It's a store, a for-profit business. It is up to you to decide who gets your dollars, who has the 'gunfactor', which is a Dutch word that has no translation in English.

Could you maybe give it a try in English? I'm very interested! The Dutch words in the Ender's Game trilogy, used for classifying foreigners/aliens into how possible/likely it is to peacefully coexist were actually very important for my world view. I think they were something like 'raman' or 'ramen' and 'varelse' as well as another that I don't remember at all, need to reread those...

Gunnen (guttural g) is when you feel someone deserves something nice. It might not be the best choice, but you choose to spend your money at store x, which is further away and more expensive, but they are also nice guys. Or normally you support team ever victorious but team eternal underdog is having a great year, and you gun them the prize because it is right for them to win.

It is not the same as thinking they deserve it, that's too... active.

It is sort of the opposite of begrudge, but grudgingly is totally different in meaning.

Ramen, Varelse, Utlanning, Framling is what you were thinking of btw. Speaker for the Dead, great great novel.

I don't play at any LGS, although I will occasionally buy from one. Otherwise, I will maximize my spending power.

It's always okay to spend YOUR MONEY with whomever you choose.

There may be expected or unexpected consequences depending on who you shop with, but right or wrong don't come into it.

If you have a LGS you should probably try getting your stuff there unless they are simply to expensive. (or run by idiots/a**holes) Otherwise online is the way to go!

Now I personally do all my shopping at my LGS because me + creditcard + internet = buy ALL the 80's toys!

I really want to support my LGs but its not like its really supporting us. EVERY time we play we have to scoot tables around and move chairs (standard magic tables are too small and the LGS doesn't have a dedicated X-wing table) (there is a 40K table that's always on display that would be big enough!!). We frequently have to kick folks painting Warcraft figures to a different table. even though its supposedly a dedicated X-wing night. Then I have to go over the tables to clean them of the crumbs and spilled drink residue and wet paint!! on top of that we are frequently kicked out around 8 or 8:30 while "Magic" night gets to play tell midnight or longer!! THEN there are the prices 100+ for a Raider!! Pretty much the ONLY reason I play there is we have a better opportunity to meet new players. However the non-local LGS is cool and does have dedicated tables that are big enough for X-wing and I Always buy a ship when I am playing there!! as it also doubles as the entry fee for tournaments!!

Echoing what others have said, I tend to get epic ships and more expensive items online.

I'm all for supporting FLGS and I'll usually do it by buying the small ships at MSRP. Being $2 more expensive isn't a huge deal on an individual basis, and it adds up for them.

When the difference in price is >$20-30 though? I yield to the invisible hand of market forces, and make the rational choice of buying the Raider from an online retailer.

It's not like I don't spend the $30 I saved at the FLGS on small ships, though.

I really want to support my LGs but its not like its really supporting us. EVERY time we play we have to scoot tables around and move chairs (standard magic tables are too small and the LGS doesn't have a dedicated X-wing table) (there is a 40K table that's always on display that would be big enough!!). We frequently have to kick folks painting Warcraft figures to a different table. even though its supposedly a dedicated X-wing night. Then I have to go over the tables to clean them of the crumbs and spilled drink residue and wet paint!! on top of that we are frequently kicked out around 8 or 8:30 while "Magic" night gets to play tell midnight or longer!! THEN there are the prices 100+ for a Raider!! Pretty much the ONLY reason I play there is we have a better opportunity to meet new players. However the non-local LGS is cool and does have dedicated tables that are big enough for X-wing and I Always buy a ship when I am playing there!! as it also doubles as the entry fee for tournaments!!

Wow. My LGS has these big wooden boards lined with felt stacked in the back that you can set on top of the magic tables and secure them with bungee cords to get larger play spaces. These are used for RPGs, X-Wing, Star Trek: Attack Wing, and D&D: Attack Wing. Sure, we have to get the big wooden things out ourselves, but we didn't have to pay for the things.

And 100+ For the Raider? My FLGS sells it for $95. It's actually a pretty consistent 5% MSRP all across the store.

Sorry to hear your store is so shoddy. That's no fun. But you make me grateful for my store, Swedge.

It is always okay to buy online, but buying locally can support a good store and establish a positive relationship with them. Whether that is important or desirable is naturally up to each person's discretion.

It really depends. My closest "FLGS" is not really that 'friendly' to X-Wing players (or many players of other games, for that matter). There is space available to play, but it comes at a great cost. The store smells like smoke and cats because employees regularly smoke less than 10 feet from the main (only) entrance, herds of cats walk around the store regularly and get hair over everything, and nearly all of the merchandise is dusty. Any time I visit the store I say to myself, "I can do it better than this!". It makes me want to start my own business some day.

Now, the cleanliness of the store aside, the owners do not go out of their way to 'host' tournaments. They do not order anything for prize support and they do not offer store credit or products for tournaments that cost us money to enter. Essentially to play in a tournament, we have to organize it ourselves (provide a TO, set dates, get the word out, etc), come up with prizes ourselves (out of pocket), and the store gets the entrance fee... It's a terrible deal, especially when we could just play casually for free. I get that many stores do not TO their regular tournaments themselves but have people in the community do it, but the sheer lack of support from the store other than lending space is a huge problem.

The one exception to this rule was the store championship this past year. We held their hand through the process of getting the store championship kit so that we could have the tournament. The entrance fee was doubled for this one event, but we had prizes that did not come from one of our own people out of pocket. This LGS makes it very difficult to grow the community because of the environment and lack of promotional support. They have ships in stock, and if I need just one of something, I would go in and purchase because it is really all I have. But for any larger purchase I am going to be looking online for a deal.

Why pay to play in tournaments, pay full MSRP for ships, and have zero prize support from the store itself? They are really missing out on a huge interest in the local area by not promoting it. I'm doing what I can do lead a casual league of sorts to play at the store, but I'm afraid the tournaments may not happen in the future.

I really want to support my LGs but its not like its really supporting us. EVERY time we play we have to scoot tables around and move chairs (standard magic tables are too small and the LGS doesn't have a dedicated X-wing table) (there is a 40K table that's always on display that would be big enough!!). We frequently have to kick folks painting Warcraft figures to a different table. even though its supposedly a dedicated X-wing night. Then I have to go over the tables to clean them of the crumbs and spilled drink residue and wet paint!! on top of that we are frequently kicked out around 8 or 8:30 while "Magic" night gets to play tell midnight or longer!! THEN there are the prices 100+ for a Raider!! Pretty much the ONLY reason I play there is we have a better opportunity to meet new players. However the non-local LGS is cool and does have dedicated tables that are big enough for X-wing and I Always buy a ship when I am playing there!! as it also doubles as the entry fee for tournaments!!

Wow. My LGS has these big wooden boards lined with felt stacked in the back that you can set on top of the magic tables and secure them with bungee cords to get larger play spaces. These are used for RPGs, X-Wing, Star Trek: Attack Wing, and D&D: Attack Wing. Sure, we have to get the big wooden things out ourselves, but we didn't have to pay for the things.

And 100+ For the Raider? My FLGS sells it for $95. It's actually a pretty consistent 5% MSRP all across the store.

Sorry to hear your store is so shoddy. That's no fun. But you make me grateful for my store, Swedge.

I actually built a table topper like that and donated it to the shop hoping they would take the hint and build others... Nope.. mine was actually a DELUXE version with an area for cards and tokens as well. pretty cheap to make too.. I used peg board.. The non local LGS actually built 4x8' tables and they work great for X-wing and attack wing etc...

I always buy at least the first ship of every wave from my FLGS. The owner takes care of the X-Wing playerbase there and I'd like to return the favor. I've bought all of my Imperial Assault and Armada stuff from him as well and he's given me a discount on them even though they aren't normally discounted.

If and when I buy multiples of a ship, I'll get it online... unless I'm driving buy my FLGS or there for something else and I need an impulse buy.

I pretty much always buy from my FLGS or if they don't have it from Amazon. I am okay with paying a small premium to have a place that hosts tournaments, has local gamers and friendly staff. I have been going there for years now and the owner is a great guy so I am okay with paying a little bit more to have a good experience.

I'm going to be buying almost exclusively online while I play X-Wing. The closest store to me has the ships for decent prices, but it doesn't have much of a player base for anything outside of MtG because of its location. One that does have the player base is 30 miles away, and they jack up their prices to $30 for small base ships. I can't justify that price, so I'm going to continue to buy online from now on.

Use your discretion based upon your own personal circumstances.

The end.

It's really a matter of circumstance. Ideally we should try and support our local stores, but sometimes online is the only option. I have 30 ships in my collection so far, and with the exception of the Core Set and it's three ships, I bought the rest from my local store. Sadly, the game has waned somewhat in my area, and as a result, my local guy isn't likely to be getting any more stock in, because it seems I'm the only buyer now. So, he doesn't have any Wave VII stock at all and probably isn't going to have either. He has to buy minimum quantities and when I only want 1 ship at a time, it's not practical for him. He's got a small business to run, and X-wing has never been a big seller for him. Which I totally understand.

I hate to do it, but I'm going to have to buy online for my next purchase simply because that's where it's available.

Support where you play when it is reasonable to do so. I tend to buy most of my small ships locally because the price difference is worth having it ready to go on the day of an event. Along with the odd supplies like some sleeves.

But if the price difference is so huge, don't feel too bad for making the occasional buy online

I don't really have an LGS anymore, the one I did have closed down years ago. And then this year, even my local gamesworkshop closed down (if you consider local a 30 minute drive). Honestly Los Angeles/southbay area is horrible for this kind of thing, there is a huge area in the los angeles coast where there are zero LGS. You'd think with millions of people living here there'd be enough people in the community willing to buy stuff to keep a store open. Apparently not, as I am forced to ebay almost everything gaming related nowadays, the only place that does carry X wing is barnes n nobles. And they charge full price for their stuff...so i'm hesitant about it. Every now and then I can bag a tie expansion pack of any kind on ebay for around 12-13 bucks...with free shipping. The only issue is if there's an issue with the model/damage and I want to return it.

I don't really have an LGS anymore, the one I did have closed down years ago. And then this year, even my local gamesworkshop closed down (if you consider local a 30 minute drive). Honestly Los Angeles/southbay area is horrible for this kind of thing, there is a huge area in the los angeles coast where there are zero LGS. You'd think with millions of people living here there'd be enough people in the community willing to buy stuff to keep a store open. Apparently not, as I am forced to ebay almost everything gaming related nowadays, the only place that does carry X wing is barnes n nobles. And they charge full price for their stuff...so i'm hesitant about it. Every now and then I can bag a tie expansion pack of any kind on ebay for around 12-13 bucks...with free shipping. The only issue is if there's an issue with the model/damage and I want to return it.

You'll get better prices and less need to deal with shaddy people if you order from Miniature Market/CoolStuffInc

Generally, I buy all ships from my local store unless:

• They don't have the thing I need/want in stock and aren't likely to get it soon.
• The price difference between local and online is significant in dollars. (I say dollars, not percentage.)

My store sells all small ships for MSRP ($15 or $20), all large ships for about 10% off (I paid $36 for a Hound's Tooth yesterday) and all huge ships for just barely below MSRP (I think they have Raiders for $95).

On Amazon (I use because I have Prime, so I can get free, fast shipping regardless of order size), I can get most small ships for around $13, so the difference there is small. I almost always get these locally. Most large ships can be had for around 70-75% of MSRP ($22 for Aggressors, etc.). The difference here is larger, but still not too bad. Saving around $5 is usually not worth waiting for shipping and I'm willing to lose that to help out my store. Huge ships, on the other hand, are usually *much* cheaper online. CR-90s are $57 on Amazon right now, compared to $85 at my store. GR75s are $40, compared to $58. For that kind of price difference, I can afford to go to my local store and buy a small ship with the savings

Buy it where it's cheapest.

Never.

Nope. The answer is actually...

Always.

Not everyone is as lucky as you are to have any sort of game store nearby.

I will support the local store where reasonable, but there are times when the online price is just way better.

Players should not feel guilty for buying where it is cheapest.

The onus on LGS is to keep their prices competitive and to retain sufficient stock to make online a chore.

They also need to host as many events as possible with vouchers as prizes to keep the player base buying locally.

Every time I go to a store and play a game there, I usually buy something. A pot of paint or two for my 40k, a fighter for my X-Wing, just something to pay for me using their space. I figure that even a small purchase is better than just coming in, using their tables and then leaving without contributing to their business.

That being said, the majority of my shopping has been done online for X-Wing, since it is my side game to 40k, and unlike 40k, the majority of My games are at home on the kitchen table. I try to buy as much as possible from my local GW, since that is where I play my 40k games. The last GW in Burnsby went under, and if I want a place I can go any day and get a game of 40k, I **** well better support it.

I buy at my LGS in proportion to the time I spend using their facilities, actually a little more. I rarely have time to play there but spend about $20 a month there anyway.

I buy almost exclusively online. I only became aware of my FLGS from other users on this forum. I will buy things from them when I am looking for a small buy, 1 ship, or when they have a great sale. I also shop at them for other stuff, so they are getting money for my table time, just not getting to be my main source of ships.