Have you looked at the gouging that some of the online merchants engage in on Amazon for shipping though? $13 to ship a book they list $1 above cost for normal ship times? I think it's a way to stop that myself.

I don't look on ebay but I'd be willing to bet there's been some 'not so FLGS' unscrupulous types gouging even higher prices there.

do you mean a date like this one for Lead by Example from Book Depository?

Edit: or this one for Nexus of Power? Doubt FFG would be that happy with this, or the now Grumpy LGS

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Rebellion-Example-Commanders/dp/1633442241

No like this, where these @#$%ers are charging a dollar above MSRP and tacking $13 on for shipping.

Sorry, i was more pointing at the release dates mentioned.

Edit: But yes, i agree, its plain annoying that thats how they make extra money

My FLGS store said Lead By Example is going to be arriving on the 3rd... That's the date they got from their distributor.

Street date for Lead by Example is 2/4.

If street dates fixes shipping price gouging then I would support that.

Granted I buy my books from FRP Games and they have very fair shipping cost, but I hate seeing the $13 on Amazon because you know someone is being taken advantage of.

There has been no street date policy for any of their Star Wars games previously. This is a new thing going forward, if true (this is my first time hearing it).

However, if it is to combat price gouging, that is reasonable. The other option is reprimanding retailers, which is complicated and probably not good for their business long term.

They literally just started. This past week was the first instance. I don't know the why, but I would assume it has something to do with Asmodee.

Thursday appears to be FFG new release day.

Asmodee did alter the distrobution concerning price for online sellers, so this is likely also related.

Interesting -

So I just got off the phone with my FLGS and they said that FFG is starting to street date their new products. Meaning, for those of you not up on the video game parlance, that if FFG says "This releases on December 2nd" stores cant sell it before the 2nd even if they get it early. She said that they didnt have one listed for Lead by Example (the one I was calling about), but this will probably impact future products.

Me, I have never been a fan of street dates. It sucks for DVDs, it sucks for video games - and now I hate how they're doing it for game books (although if I had to wager money, I'd bet this is an artifact of an X-Wing or Armada policy being applied accross the board). Ah well, it's a minor thing in the big picture - and very much a First World Problem - but I still don't have to like it.

Street dates actually help make it fair for big and small stores to have the same starting point getting out of the gate without the manufacturer having to make sure they all receive shipments on the same day. That way, even if Best Buy gets the latest hits into their stores a week before the street date, that is another week that the smaller stores also have to get the product in. This is even more important in the online world as, without street dates, large online etailers would have a massive advantage over smaller stores or local stores.

There has been no street date policy for any of their Star Wars games previously. This is a new thing going forward, if true (this is my first time hearing it).

However, if it is to combat price gouging, that is reasonable. The other option is reprimanding retailers, which is complicated and probably not good for their business long term.

Actually, there has, it's just not been public. (A buddy of mine showed me the "street date" for certain expansions for X-Wing.)

Street dates also help normalize tracking data to which markets show interest in a certain product - everyone starts on the same way and the stats are easier to track. It's more vital in the music world, true, but I would imagine it applies here too.

Insofar as the aim is to deter price-gouging, I'm all for it.

There has been no street date policy for any of their Star Wars games previously. This is a new thing going forward, if true (this is my first time hearing it).

However, if it is to combat price gouging, that is reasonable. The other option is reprimanding retailers, which is complicated and probably not good for their business long term.

Actually, there has, it's just not been public. (A buddy of mine showed me the "street date" for certain expansions for X-Wing.)

Are you talking about the Force Awakens core set? That is a completely different story.

I follow X-Wing regularly and my local store has never been restricted by dates.

Tbh I'm not sure it'll fix the issues with companies like Amazon and their pricing however it should make it easier for small retailers to compete as it'll mean that big on liners won't just put them up for just above cost a few days before stores receive them.

It might also be a step toward what Wizards have done with D&D; I get those early because my store had signed up to get them earlier than onliners and stores who haven't.

Tbh I'm not sure it'll fix the issues with companies like Amazon and their pricing however it should make it easier for small retailers to compete as it'll mean that big on liners won't just put them up for just above cost a few days before stores receive them.

It might also be a step toward what Wizards have done with D&D; I get those early because my store had signed up to get them earlier than onliners and stores who haven't.

Amazon the company isn't price gouging. It's people who sell through Amazon that are doing it. If people were ordering it through Amazon directly then you typically get the book cheaper in addition to being able to use Amazon's standard delivery options, such as Amazon prime for free shipping. But sellers through Amazon can charge different rates and typically also charge different (and higher) shipping rates.

If it makes life easier for the smaller guys, that's a good thing - the RPG and Board Game Market I imagine is pretty threadbare anyway. Mind you, I'm still annoyed by having to wait until X Date - but that's on me, not the distribution chain.

Or my FLGS clerk was wrong - who knows?

Patience thats all I have to say. Good things come to those who wait like saving ten dollars or even more.

If it makes life easier for the smaller guys, that's a good thing - the RPG and Board Game Market I imagine is pretty threadbare anyway. Mind you, I'm still annoyed by having to wait until X Date - but that's on me, not the distribution chain.

Or my FLGS clerk was wrong - who knows?

Pretty sure it isn't just your FLGS. When I saw this thread I called up my Bothan spy friend who works at a game shop, and he said they got the same information re: Street Dates.

This is probably just an artifact of new policy implementation, and hopefully will straighten itself after a couple of releases, but it would be nice if we actually knew these street dates. Okay, fine - make me wait, but at least don't leave me in the dark to the when this mandated date is, so I don't have to bug my FLGS every day asking if The Product has dropped yet.

This is probably just an artifact of new policy implementation, and hopefully will straighten itself after a couple of releases, but it would be nice if we actually knew these street dates. Okay, fine - make me wait, but at least don't leave me in the dark to the when this mandated date is, so I don't have to bug my FLGS every day asking if The Product has dropped yet.

So they're taking a page from the nonsense in the video game industry now, where there's a secret street date, or a street date for talking about the street date?

Please correct me if I'm not understanding...

This is probably just an artifact of new policy implementation, and hopefully will straighten itself after a couple of releases, but it would be nice if we actually knew these street dates. Okay, fine - make me wait, but at least don't leave me in the dark to the when this mandated date is, so I don't have to bug my FLGS every day asking if The Product has dropped yet.

They likely don't make it public because they can't always deliver. People have a tendency to take street dates as iron clad agreements to deliver a product, and as we've seen with video games, if they miss that date they catch heat from their customers.

My understanding with the game industry is that there isn't a lot of storage space to go around. Dates are easy to hit if you pick a conservative date and then sit on the product if it is ready early. That costs money. Instead, a majority of product goes directly to the retailers as soon as it is ready, while a fraction of it is held back at the distributor level for filling additional orders before a reprint (if any) is needed. This is why release dates in general are never specific or disclosed.

My guess now is that FFGs system is to say the street date is 2 weeks after it arrives from China, which means a ton of variables are still at play and an accurate date can't be set in advance.. Once it is off the boat though, there should be no reason not to disclose it.