Five bucks.
Director of Brand Strategy
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I have heard of at least one game store that charges $5 for entry to the game, but gives each player a $5 voucher toward a future purchase at the time. This guarantees the stores gets some revenue from everyone, and acts as a sort of prepayment plan for players who want to save up several months' worth of vouchers to get a hardcover or expensive board game or whatever.
Other stores charge a few dollars per player and give the GM a part of that as store credit in thanks for running a game there.
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You should ask your player base about potential locations as well, if you haven't. Turns out we had a couple of players with access to a church hall and some classroom space, not all the time but sporadically. Libraries and community centres might also have rooms available for less than a hotel conference room. (Unless, of course, one of your players is a hotel manager or something... we have one of those, too!)
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In southern New England, so far, only conventions charge. Once PFS picks up in certain game stores, they may move to a $2 per player charge with the money raised being given to the GM as store credit. For now we rarely run more than 1 table a week or 2 tables per slot for a monthly game day so there is still plenty of space for magic players.
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Thank you all so much for the information. The closest place to play as far as a game shop closes at 8PM each night and I do not have room at my house to play. I may have to have my group rent a hotel conference room once a week or once everyother week or something.
Sarstony,
You will find that hotel conference rooms are very expensive. I recommend you think out of the box. Are there restaurants or bars in your town that stay open late on weeknights? Do a little scouting around. If you can find a restaurant with a private or semi-private room that has hours until 11pm or later, approach the manager about hosting an event. Chances are if your players agree to order an entree or a few drinks over the course of the evening, the restaurant will welcome the extra patrons who otherwise would not be coming in. There may not even be a charge for the room, seeing that it would otherwise be going unused on a weeknight. I have had great success in two places using this approach. You have to be willing to step outside of your comfort zone a bit in order to make the 'sales pitch' to the manager, but you might be surprised how welcoming a restaurant or bar will be for some extra business on a slow week night.
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To add on to Doug's post. A place that is common for my area is a grocery store. We have one that is very large, plenty of tables, and fairly secluded "Mezzanine". So, check out your local grocery stores. Just make sure you check hours, clean up after yourselves, and make sure the local management is ok with you.
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Has anyone ever had an admission fee for society groups? If so what is the usual charge?
this is an interesting proposition
Locally most all our shops have a strict policy AGAINST charging for "Casual" games.(daily sales, MTG and concession tend to make up for player space)but, I can see how asking a "registration" fee for a PFS session can make certain that players commit to show up, actually play, tables arn't over filled
and can go a long way towards getting maps, scenarios printed and the like...
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Here in Boise we've played in coffee shops, event centers for apartment buildings, game stores, homes, and at a local Pizza Hut, we bought about 50$ worth of pizza and got a whole room for us. We ran two full tables. It was a great event, we didn't charge but had plenty of donations for the food and space from the players. We also have a donation jar at almost every event to help cover the cost of maps and supplies.
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In Colorado, almost all of the game shops that run PFS (8 total I think), almost all of them have a $2.00 fee per player. This money goes to a $10 gift card for the GM. It is also understood that if you are on hard times and do not have $2.00, the fee is waived. This is only for organized game days listed on our Yahoo site. Pick up games and specialty games typically don't have a fee.
I should also note that there is no fee to be a part of the Yahoo group and PFS in general.
In the absense of a good game shop, be creative and look for some free options for space as noted in the other posts.
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At my Home game store, Toy City, in Keene NH, there isn't a charge to play. In Raleigh NC, a game store i have frequented, Game Theory, there isn't a charge to play.
In the past i have played with the New York Pathfinder group at their restaurant. I remember they were a fun group to play with, and it was nice, having snacks drinks and food readily available.