3 hours ago, themensch said:

What we need is an FFGSW underground, where some folks go look at the FLGS and report back their inventory. Might be quite a bit cheaper than $130! I know two gaming stores within an hour that likely have that book in stock and don't advertise them online.

Spinning this off from the predictions thread, so as to keep it free of this side chatter.

So, the basic idea is this: if someone is looking for a book (lets say the coveted Special Modifications, currently running on amazon for a king's ransom), post a request here. When other folks go "Oh, wait - I remember that at my FLGS! I can hook that person up!" - and that kind forum goers can get the book into the hands of the needy without paying scalper's prices. Sound good?

**FINE PRINT**

- As this is a fan run venture, of course FFG has no responsibility if a trade goes bad. This is all on us.

- Also, don't blame me if things go pair shaped. I only started the thread, after all.

- When you request a book, please specify your country of residence.

- In the early stages, we don't have much of a Good Trading List, so keep an eye on the forum profile. Someone with 1,000+ posts and who has been around since Edge launched is unlikely to be a scam artist.

- FYI: Scammers love people that use PayPal gift or "Amazon Payments" to bypass the fees and because PayPal is not going intervene in the sender's behalf. A "gift" payment is just that, and not to be used for purchases = no PayPal buyer protection because you are not "buyers". Can't file a claim when you are "gifting" money away. For complete safety, add the 10% paypal charge into the transaction.

- All trades/sales should be mailed using "Delivery Confirmation". This is to protect the person sending the trade, as well as the person receiving it.

- If you have a good transaction, be sure to post something here for all to learn from.

- Another FYI: if you want to keep shipping costs low and time isnt an issue, consider sending Media Mail. You can only send books, and it'll take about a week to get there (depending on where the starting point and destination is), but it'll run about 3 bucks instead of the 5+ of first class mail.

There, anything else I may have missed?

I was just getting ready to create a new thread for this, except mine was going to have the snappy title of "Have a splat, leave a splat. Need a splat, take a splat." Alas, I'm slower than a penguin, but thanks for getting it started!

Surely we are not the first to propose such a system - I wonder if there are examples we could follow? I think a reputation system would be critical here.

Fantastic thread, no doubt about it!

Mr. Penguin, i do believe you might be a saint . You're certainly dressed the part!

I'll run over to my FLGS tonight and grab a list of what they have available. They've got some good stuff! I'm more than willing to help out, once I've dusted off my PayPal, but unfortunately I can only really send inside the US. Sorry, international friends .

Maybe whenever possible to minimize risk to both parties, you can try to simply put the person in need of the book in touch with people from the FLGS directly. This may not always work, but it could ease some concerns on everyone's part.

edits for grammar and clarity.

11 minutes ago, themensch said:

Surely we are not the first to propose such a system - I wonder if there are examples we could follow? I think a reputation system would be critical here.

We could steal it from something like blu-ray.com's trade forum: http://forum.blu-ray.com/forumdisplay.php?f=48 - which is where I stole bits of the trading rules. While I'm happy to start the thread, I do occasionally drift away for a week or two at a time - so someone else should oversee the Good Trader component.

(or if you guys are okay with sporadic and intermittent updates, I can try and keep up on the rep list)

That or one might suggest just keeping an eye on the forum profile. Someone with 1,000 posts and have been around since the game launched (like, pretty much everyone in this thread sofar) is unlikely to be a scam artist. I'd trust you guys with holding up your end of the transaction.

1 minute ago, kaosoe said:

Phee brought up a point that I think should be added. When you request a book, please specify your country of residence. Shipping costs can be quite a messy business. The same should be said for offering to purchase and ship as well. Knowing where you can ship to and what languages you can offer is very important.

Boom! Added!

Phee brought up a point that I think should be added. When you request a book, please specify your country of residence. Shipping costs can be quite a messy business. The same should be said for offering to purchase and ship as well. Knowing where you can ship to and what languages you can offer is very important.

6 minutes ago, Desslok said:

We could steal it from something like blu-ray.com's trade forum: http://forum.blu-ray.com/forumdisplay.php?f=48 - which is where I stole bits of the trading rules. While I'm happy to start the thread, I do occasionally drift away for a week or two at a time - so someone else should oversee the Good Trader component.

(or if you guys are okay with sporadic and intermittent updates, I can try and keep up on the rep list)

I don't have a problem with your timing but I'm not one to push responsibility onto people. Maybe we just start a google spreadsheet, limit editing to a few individuals, and then let read-only access be publicly available.

We would of course have to figure out how to respect privacy and whatnot, but we're all very smart individuals and we shouldn't have a problem with that.

Oh, okay - I didnt think about that. A read only google spreadsheet with some admins is a smart way to handle that!

I'm at work and probably should actually do some - you know, work around here - but if someone else wants to set something up and PM me the link before I get home, I'll go ahead and add it to the first post.

24 minutes ago, Desslok said:

Oh, okay - I didnt think about that. A read only google spreadsheet with some admins is a smart way to handle that!

I'm at work and probably should actually do some - you know, work around here - but if someone else wants to set something up and PM me the link before I get home, I'll go ahead and add it to the first post.

I don't want to be the president of the book club, but I'd sure like to help. Seems like I haunt these forums like a bad cold.

I additionally wonder how we would talk about money here - it costs money and time to do this, but do we take that into consideration in this exchange? Do we add a flat fee to cover gas and whatnot? I don't mean to make this more complicated than it needs to be, but it seems like this question is going to come up, and they'll be different for every participant.

49 minutes ago, themensch said:

I additionally wonder how we would talk about money here - it costs money and time to do this, but do we take that into consideration in this exchange? Do we add a flat fee to cover gas and whatnot? I don't mean to make this more complicated than it needs to be, but it seems like this question is going to come up, and they'll be different for every participant.

ALERT: This post could be taken as snarky or combative. I want to assure you it's not. It's just that tone is challenging on the Internet.

If getting to a FLGS to see what they have is onerous or a challenge, don't do it, don't participate. I've got the luxury of having definitely two, possibly three, stores in town that carry the FFG SWRPG line. I imagine there are others of us in bigger towns with a similar circumstance. I have no problem running the errand in my spare time to help other gamers without worrying about gas money or recompense for time spent. But if that's not the case for you (the royal you, not you specifically themensch) just don't participate. Don't charge other people a convenience fee - that's how $130 copies of SM happen.

It'll be different for everyone, but I imagine the transaction would be flexible. My FLGS is on the way home and I'm in there all the time and I can get a box from work without too much hassle (plus they have bubble paper and tape and so on), so in my instance all I'd ask is for someone to cover the price of the book+applicable taxes+actual shipping costs+any paypal fees. If someone wants to ask "Hey could you throw in a couple of bucks for some bubble paper and the box that I'm picking up specifically for this, that would be great!" I see no problem there - just so long as those additions costs are clearly mentioned straight away, before any money changes hands. . . . and they don't get too crazy.

"Could you cover the paypal, the bubble paper, the box, the baby sitting costs while I drive to the store. Oh, and lunch while I'm out and about. Kthxbye!" - that's the kind of thing that probably should avoided.

5 minutes ago, sonovabith said:

Don't charge other people a convenience fee - that's how $130 copies of SM happen.

I guess with transparency, a person is free to add on whatever the **** they want. With the provision that A) We will mercilessly mock and taunt any scalpers, B) the person on the other end is perfectly free to tell Markup Man to pound sand. It's a free forum and anyone can do as they wish (within the bounds of Terms of Service), but yeah - severe markup runs counter to the spirit of the thread.

3 minutes ago, sonovabith said:

ALERT: This post could be taken as snarky or combative. I want to assure you it's not. It's just that tone is challenging on the Internet.

If getting to a FLGS to see what they have is onerous or a challenge, don't do it, don't participate. I've got the luxury of having definitely two, possibly three, stores in town that carry the FFG SWRPG line. I imagine there are others of us in bigger towns with a similar circumstance. I have no problem running the errand in my spare time to help other gamers without worrying about gas money or recompense for time spent. But if that's not the case for you (the royal you, not you specifically themensch) just don't participate. Don't charge other people a convenience fee - that's how $130 copies of SM happen.

I'm telling Will Wheaton!

I'm just saying, I can think of 3 gaming stores "near" me that carry the books, but it's a 35-minute drive to the closest. I don't often leave the farm, and while it's not really a big deal for me to spend gas money on that, I recognize that it might be for some people and I want to address it right up front.

I'm hoping to head into town in the next day or two for an inventory of the closest store. Do we want to keep a list of who can get what, or who wants what? Or both?

Well, as the "who can get what" is pretty ephemeral, I was figuring on waiting until someone said "I need X" before making a move. Not much point to saying "I can get X" only to find that it's been sold before you can get back down.

Okay, I'm headed down there next Wednesday, the 11th, so get your requests in now, folks. I'm in the western US and I would prefer not to ship internationally but maybe we can work something out.

Okay, I've taken an inventory from my FLGS! Here's what available. Keep in mind, I'm in Denver, Colorado, and I can't really expect to ship outside of the United States, although anywhere in the US I should be good for getting something to you. If someone wants something, I'll dust off my PayPal account to work out payment.

Edge of the Empire Beginner Game (2);

Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook (3);

Enter the Unknown (2);

Suns of Fortune (1);

The Jewel of Yavin (1);

Lords of Nal Hutta (1);

Fly Casual (2);

Mask of the Pirate Queen (1);

Special Modifications (2);

No Disintegrations (2);

Age of Rebellion Beginner Game (2);

Age of Rebellion Core Rulebook (2);

Age of Rebellion Game Master's Kit (2);

Onslaught at Arda I (2);

Stay on Target (2);

Strongholds of Resistance (2);

Desperate Allies (1);

Lead by Example (4);

Friends Like These (2);

Forged in Battle (1);

Force and Destiny Beginner Game (1);

Force and Destiny Core Rulebook (4);

Force and Destiny Game Master's Kit (3);

Chronicles of the Gatekeeper (1);

Keeping the Peace (5);

Nexus of Power (2);

Endless Vigil (3);

Disciples of Harmony (3);

The Force Awakens Beginner Game (2).

12 hours ago, Absol197 said:

Okay, I've taken an inventory from my FLGS!

Holy mother of the Force, what gaming store have you found? There was never an inventory like that anywhere when I was there, and I was reasonably well-travelled.

21 minutes ago, themensch said:

Holy mother of the Force, what gaming store have you found? There was never an inventory like that anywhere when I was there, and I was reasonably well-travelled.

Umm...it's just the one I go to all the time? They're called Enchanted Grounds, a combo coffee shop/game store.

That was just what they had our on the floor in one of their two locations. I don't go to the other location 'cause I have trouble finding it, but I imagine there are copies of some of the missing books at that one.

26 minutes ago, Absol197 said:

They're called Enchanted Grounds, a combo coffee shop/game store.

I love shops whose names are puns. I wish we had a place like this where I live.

1 hour ago, Absol197 said:

Umm...it's just the one I go to all the time? They're called Enchanted Grounds, a combo coffee shop/game store.

That was just what they had our on the floor in one of their two locations. I don't go to the other location 'cause I have trouble finding it, but I imagine there are copies of some of the missing books at that one.

Ahh, that one was newer to me and I never did make it down that way. Looks awesome, I regret not visiting! Black & Read and Total Escape were the places I usually hit, but I worked up on that north-side corridor for many years. Wish I'd visited in one of the frequent trips down there to see my mother in the hospital, that would have cheered me up!

I've been to Black & Read a couple of times. It's great for looking around, but it's like a library, it's not a hang-out spot. Enchanted Grounds is a wonderful place to hang out, and I spend so much time there I'm basically friends with the entire staff now .

1 minute ago, Absol197 said:

I've been to Black & Read a couple of times. It's great for looking around, but it's like a library, it's not a hang-out spot. Enchanted Grounds is a wonderful place to hang out, and I spend so much time there I'm basically friends with the entire staff now .

Agreed, plus B&R is hazardous if you're not paying attention where you're walking, those stacks and stacks of books are a surely not OSHA approved!

We have a couple places here but nothing like that. One place downtown actually serves beer (!) but I have a better selection in my fridge that isn't an hour away. The place I'm visiting next week is nice with a big play area, but there was a MtG tournament going on last time I was in there and I could taste the B.O.

Yeah, EG had a huge weekly Magic tournament every Friday, but there's still enough table space for a couple of campaigns of RPGs and a few board games, and for a couple of folks to curl up with books/computers, without having to gag on BO.

Hence why I like it so much !