If you're having trouble imagining a hypothetical situation with a FLGS going over MSRP, instead imagine that FFG raised MSRP. Every FLGS is now charging the MSRP of $200 for the Core Set, but online stores are still at $68. Still buying from your FLGS no matter what? Or is there some limit to how much of a premium you'll pay? If there's a limit, consider that other people may have a different limit.

If you're having trouble imagining a hypothetical situation with a FLGS going over MSRP, instead imagine that FFG raised MSRP. Every FLGS is now charging the MSRP of $200 for the Core Set, but online stores are still at $68. Still buying from your FLGS no matter what? Or is there some limit to how much of a premium you'll pay? If there's a limit, consider that other people may have a different limit.

Again your argument is not based on how business works and the example you are giving is an example of a very unethical practice in which case I would boycott FFG or the LGS altogether.

The reason Online stores can have lower prices is because of the lower overhead costs, period. They are not out to make friends and help poorer people at all, they just have found a way to make money by passing on the savings they make with a lower overhead expenses. Also now the prices have come down even more in the last 5 years because of all the competition for the online market.

Also the MSRP is not a Premium price, it is the market price.

Does that make sense?

Oh man, seriously? Take MSRP out of the argument entirely. The point is just that even if you're willing to pay more to support your FLGS, there's only so much more any of us would be willing to pay. If your FLGS started charging you membership fees if you wanted to enter, how much would you be willing to pay? If the membership fees started getting really high, could you see yourself looking for cheaper miniatures elsewhere or some other way to offset the bigger hit to your budget? Surely there's some limit to how much extra money you're willing to give to your FLGS to support them, and if you find you draw the line somewhere, is it so hard to imagine someone else drawing the line somewhere else?

All pug is asking/saying is, what's the limit you're willing to go to in order to support your lgs regarding price?

I would add that I think what much of the debate centers on is what each person feels is the moral/ethical responsibility of purchases when using a game space.

I'd argue that there isn't one. The shop owners provide gaming space in part to further sales. They take a risk however in that players at their tables may elect not to buy if they feel the prices are too high. I believe each gamer can make such a choice regardless of the long term consequences and should not be tainted with some moral/ethical smack down.

I would have no qualms over buying my stuff at my LGS if it were only 10-15% more expensive than online. I would say that's the cost of the convenience of having it immediately. However, I would never pay $100 for something I can easily get for $70 online. That's almost a 50% increase. If I had way more money then I do now, maybe, again for the convenience. I have no issues paying 10 - $15 though to play in tournaments and such.

I admit I have no idea what it costs to run a store, or whether the huge markup is needed to stay afloat. However, I do know that selling something at a 10% markup is infinitely better that selling nothing at a 50% markup.

[...]

Okay. Do you have a conclusion to your argument so that I can understand what point you are trying to make? Right now, most of it looks (to me) like a reductio ad absurdum argument and/or it's covering ground that has already been acknowledged.

I think you are getting a little esoteric there Mikael, we are not still in a college class room anymore.

What? I'm not even allowed to use highly flatulent language if I wikipedia-link it?

If you're having trouble imagining a hypothetical situation with a FLGS going over MSRP, instead imagine that FFG raised MSRP. Every FLGS is now charging the MSRP of $200 for the Core Set, but online stores are still at $68. Still buying from your FLGS no matter what? Or is there some limit to how much of a premium you'll pay? If there's a limit, consider that other people may have a different limit.

Again, I'm not sure what your point is here. We've acknowledged that some people are in tough situations. We sympathize and understand. We've been there too. We're just saying, if you can, pay an FLGS's reasonable prices. Yes, people's sense of what is reasonable will differ.

Our point is not that if you can't buy at an FLGS that you should never set foot in one. We want you to come out to play! That's good for everyone. What we're saying is that if you can, we think it's better that you do for reasons beyond the short-term bottom line - especially if you are coming out to play at the FLGS.

Oh man, seriously? Take MSRP out of the argument entirely. The point is just that even if you're willing to pay more to support your FLGS, there's only so much more any of us would be willing to pay. If your FLGS started charging you membership fees if you wanted to enter, how much would you be willing to pay? If the membership fees started getting really high, could you see yourself looking for cheaper miniatures elsewhere or some other way to offset the bigger hit to your budget? Surely there's some limit to how much extra money you're willing to give to your FLGS to support them, and if you find you draw the line somewhere, is it so hard to imagine someone else drawing the line somewhere else?

Were you even around when No and I mean No game stores had a space for gaming? Do you remember what was going on before the Online Stores became a thing? There were No tournaments outside of game clubs and if you didn't belong to one it was find a house to play at or forget about it. The Brick and Mortar stores realized that if they made space for gamers they were more likely to buy more products. That was before the Online stores became a thing, because most online stores charged the MRSP with shipping but were not making many sales then they gave free shipping. Then they realized they could get more customers if they marked down the price to about 5% over their cost to get the product. So this is all a new issue that will be addressed most likely on a larger level to protect small companies.

But otherwise you seem more interested in trying to make us slip up.

Also guys if you do not understand overhead (I know Reiryc does) research it now to understand what we are saying. Then research the difference between an online business and a Brick and Mortar. Without this understanding you won't get what we are saying.

Also just for a gauge how old are you guys? Were you around in the Old Days before the Internet? Do you remember the first time LGS's started game nights? This may give me an idea of where you are coming from.

I just turned 44 on may the 4th....

ugh, that hurts to say.

Turning 40 in August.

I guess it's better than the alternative.

I don't actually remember when LGSs started doing that. I grew up in a small-ish town in suburban Netherlands. Our closest gaming store in Amsterdam didn't have such game nights. Later on (the 1990s), I do remember that one store (in Colorado Springs) helped a Thursday game night happen, but it was off their premises and not under their supervision. I don't even know to what degree they helped it happen.

I then checked out of regular gaming for about 15 years, getting back to it just very recently. I gotta say, I'm really happy with the gaming community that we have here.

Where I agree with Reiryc is about adaptation. LGSs definitely need to evolve with the times. While I do think that life would be easier for LGSs if online miniatures retailers didn't exist, I don't see them going out of business if they know what they're doing. It just means that they need to be savvy. Also, I think a lot of gamers do have the norms that Beatty and I are talking about.

hah yes...better than not turning anything at all

Still.... leaving behind the 30's... my condolences.

I remember when Magic was in Beta and I stopped collecting during Revised because my local meta was not happening. And I sold it all for $150. (No internet to connect to other players and no game night. You either knew someone else who played or you just didn't play.) I also remember when I first started playing D&D back in 81.

43 here. But where I lived before there were no game stores that just sold games. They were Hobby Shops that had model and electric model trains with a shelf or two for Games. The first game stores I saw that had tables just moved stuff around to fit a table or two for the 4 to 5 guys that showed up.

So, do you think there are circumstances where an individual should feel guilty, when they play at a game store, but don't leave any money behind? Is there a moral here, in your view?

Simply, yes there are instances where others might feel guilty in that circumstance and no, as others have conveyed, I don't believe this is a moral debate. Personally in my situation I do not feel guilty going to my closest game store to play and not leaving a dime, and please bear with me as I explain why below.

Before going to my closest l store I would go every week to a store 20 minutes away because they had one of the larger groups of X-Wing players, I would go every Saturday as that was when they had tournaments or the casual crowd would be there. I would generally pay 10 bucks a visit, more on occasion when getting sleeves and/or small based ships. They were a "membership" store, if you were a member (I forgot what the fee was) they would give you 20% off on orders and for non-members they were just a little bit cheaper than MSRP (just 1 or 2 bucks). Unfortunately that store is now closed and during reading this thread I started to think about why. They had good turn outs, most people would walk out with a new game or at the very least have food and a drink, I had even walked out with a few board games and new models at times. Thinking hard I struggled to find a reason, then it hit me, a phrase that I heard so many times "No we don't have that." I would hear that phrase more than 10 times in one day, they would offer to order it but the customer wanted it at that time and walked out with nothing and probably never came back. You and I know many of these stores can't carry everything but the lack of recovery of the salesperson and sometimes consumer ignorance led to lost business. I realized, in some cases, a loyal table using customer will have to keep spending a lot of money to keep a store alive and unfortunately I don't have the free income enough to spend what it would take.

Now on to my closest store, the first time I had ordered from them, they had gotten the order in sold it to someone else and I had to wait another 2 months to get it again, strike one. The second time, they had neglected to inform me the item arrived and when I went in to claim it because it was everywhere else, they had misplaced it, took another week to find it, strike two. Despite my wife's protest I decided to give them one more shot, the item (X-Wing Playmat) was a little later but that was understandable, what wasn't understandable was they tried charging me $80 for an item that was $39.95, strike three. The last thing that just made me mad, when IA came out, I thought hey maybe I'll go down and see if they have it, I go down to the store a day after they had gotten them and the manager of the store bought their one and only copy. I don't know about you but it boils my blood when a manager of a store puts himself before the store or the customer. Why go there at all, you might ask? Well it now has most of the displaced X-Wing players from the other store and then some. I keep going there for them and for a lesser extent in hopes the store notices my refusal to pay for items there. I want them to change and need them to get better, just disappearing to another store won't be enough.

I genuinely believe that yes you should support a store that does good business and treats you right but they shouldn't get support by virtue of just existing. They need to earn trust, work with their customers and try to provide a variety of products to support the market in their area. The below are the most prevalent failings of the stores in my area.

1. Lack of competition - Competition is good for the consumer and I see less and less of it not only from LGSs but companies as a whole. Also in respect to LGSs, I don't mean try to compete with online but with local stores in the area. Most of the stores in the area are charging around 20% to 50% above MSRP and worse yet uninformed consumers are paying it causing the stores to misbehave even further.

2. Lack of product - As stated before the previous store didn't have the stock to help their customers with some impulse buys, too many we don't have that in stock and people stop trying.

3. Lack of salesmanship - Many of the people behind the counter lack negotiating power and/or don't know how to effectively keep a customer interested in buying from the store.

4. Bad Distributors - From what I have been told by friends that work at some of these stores, the reason they are charging so much over MSRP for some things is the store itself is paying MSRP for their orders, thus passing the inflated cost to the customers.

These things can be fixed but not by blind loyalty or a feeling of obligation to the store for allowing you to play there. I believe that it needs to be a balance to the benefit of both parties. I hope I have explained my reasoning in a clear manner and hope that you understand my point of view a little more. As stated before if you have a good thing with your LGS do whatever you can to support them by buying something when you play but if they are not treating you right and you have little recourse in where you can go, you are doing yourself and (I believe) the store a disservice by encouraging their bad behavior out of some sense of loyalty/social contract/obligation.

If you have kept with me this long, even if you don't agree, thank you and I wish you good gaming.

Well said, Sir. Well said.

Essentially the issue is $$$$$$. A Brick and Mortar (those Brits and their terms ) has Employees that deserve a livable wage, Rent, Electricity on top of the Taxes they pay for the Business. That's a lot of overhead.

I also am rather offense that anyone in their right mind would think paying for the full Price at a LGS is charity in anyway. That is just plain insulting to everyone involved.

Yah those are some real overhead costs, sounds like those FLGS need to grow with the times and stop exploiting there customers sense of loyalty.

To further your example that restaurant should maybe not think having a jukebox means they can charge 50% more for nachos and not go out of business.

Lets take armada for example. If amazon offers the game for $69 bucks and my FLGS is offering it for $99 then few people are going to buy it from them. A small hot gaming room, the chance to look before you purchase, costumer service, the getting it now factor, those are all things that would gladly make me shell out more then 69 bucks.

If my FLGS sold it for 79 bucks Amazon would be wondering how the hell it was going to compete with brick and mortar stores.

Also I am sorry you are offended by my use of the word charity, would me using the word donation make it better for you?

What do you call it when you give someone more money then has been earned because you want to help them out?

If you think selling a product at retail price is exploiting then I have nothing more to say. That is a very bad way to view small business owners when almost all of them struggle to make ends meet just like the rest of us. They are not large corporate executives rolling around in expensive cars, they trying to pay their mortgage on their house and have birthday presents for their kids.

Have you Ever talked to a small business owner, because from the way you talk in your posts you sound like your in your 20's at the most and do not understand Margins, Overhead, how to upkeep a business as a whole. They do not run themselves just for you to take advantage of. I would highly suggest never expressing you thoughts on this matter in front of a small business owner, you will get owned logically and you will be not making friends at all.

I think you need to let go of some of your angst and realize the small business is trying to provide you a service, not extort you. Larger Companies are known for gouging, not so much the small ones.

Yah..... I would be more then happy to compare what I know vs what you know. So lets talk business.

1: "They struggle to make ends meet"

So are the customers, dwelling on that is not helping you make the needed money to put you in the black.

The first question to ask is why?

Is the market bad? Or are you bad at your job?

What steps can you take to fix that?

Also expecting costumers to put you in the black just because your are struggling to make ends meet is exploting your costumers.... don't be surprised when they start having trouble making ends meet and they start shopping for value and not guilt.

How would you handle this?

Star Wars Armada just came out and a new costumer has come to game night to see a demo, He is interested in the game but money is tight.

He really wants the starter set and debates getting it now but it is so much cheaper on amazon. A friend of his offers to let him use his amazon prime account in exchange for a few bucks. As the shop owner what do you do?

A) Get annoyed but do nothing.

B) Blame him for not supporting your shop and hope his guilt will = money

C) Be a better business manager then then that Bob guy with the amazon prime account.

D) Sell your business and use that money to get a amazon prime account because right now that Bob guy is in the black and you are not.

If you have kept with me this long, even if you don't agree, thank you and I wish you good gaming.

I did! Yeah, no one here is calling for poor customer service. The FLGS has to be on top of their own game.

Star Wars Armada just came out and a new costumer has come to game night to see a demo, He is interested in the game but money is tight.

He really wants the starter set and debates getting it now but it is so much cheaper on amazon. A friend of his offers to let him use his amazon prime account in exchange for a few bucks. As the shop owner what do you do?

A) Get annoyed but do nothing.

B) Blame him for not supporting your shop and hope his guilt will = money

C) Be a better business manager then then that Bob guy with the amazon prime account.

D) Sell your business and use that money to get a amazon prime account because right now that Bob guy is in the black and you are not.

You dwell on this incident, but you don't deal with the response to it.

The owner would have been a fool to offer it at a price to beat Amazon then and there. Reasons, see link above. At that point, the owner's best option is to smile and let Bob and the friend do whatever they're going to do. Hopefully the friend will buy expansions from the store in the future.

@Andre82. So a store is exploiting you if they sell items at MSRP? If you ever shop at a grocery story, quick mart or a gas station are they exploiting you? (Well maybe the oil company but that's a whole different ballgame.)

Honestly you sound very paranoid and angry and I don't have anymore to say to you. Your anger at small business is not justified and honestly you should stop going to LGS's is that is your real feelings about them.

Try not to think about yourself as a victim all the time and you might realize that those guys behind the counter are actually good guys who want to help you with your hobby.

Try to have fun.

@Andre82. So a store is exploiting you if they sell items at MSRP? If you ever shop at a grocery story, quick mart or a gas station are they exploiting you? (Well maybe the oil company but that's a whole different ballgame.)

Honestly you sound very paranoid and angry and I don't have anymore to say to you. Your anger at small business is not justified and honestly you should stop going to LGS's is that is your real feelings about them.

Try not to think about yourself as a victim all the time and you might realize that those guys behind the counter are actually good guys who want to help you with your hobby.

Try to have fun.

What?

He didn't appear 'angry or paranoid' at all in his post.

I love how you discount his concerns at MSRP being exploitation but throw in the good 'ole left wing talking point "those darn oil companies!!11!"... The analogy is the same, a closed market with little real competition that brings about a price point to a consumer that takes advantage of that closed market. When the shop owner was presented with an opportunity of making a sale through negotiation, he chose to do nothing and instead sat on his laurels while a customer made a sale.

That's a single example of what this shop owner has done and as such is nowhere near enough of an information sample for the rest of us to be able to infer poor business acumen of said shop owner. However, this may be a single representative example of a larger set of instances that andre could have pulled from.... Until I see evidence to discount andre, I'll accept what he posts at face value and give his understanding of that shop owner the benefit of the doubt.

But his larger point is that folks who argue that one should shop when possible at the LGS (not saying this is you or mik, but there are those in this thread who have argued this) regardless of price is allowing the shop owner to take advantage of this misplaced loyalty ie exploitation. Now strictly speaking, it's not exploitation as no one has to go to the store to buy anything.

If you have kept with me this long, even if you don't agree, thank you and I wish you good gaming.

I did! Yeah, no one here is calling for poor customer service. The FLGS has to be on top of their own game.

Star Wars Armada just came out and a new costumer has come to game night to see a demo, He is interested in the game but money is tight.

He really wants the starter set and debates getting it now but it is so much cheaper on amazon. A friend of his offers to let him use his amazon prime account in exchange for a few bucks. As the shop owner what do you do?

A) Get annoyed but do nothing.

B) Blame him for not supporting your shop and hope his guilt will = money

C) Be a better business manager then then that Bob guy with the amazon prime account.

D) Sell your business and use that money to get a amazon prime account because right now that Bob guy is in the black and you are not.

You dwell on this incident, but you don't deal with the response to it.

The owner would have been a fool to offer it at a price to beat Amazon then and there. Reasons, see link above. At that point, the owner's best option is to smile and let Bob and the friend do whatever they're going to do. Hopefully the friend will buy expansions from the store in the future.

I'll take on your response to the incident....

The MSRP is above the cost that (s)he pays FFG. But then there's the rent, the wages, the utilities, etc. that also need to come out of that MSRP-cost. Also, there's creating expectations. If (s)he says "I'll sell it to you for $70 now", then that customer is going to pretty much expect a 30% discount on everything, as will everyone in earshot.

The online company has all those same expenses as that local game shop.... they have wages, rent for the warehouse, utilities, insurance, etc etc.... Those costs need to come from the smaller the whole sale margin which is smaller than the MSRP margin in most cases.

The shop owner could have politely asked the customer to step over to somewhere a bit more private. Said look, I'll give you this deal because I want to make a sale, but I can't make this offer every time because the margins for me are too small, but I want your business and am going to try working with you... here is my offer, etc etc.

Now you might think, hogwash! But here is my personal real world example where I did this very thing. I had a lady who would buy my largest tanning package. I had 3 tiers of tanning beds and each tier was a different price point per minute. 30/60/90 cents per minute based on the tier (lowest being 30 cents, middle 60 cents, etc) This lady came in and would buy the 300 minute top tier which was $270 every single month. One time she asked if I'd be willing to negotiate the price. I had other customers when she asked so I politely asked her to wait a moment while I got the others set up and off to their beds. I told her that I couldn't do this for everyone and that it would be something just for her, but I would sell her that package each time for $240. I told her that should would need to buy it from me and not my employees so as to make sure that others wouldn't have the same expectation because I couldn't afford to do it for everyone that asked. She was grateful and was a loyal customer until I sold the business. I made some off the sales of that $240 and she always bought lotion where I always made profit, sale or no sale.

The moral here? The shop owner could and should have done something to fight for that guys business. Shown some kind of interest in making a sale in the hope of garnering future sales at a profit. The owner could have been explicit that this is a 1 time deal due to costs or whatever he felt was necessary to make sure his margins could still be met in the long term. Instead he balked, stuck to his guns, lost a sale and a potential repeat customer.

So andre is presenting us with an example of how a store owner sticks to his guns of offering sales at or near msrp and how people who in this thread (not saying you) have argued that even still, if that customer plays there, they should buy from there... I would argue, like andre, that in such a case, no one should buy from there when it's clear that this shop owner isn't fighting for business and is resting on the MSRP price point thus giving consumers no reason beyond misguided loyalty as a reason to keep shopping there.

@Andre82. So a store is exploiting you if they sell items at MSRP? If you ever shop at a grocery story, quick mart or a gas station are they exploiting you? (Well maybe the oil company but that's a whole different ballgame.)

Honestly you sound very paranoid and angry and I don't have anymore to say to you. Your anger at small business is not justified and honestly you should stop going to LGS's is that is your real feelings about them.

Try not to think about yourself as a victim all the time and you might realize that those guys behind the counter are actually good guys who want to help you with your hobby.

Try to have fun.

What?

He didn't appear 'angry or paranoid' at all in his post.

I love how you discount his concerns at MSRP being exploitation but throw in the good 'ole left wing talking point "those darn oil companies!!11!"... The analogy is the same, a closed market with little real competition that brings about a price point to a consumer that takes advantage of that closed market. When the shop owner was presented with an opportunity of making a sale through negotiation, he chose to do nothing and instead sat on his laurels while a customer made a sale.

That's a single example of what this shop owner has done and as such is nowhere near enough of an information sample for the rest of us to be able to infer poor business acumen of said shop owner. However, this may be a single representative example of a larger set of instances that andre could have pulled from.... Until I see evidence to discount andre, I'll accept what he posts at face value and give his understanding of that shop owner the benefit of the doubt.

But his larger point is that folks who argue that one should shop when possible at the LGS (not saying this is you or mik, but there are those in this thread who have argued this) regardless of price is allowing the shop owner to take advantage of this misplaced loyalty ie exploitation. Now strictly speaking, it's not exploitation as no one has to go to the store to buy anything.

He coming from a very extreme position and from his posts he sounds very angry at LGS's. And I also can come up with extreme examples about the dangers of shopping online with identity theft, viruses on your computer and Internet scams, but I am not going to bring those outlier examples in to this conversation because I don't feel those are relevant examples.

Seeing as most of the people in this discussion seem to be in their 30-40s, how about a different RL question that most likely has come up in the past decade or two:

When you go to buy a car (once you have decided on your model/brand and desired features) do you look for the best price (or the person who throws in the most extras) at various dealerships, or do you just go to the closest FLCD (Friendly Local Car Dealer) and just pay the MSRP on that car?

Or how about another one:

When you buy an appliance (dishwasher, fridge, oven, etc), assuming it isn't an emergency situation where you NEED IT NOW, do you wait for a 4th of July/Memorial Day/Labor Day sale? Or do you just march in to your local Sears and drop full MSRP $ on it?

I know I tend to look for the best price (from a reputable dealer). There is often a convenience factor, so I may be more willing to pay a few extra $ to stay local - especially if the product is something I can haul myself.

Now, even though the price point is a different range, this is essentially the same thing a number of people are saying. It is hard to justify spending MSRP when you can get 30% off MSRP delivered right to your door. Over the course of a year or so, you have likely spent as much on the hobby as you did on that appliance. So overall it is a sizeable chunk of $$.

If the LGS was to offer some competitive pricing (even 10-15% would be enough for many) or incentives, then I think there would be less 'defection' to online shopping.

Seeing as most of the people in this discussion seem to be in their 30-40s, how about a different RL question that most likely has come up in the past decade or two:

When you go to buy a car (once you have decided on your model/brand and desired features) do you look for the best price (or the person who throws in the most extras) at various dealerships, or do you just go to the closest FLCD (Friendly Local Car Dealer) and just pay the MSRP on that car?

Or how about another one:

When you buy an appliance (dishwasher, fridge, oven, etc), assuming it isn't an emergency situation where you NEED IT NOW, do you wait for a 4th of July/Memorial Day/Labor Day sale? Or do you just march in to your local Sears and drop full MSRP $ on it?

I know I tend to look for the best price (from a reputable dealer). There is often a convenience factor, so I may be more willing to pay a few extra $ to stay local - especially if the product is something I can haul myself.

Now, even though the price point is a different range, this is essentially the same thing a number of people are saying. It is hard to justify spending MSRP when you can get 30% off MSRP delivered right to your door. Over the course of a year or so, you have likely spent as much on the hobby as you did on that appliance. So overall it is a sizeable chunk of $$.

If the LGS was to offer some competitive pricing (even 10-15% would be enough for many) or incentives, then I think there would be less 'defection' to online shopping.

But there are some differences here, one we are discussing about the added on fact that you are still using the LGS for it's rented out space. (non sales space is considered wasted space in retail. So they are renting out extra space for players to use.) When you buy a car you can't go to their competitors and get a free tuneup. You also can't buy a washing machine from Sears and get their competitors to fix it for free. Those benefits that those products have come with where you bought it from.

That is where we are trying to go with the conversation and it got side tracked with discussions about how they are exploiting customers. Have anyone asked what the profit margin is of a Game Store? It's not that high. In fact if it wasn't for Magic players most of them would have gone out of business long ago. That game saved the LGS scenes around the world.

From the sounds of it It feels like once again people are arguing about weather you should go for a cheaper price while leaving out the fact you use another source for gaming for free if you do so.

So let's get it back on subject. That's what we are discussing, not weather weather buying online is a smarter choice. That's not the main issue.

Seeing as most of the people in this discussion seem to be in their 30-40s, how about a different RL question that most likely has come up in the past decade or two:

When you go to buy a car (once you have decided on your model/brand and desired features) do you look for the best price (or the person who throws in the most extras) at various dealerships, or do you just go to the closest FLCD (Friendly Local Car Dealer) and just pay the MSRP on that car?

Or how about another one:

When you buy an appliance (dishwasher, fridge, oven, etc), assuming it isn't an emergency situation where you NEED IT NOW, do you wait for a 4th of July/Memorial Day/Labor Day sale? Or do you just march in to your local Sears and drop full MSRP $ on it?

I know I tend to look for the best price (from a reputable dealer). There is often a convenience factor, so I may be more willing to pay a few extra $ to stay local - especially if the product is something I can haul myself.

Now, even though the price point is a different range, this is essentially the same thing a number of people are saying. It is hard to justify spending MSRP when you can get 30% off MSRP delivered right to your door. Over the course of a year or so, you have likely spent as much on the hobby as you did on that appliance. So overall it is a sizeable chunk of $$.

If the LGS was to offer some competitive pricing (even 10-15% would be enough for many) or incentives, then I think there would be less 'defection' to online shopping.

That's an odd analogy since you generally don't intend to use your nearest car dealer as a hobby center where you stop by every other week to socialize with others into the same hobbies.

My 2 cents on this discussion: If, like me, you don't really participate in using your local gamestore as a 'clubhouse' or social center, but instead only collect the miniatures and/or only play with friends at home etc. then you should absolutely buy the stuff online for the cheapest price possible. Otherwise you are a thief of your own wallet, or indeed it is a form of charity to pay more to support a gamestore you rarely/never visit.

However if you do plan to be in your local gamestore regularly and it holds (social) meaning to you (in the same way many people have a local bar they use as a social center that they are willing to support even though they can buy their drinks in a supermarket for 1/3rd of the price), then you should absolutely be buying at that store for the higher price, in which case you are not only paying for the product and the owners salary like you would online, but also the rent of the building, the insurance, the electrical bills, the employees salaries, etc..etc.. Essentially you are paying for your hobby center to be there.

Seeing as most of the people in this discussion seem to be in their 30-40s, how about a different RL question that most likely has come up in the past decade or two:

When you go to buy a car (once you have decided on your model/brand and desired features) do you look for the best price (or the person who throws in the most extras) at various dealerships, or do you just go to the closest FLCD (Friendly Local Car Dealer) and just pay the MSRP on that car?

Or how about another one:

When you buy an appliance (dishwasher, fridge, oven, etc), assuming it isn't an emergency situation where you NEED IT NOW, do you wait for a 4th of July/Memorial Day/Labor Day sale? Or do you just march in to your local Sears and drop full MSRP $ on it?

I know I tend to look for the best price (from a reputable dealer). There is often a convenience factor, so I may be more willing to pay a few extra $ to stay local - especially if the product is something I can haul myself.

Now, even though the price point is a different range, this is essentially the same thing a number of people are saying. It is hard to justify spending MSRP when you can get 30% off MSRP delivered right to your door. Over the course of a year or so, you have likely spent as much on the hobby as you did on that appliance. So overall it is a sizeable chunk of $$.

If the LGS was to offer some competitive pricing (even 10-15% would be enough for many) or incentives, then I think there would be less 'defection' to online shopping.

That's an odd analogy since you generally don't intend to use your nearest car dealer as a hobby center where you stop by every other week to socialize with others into the same hobbies.

My 2 cents on this discussion: If, like me, you don't really participate in using your local gamestore as a 'clubhouse' or social center, but instead only collect the miniatures and/or only play with friends at home etc. than you should absolutely buy the stuff online for the cheapest price possible. Otherwise you are a thief of your own wallet, or indeed it is a form of charity to pay more to support a gamestore you rarely/never visit.

However if you do plan to be in your local gamestore regularly and it holds (social) meaning to you (in the same way many people have a local bar they use as a social center that they are willing to support even though they can buy their drinks in a supermarket for 1/3rd of the price), then you should absolutely be buying at that store for the higher price, in which case you are not only paying for the product and the owners salary like you would online, but also the rent of the building, the insurance, the electrical bills, the employees salaries, etc..etc.. Essentially you are paying for your hobby center to be there.