Simple answer: where can you get it cheaper?

Learn to get the most out of your money now, because it doesn't get any easier. I like LGS's too, but if the internet has it cheaper they're getting my money, unless said brick/mortar store is having a sale.

I don't think I agree with that. People will pay to play if they feel the facilities offered are better than they have themselves, and the asking price isn't too steep.

People will pay to engage with other people they might otherwise be unable to play with in a safe place.

The problem with building customer loyalty and satisfaction is that it had a monetary value as well, and the reason the FLGS are struggling is that the people buying the products feel the loyalty and satisfaction provided are too highly costed.

This is true, but it's worth mentioning that the asking price I feel appropriate is about $2 per game, or $5 for an all day session. Peanuts, basically. If a store were to try and turn a profit by charging people to use their tables, then I think they'd quickly lose the good will of the local gaming community.

I think a lot of FLGS had a captive market even just a few years ago, when online selling wasn't as easy and safe. And I think a lot of them still have the mindset that local gamers HAVE to buy from them, so there's no need to work on customer loyalty or satisfaction.

$5 for an all-day session? That's about $20/month for me, which equates to $240/year. That's a lot of money and money I'd much rather spend on product. If it was a situation of spending $240 a year to play at the store, I think I could swing that. But I definitely don't think I could spend money just to use their tables.

I've had local game stores close on me and it's no fun to suddenly not have a place to play games. Trying to hook up online to play in someone's garage in the middle of summer. Not fun. I try to purchase from the local game store. They offer $15 for every $100 spent. Every $10 gets you a stamp. I also started to collect the Star Wars comics and that usually is $10 a month to help me out.

I have ordered all my Epic stuff online. The price difference was just too great.

Whenever I'm really short on cash and I can get a significant increase from ordering online, I'll do that.

I have $50 now to either buy Wave 7 or Ep 7 Core set. I'm trying to hold off until LGS has Core set and then also get a Kihraxz Fighter, as well.

While I have had bad experiences with my LGS, there are some principles I tend to abide by:

Large orders (over $100) I tend to get online due to the convenience of knowing I will get the exact ships I want. All too often I want to get a large amount of things and the store is missing one or two. I like having a complete set of a wave, for example, and I'd rather not have to make trips back out to the store.

One or two ships specifically, I like to get from the store. It is usually to fill a gap in a squad or list I want to run, or maybe that ship just got reprinted and is on the shelf again. I also like to get all of my accessories that I can from the local stores such as mini sleeves, full sleeves, card boxes, and glue (if available).

For the FLGS to really shine, I think they need to alter their thinking a little bit from the norm. I would look at Team Covenant as a prime example. Their model is really amazing. I have no idea how effectively they generate money, but they really cater to their customers. I do not live in Oklahoma anymore, but I got to visit a few weeks ago for the first time. They have shelved demos for all of the games they sell and are available to demo games by request. I got to talk to Tim for a bit about the new Wave of X-Wing and how his Gencon experience was. I was interested in the Star Wars LCG and Zach came in later to actually give me a demo of the game. It was awesome. I had already ordered the core set online with a raider (large purchase), but I knew I liked the game and picked up a copy of Edge of Darkness expansion from the store before I left.

TC really reaches out to the community and caters to them not only in person, but also online. They regularly post tournament videos of the various games they have going on, they have unboxings of new products, they have interviews with game designers. Not all FLGS can do these things, but getting out there socially on Facebook and/or Youtube is going to be huge. They are going to have to put in effort to build a customer base and offer products that people want. If you have an amazing product to sell, you need to sell it to people and show them why the need it or why it is a great game.

A lot of these types of stores suffer from what I would call a multiple personality disorder of sorts. Do they primarily focus on comics and do table top games on the side? Are they a Magic shop primarily, but delve into the comic and tabletop business on the side? Do they host leagues and regular tournaments for games they have? Do they offer snacks or other food and drink? Is there space available for free casual play? There are a lot of goings going on in many of these stores and maybe all of them aren't done at an amazing level. There is simply too much going on and none of them can really be focused on. It might be best to just focus on the most important things instead of trying to do too much.

And the existence of threads like these is very telling that it currently doesn't work.FLGS need to be able to monetize the thing they have that Internet shopping can't. A place to play with your toys and meet new people. They can not rely on sales alone to pay for the space.

Yes, but if you monetize the playing space, then people just play at home.What they need to do is build customer loyalty and satisfaction, which is practically the opposite of charging people to play, IMO. Well, charging more than a token amount anyway.

I don't think I agree with that. People will pay to play if they feel the facilities offered are better than they have themselves, and the asking price isn't too steep.

People will pay to engage with other people they might otherwise be unable to play with in a safe place.

The problem with building customer loyalty and satisfaction is that it had a monetary value as well, and the reason the FLGS are struggling is that the people buying the products feel the loyalty and satisfaction provided are too highly costed.

I think a good fix would be something that would help in all aspects of the economy, except for the wealthiest.

Lobby government that will impose a minimum wage that will allow most people to not only be able to live above the poverty line, but also afford to be able to buy more into pleasures, like X-Wing, and be able to afford it at higher retail pricing. A raised minimum wage would also make places like Wal-Mart and Target have to raise their prices, and with people having more disposable income to burn on things like games, the game stores would be able to charge less for their goods, as they would sell more. Also, raise corporate taxes to a fair level, and give tax breaks to small to medium sized business. The little guy's could then better compete with the big guy's. It would work out better for everyone, except the very wealthiest of the wealthy.

The way we all hunt for the cheapest price is only natural. But we are only cutting our throats as we race to the bottom. Nothing will ever get better, only worse, if we don't change our ways.

Wal-Mart and Target could, at this moment, double the income of every employee they have, except CEO's, and still profit in the billions every year. Even if they had to slightly raise their prices. That's a fact!

Could you imagine how much better off we all would be? The X-Wing community would then truly flourish!