"How much extra are you willing to spend?" Topic

I'd like to pose the question, how much extra are you willing to spend to support your local hobby store? Personally I am just getting back into gaming and have a shop about 30 miles from my home but a mere 10 miles from work. While I haven't had a chance to game there, it has been my go to place for hobby purchases. It is a great store that is 95% historical miniatures which is my main interest. I have consistently spent 20-30% more than I could have gotten the products online. I certainly don't have money to waste but realize the advantage of having a place to game and a place to look for advice. To top it off the owner is a super nice guy and very helpful. I consider what I'm paying extra not for the product, but for the service and think it really all evens out in the end. I hope everyone has the same opinion and shops local when they can, regardless of if it costs a few extra pennies.

I agree. If the local shops carry or can get what I am looking for, I buy from them. In the overall scheme of things, the price difference is usually negligible.

I try to make at least half of my purchases at a local store, both because I like supporting the local economy/shop and because the owner is my friend. I would buy all of my products there if he carried everything I liked and it was available to him to order.

I try to support my FLGS wherever possible – if he can get something, I'll buy it through him unless a ridiculously good deal pops up elsewhere. I guess a discount of 20% or more elsewhere is where I start to waver, but even then not always.

I don't "support" any business. They cater to me. If they don't cater to enough of us they disappear. Physical businesses are an endangered "species" and many of them are artificially emplaced anyway, such as those which are more of a diversion or hobby to the owners, or, those which have a physical presence deriving from Internet sales to begin with. The local shop, "Hastur", is like that, if I understand the gossip: the owner makes his money selling on the Net, and opened his shop as a secondary venture….

I try to shop local when I can. Don't forget sales tax when you're calculating what it costs to do that, though.

Here in central AZ area, when you combine state and local tax it comes to a little over 8%. Just read that Tennessee and Arkansas are even higher at 9% and above. Must make it particularly hard for b&m stores in those states to compete against internet sales (10-30% off plus no sales tax in many cases).

I do my purchases at my favorite gaming venue whenever possible. I find the store's mark up is less than shipping costs. So I get to help a friend's business stay around and save a bit of money while I'm at it. Not bad…

I buy from stores if they have what I want. I'm willing to pay full price for stuff vs. discount online to help them stick around as I find the gaming space very handy.

If they have it in stock, full price most of the time. If they have to order something, I might as well save 20-30% PLUS sales tax.

I moved recently and the FLGS in my new town carries pretty much only trading cards, comics, and a small selection of board games. Several times a month I take the two hour drive back up to my hometown for business and family matters and occasionally drop by my old FLGS to grab something or check stuff out. He carries the entire GW line, a large selection of FoW, hordes/warmachine, all the XWing stock he can get a hold of, has what must be close to a hundred board games and expansions and the usual card and collectable miniatures games. I was complaining to him that I couldn't even buy a can of primer at my local store. They have a dozen tables set aside for miniatures games but nothing for those players to actually BUY. My son plays DND there twice a week and I was going to pick up the players handbook. Sold out. we're going on two weeks now and either they have only gotten in a small handful and they're sold out by the time I get there again, or they haven't ordered them. They don't even re-stock the soda fridge!!

Enough of my rant. Bottom line is for me, I'll pay a little extra to have whatever it is immediately. Otherwise I'll mail order it, have it quicker and after taxes save up to 40%

Our FLGS provides gaming space and lots of support for our wargaming club so if I can get something there, I do.

I'm lucky enough to have a really good FLGS, that carries just about anything you can think of. For items they carry, it takes a pretty deep discount (30-40%) for me to consider buying elsewhere.

The Internet retailers I usually buy from are actual brick and mortar stores … just not necessarily very local to me (though there is one I stop by at to save on shipping when work takes me by). I also search out and stop by the FLGS that are local to areas where I travel for work. There are a couple local stores to my home that I frequent and others that I will not, both basically for the reason the OP says … the atmosphere.

I try to make most of my purchases from wargame shows. Even if I don't really need anything I try to spend.

None of us likes to be conned but otherwise my wargame spending isn't price sensitive.

Other than shows, the specialist stuff I get online and the paints, brushes and consumables from my local art shop (4 miles) and my sort of local model shop (15 miles) …

Closest of all to me would be a GW shop but I have only been in there once and (in addition to them apparently not having anything of interest to a wargamer like me) it had a really odd feel to it so I've not been back.

I can't see a local shop being viable in the UK stand alone – but if a successful online enterprise had a retail desk at its unit I'd happily make the trip.

Phil

Items I can buy at the local store, I do buy. I like going there and I like the instant gratification of just picking something off the shelf.

That being said, the places I buy from online ARE local stores, just not where I live :-)

I buy almost everything from my FLGS, which is 60 miles away.
If they don't have it or can get it, I usually do without. The Internet has no charm for me.

My local GS (certainly not Favorite) managed to lose track of 3 out of 3 special orders I made with them. Will not be (trying) to buy anything from them again.

As far as I know, there are no FLGS stores on Long Island.
There is the Warstore which is way out on the ass end of Long Island and is probably closer to Europe than where I reside.

There was a store called "Waterloo" way back when, but they moved to Arizona in the '80's.

It's ood that such a densly populated area doesn't have a single FLGS, as far as I know.

Maybe I am unaware of one?

There are a number of gaming stores here in Chicago but I don't have a hobby store nearby that carries products that I want or supports games I'm interested in.

The nearest one (Games Plus) that carries things I'm interested in is only 30-40 miles away, but it's a hour's drive when we have our club meeting there which is about every other month. The rest of the time we meet in member's homes.

I always try to buy something as a sort of "rental" fee for using their tables, and I do drop a good bit at their auctions (which give store credit). It's a great place, with good employees and a HUGE selelction, but it's not close enough to be local or for it to be worth it worth planning my purchases around. I don't consider myself enough of a regular or close enough to be part of their survival.

However, if I were closer to Games Plus, they would get nearly all of my gaming dollar for new items. Of course then I'd also likely be playing there more as well.

What's a local hobby store

Probably more than I should

I try to shop local when I can. Don't forget sales tax when you're calculating what it costs to do that, though./q>

I don't think the loss of sales due to sales tax is significant, as it's generally made up in the need to cover shipping costs from Internet sources. Once you hit the "free shipping" mark, usually $100 USD, then sales tax might enter the equation, but if you spend that much on gaming stuff on a regular basis, you're probably not quibbling over local sales tax.

Really, I think the B&M problem stems more from a long teem stagnant economy that simply doesn't provide for growth in hobby spending, attached to continually increasing costs related to maintaining a physical retail space. Energy costs have doubled or tripled over the last decade. Labor costs have gone up as well. Property taxes have gone up, despite lowered property values, and thus retail rents are higher. Yet average consumer income has plummeted. So it's more expensive to operate a retail business, but there's less available consumer income to support that business and offset the increased costs. The demand side is weak, and the supply side has been hammered. Result: businesses which might already be on thin margins simply cannot sustain themselves.
That doesn't mean that all the closing business were well-run and weren't having business issues building up anyway. You'll always have problems like that arise, especially in the hobby world where the business might be as much of a hobby as the product it sells. But it does mean that businesses that otherwise might have been marginally successful or at least self-sustaining will instead fracture and collapse, regardless of how dedicated and loyal the customers might be.

I've supported my FLGS as I've been able, in part because of the owner's support and service towards me. But even with a loyal customer base that actively purchased quite regularly from the shop, the ever increasing costs of business is resulting in closed doors. It wasn't the Internet. It wasn't the customers. It was the rent (triggered by soaring property taxes). There's nothing any band of local customers can do about that.

My local hobby store is about 10-15 miles away, and not conveniently located. That said I can get over there at lunch when I need to. They do not carry anything that I have an interest in and probably won't, they cater to CCGs, GW and FoW, which is what is popular and I don't begrudge them that they need to make a living. I do buy my Vallejo paint from them, and the occasional magazine. Brookhurst is about 45 mins away on a good day, so its just as convenient to order from them online. I end up ordering on line for the most part, because it is easier, and works with my schedule better.

Really, I think the B&M problem stems more from a long teem stagnant economy that simply doesn't provide for growth in hobby spending, attached to continually increasing costs related to maintaining a physical retail space. Energy costs have doubled or tripled over the last decade. Labor costs have gone up as well. Property taxes have gone up, despite lowered property values, and thus retail rents are higher. Yet average consumer income has plummeted. So it's more expensive to operate a retail business, but there's less available consumer income to support that business and offset the increased costs. The demand side is weak, and the supply side has been hammered. Result: businesses which might already be on thin margins simply cannot sustain themselves.
That doesn't mean that all the closing business were well-run and weren't having business issues building up anyway. You'll always have problems like that arise, especially in the hobby world where the business might be as much of a hobby as the product it sells. But it does mean that businesses that otherwise might have been marginally successful or at least self-sustaining will instead fracture and collapse, regardless of how dedicated and loyal the customers might be.

I tend to agree with this. The hobby store that I previously bought from, that was only 4 miles away, closed due to this, as far as I know but it was during the height of the recession and my area was particularly hard hit and still has not recovered. Unfortunately even that store had quit carrying historicals, other than FoW, after the original owner sold it. Prior to that I bought quite a bit from him. Even ordering from him rather than online.

I guess I am lucky in that I have several FLGS within range.

For the most part I try to spend $100 USD or more at a store when I visit. I never walk out with nothing.

I am not sure what is their main money maker, but minis is not the top of the list, I am guessing its CCGs. But most of the FLGS that I visit all carry GW, Warmahordes, and boardgames and a couple have a good range FOW.

After that it is starter sets for certain games here and there, so if I want something, I need to special order it from them.

FLGS 1 has 20% off for GW and Warmahordes, but their stock (obviously) goes quick. So if I find it there, I buy it there. Otherwise, FLGS 2 usually gets my money.

As I find I am moving more and more into 15mm. None are carrying what I want so I am going online for that stuff and the stuff they do not carry.

As far as I know, there are no FLGS stores on Long Island.
There is the Warstore which is way out on the ass end of Long Island and is probably closer to Europe than where I reside.

Or course, the Warstore has a shop in Riverhead, there's Men At Arms in Middle Island, Brothers Grimm in Selden, Gamemaster Games in Hicksville, Grasshopper Comics in Willston Park, Empire Games in Farmingdale, Legendary Realms in Plainview.

That's just from spending a minute or two on google.

I lean on my local shops for supplies, but seldom gaming figures. And when they have figures or models I want they tend to be very competitive with shipping and all factored in.

The bottom line is, in fact, I will not pay extra as charity to a small business owner; but the ones here compete in the lines they carry and that is all I need.

I have an FLGS a couple miles from me, but the ranges they sell just don't interest me. There's a large GW section, of course, an enormous FoW section, a smallish Warlord Games section, and shelves devoted to systems such as War Machine.

I occasionally make a purchase there, say a FFG boardgame, but for the 15mm fantasy/sci-fi/ancients that I prefer, there's diddly squat. I used to make regular HeroClix purchases there, but they've continually downsized that section! I get it, the owner has only so much space and has to stock products that move, but the result is that more and more I depend on web shops – accounting for probably 90% of my purchases these days.

Surprised no one's commented on OP's statement that his local store is "95% historical". Really? Where the heck is that? I have a wonderful local store and a couple more options within ten to fifteen minutes of me – but historical miniatures are limited in options at the first and, other than FOW, non-existent at the other options. I haven't seen a mostly historical store in this area (Sacramento) in over twenty years!

Always. If I see something I want I'll ask to get it through the store and don't mind paying extra for it. When I go in to browse I always try to buy something. Those little purchases add up. When it's books, I'll go to Barnes and Noble, get the ISBN and go home and order it through my local book store. I often have to beat them up to take a decent mark-up.

I'll buy it local if it's available.

Dont have a flgs so i do my shopping at shows, online or 2nd hand via forums etc. i tend to go for the best deal for me, unless its someone i know who i can buy it from, in which case i support them.

I recently found a video gaming store that carries some GW. Not my cup of tea. But, it is a start. Bad news is the owners have candles burning to keep the funky bo smell down. Eww..