Hi!
If you're running a business, regardless or your background, you are in it
for making money, once you lose money you will close. As they say even the
best hobby in the world becomes boring if its work. The truth most
successful big hobby shops treat it as a business first, this is not to say
that they are boorish people, quite the contrary, most successful stores
excel at customer service that's why the are on top. but it is still a
business.
Most mom and pop stores are pretty pathetic, scant inventory, no real idea
of whets available on the market except for the few things they favor, and
that's the problem, they stock stuff that they like because they think like
gamers and not business people and thus lose sales. Remember you are their
to cater to their tastes not your own.
Online retailers have no overhead is the usual rallying cry, so? They do not
have a storefront nor can they give the opportunity to the customer to view
before they buy, that's the store owners advantage. In addition they can
demo games in house or promote sales of little known games through in-store
playing. These are the strengths of a regular store, unfortunately for every
store owner who knows how to do it right there are 10 that don't. Those are
the ones that usually complain. Also most real successful stores also have
an online presence, where they discount, thus they knock out their online
competitors with sales from the store (at standard or near standard prices)
and discount online and makes sales there too. Pretty solid stores those,
always ahead of the curve since they play both sides.
There are two ways to obtain GW products as a retailer, through a
distributor or GW direct. When GW went direct they shafted the retailers by
lowering their discounts to the distributors. This means if you order
through alliance you get it at around 35%, pretty crappy compared with the
near 50% through GW direct. Of course GW requires certain minimums that most
small stores cannot handle on a regular basis. If you have a thriving GW
trade in your area then you can order GW direct and get the better discount
and thus make money. Online retailers usually order direct to GW since they
can afford minimum orders due to volume, but so can the larger stores with
both storefront and online presence. In the end gamers want two thing, low
price and good service and availability. Online stores more often than not
have both in spades. Most storefronts however have neither, poor inventory
and no discount. You can't blame customers for making the logical choice of
buying online when storefronts don't actively develop their advantages.
Stores like Crazy Egor, The source, 1701 Enterprise (name has changed don't
know the new one), Attactix and Brookhurst are REAL storefronts, but with
powerful online presence, I doubt that any online retailer can take these
guys on, because these are truly large stores and accounts. Of course I
don't hear them complaining. Only the smaller stores can't handle it. Is
that fair? Sure it is, its how capitalism works as well as evolution,
survival of the fittest. If smaller stores can hack it, I don't mind seeing
them disappear. If I am near one of the above mega-stores I always support
them, not because of size but because of their superior customer service and
huge inventory. If I am not with range of them I mail order at heavy
discount. Why waste my time and money on going to the corner shop? Heck,
these mega-stores mail order tot he whole country anyway and you can get it
from them that way through a discount. The bottom line is that while
storefront have a lot of potential most for whatever reason don't exploit
it, then they complain and exert undo pressure when other do good.
I'm pretty much anti-GW as the next man, always have been since way back,
even when I love epic so much, but when I ran my store you think I let my
opinions as a gamer interfere with business? Hell no. Not that I would gouge
people or sell them crap, that's part of good customer service not to do
that, but if a customer wants "X" and loves it who am I to argue? If I did
that he would not come back. One thing is to recommend, another to push. The
superior store does the latter. All games have merit, regardless of our
opinions, to "put down" a customer because he favors a game we as the store
owner think is "crap" only hurts our public image and in the end the bottom
line, because that customer lost will surly go where his product is
appreciated and sold.
It's a pretty common thing for most small shop owners to sell according to
their tastes and dislikes, but unfortunately while you may still make money
its no where near the success of those store owners who have divorced their
preferences from their business practices. It really all depends on your
goals as a shop keep. In my case I one day play to re-open, but it will be
just a hobby, since my real job (medicine) will pay the bills. I know some
store owners like this, but that's a far different deal from those who
starve and can't pay their bills if they don't sell.
Thanks for the comments.
Peter
-----Original Message-----
From: quester [mailto:quester666_at_...]
Sent: Sunday, July 02, 2000 1:06 PM
To: netepic_at_egroups.com
Subject: Re: [NetEpic ML] The Discount Wars
hay peater
being a store owner your all wet
think ing ? only of money (
most game store owners are in it for the games
most of us are gamers first and seller 2ed
for ex. i don t push the new gw stuff becouse it sucks
the rules are for brain dead fools who can t think
past
there face
also we have the best in store gaming in the albany ny
zone of war.
but we can deal with the discount money pigs out on
the net who have no overhead and only there pockets
to line
also if there giving you a 40*/. discount there
fucking
you some were becouse that is what GW sells it to
everone at think of that ok?
Q...
--- Peter Ramos <pramos2_at_...> wrote:
> Hi!
>
> Those who frequent the news groups may have seen the
> many threads regarding
> GW and the war on online stores. As of August 1,
> 2000 GW will only allow
> discounts up to 20% from online stores or they will
> close their accounts. I
> am really not sure of the legality of this in the
> US, but the online people
> are running scared and no opposition is being made.
> GW wins by default. Of
> course GW may lead this but it is the regular hobby
> shops who are also
> applying pressure to the distributors to deal with
> online stores. Alliance
> distributions (a major games distributor) has "axed"
> online stores with no
> physical storefront. Gameshack a online store that
> gave 40% off on GW stuff
> is not distributor-less. This due to a rat hobby
> store owner who complained
> about him.
>
> Its getting pretty fierce and in the end we are the
> losers, since great
> discounts will soon disappear from the net. As an
> ex-retailer I do not
> subscribe to the notion that online discounters
> affect hobby stores. I blame
> it on the their almost universal lack of business
> sense that they may be in
> financial straits. In my travels through the country
> one thing I always do
> is visit local stores. I can say that in all those
> visits I have found TWO
> stores that really stand out, all the rest being
> rather ill-runned with lack
> of merchandise on the shelves or good customer
> service. Most successful
> stores have an online presence too and discount so
> they don't have to fear
> from the online-bogeyman.
>
> Store loyalty? My loyalty is to low prices and good
> customer service, of
> which I have found more online that at stores. In
> house gaming? I have
> played more on my own turf than a store, besides the
> reason to have in house
> gaming is to attract more business, not some
> altruistic feeling of helping
> the game community.
>
> What is everyone stance on these issues? Is your
> local store good enough? Or
> do you buy almost exclusively online?
>
> Peter
>
>
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Received on Sun Jul 02 2000 - 21:31:39 UTC