people paying full rate *but* he knows he's got ten players or so regularly buying.

To be fair his non discount price wasnt terrible. Some stores in my town charge about £13/£14 for a small ship which is crazy when they are £10.50 via other stores

My local store does a loyalty program. Basically you get a punch card and after 5 $20+ purchases you get 20% off of your next order. I feel like this kind of an order would be an instant punch card fill up. That's how I would negotiate. Based on your calculation $479 is the full order. The first $100 is not discounted then the next $379 should be 20% off coming down to $304. So your order should be $404 which seems like a reasonable discount in my opinion.

My FLGS (Myriad games) just dropped prices on all their products to be more competitive with online sellers.

It worked...I only buy from them now

I have had good success with simply asking "I am looking to place an order for the following as one big purchase, would you be willing to consider some sort of discount on a purchase of that size?" If they say no, you buy it anyway and consider in the future placing your orders elsewhere. I say that because you state you have a good relationship with them and you would not want to insult them for what is really a reasonable payment to avoid shipping charges and have a local place to play. If you have no relationship, you could just decline to buy them.

I know my FLGS prioritizes regulars for preorders and has a store rewards system that grants discounts based on gross prices of several sales ($10/$150 spent) as well as additional discounts on large orders (10% off on single orders of $150+). But, as many have said, they can't keep the doors open if they reduce as much as some online retailers can.

Ask and see what they can do for you.

My local shop is pretty good about pricing, on days of tournaments everything is 20% off not to mention one time I was just browsing what they had for xwing stuff and the owner told me and my friend if we buy e-wings he would give us 20% off because he bought too many and they aren't selling. I'd ask

At our flgs The large order/loyalty program would probably already have given you a lifetime 10% off with as much as you sound like you buy. For the order of over 200$ you would get 20% off any way. More than reasonable for an order of over 300$.

Edit: whoa that was typoed. Phone post

I'd say draw up an offer or proposal, like:

2X Most Wanted $79.90 72.98

2X Decimator $79.90 72.98

3X YT2400 $89.85 81.99

4X Starviper $79.80 71.96

6X M3A Intcptr $89.70 78.94

2X IG2000 $59.90 53.98

Total $479.05 432.83

Just to come up with some arbitrary numbers.

Not if they say yes.

I'd suggest a loyalty program.

Our local store basically gives a 15% discount on things. For every $10 you spend, you get a stamp. Once you have 10, you get $15 store credit. It works, too, as a bunch people buy things to get the extra stamp. Just on Tuesday someone was going to buy a blister, but thought about the stamps. Ended up getting two blisters for 3 stamps!

I did order my Tantive IV online, though. It's $90 in local store, but $52 on the web store. That's just too much to ignore.

My LGS offers a discount (15%) on anything ordered in (pre-pay only). They don't make as much money on the sale, but the sale is guaranteed, and none of their capital is tied up waiting for the sale to happen so it's still worthwhile. With this policy they can keep their overall inventory low while still getting their customers everything they want