Fourth Edition has not been kind to my FLGS. He hasn't sold that many copies of the core books (35 or so). Many of his customers bought the gift set at Amazon.com for just a few dollars more than he got the set from his distributor. In other words, at a price he couldn't come close to matching and at a price he couldn't really fault the customer. He said he might have done the same if he were just a customer instead of a guy trying to live his dream of running a comic and gaming shop. Complicating matters, of course are that others aren't switching to 4e at all. This wouldn't be bad except that (at least right now) they aren't buying the remaining 3.5e products on his shelf either. I see Pathfinder RPG as a way to help my FLGS, and I have been plugging it to him and other folks around the store, but some of the things that make Pathfinder great (free PDF download) aren't great for him. Obviously, he will have copies of the Beta for sale, but what else can he do, both in the short term and the long term? I have an idea that the Pathfinder Society is designed to help FLGSs, but I am unclear on how it will directly benefit FLGSs. My basic question is: how can he maximize Pathfinder to help his store stay afloat in this confusing time for gamers?
Thanks in advance for your help!
FYI: He sells comics and games, and he runs in-store games (4e, 3.5e, Warhammer, Heroes, Magic, Axis and Allies) weekly, and you can check out his website at the link below if you want to learn more about the store in particular: http://www.thecomicbookstore.net/
Marnak
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Fourth Edition has not been kind to my FLGS. He hasn't sold that many copies of the core books (35 or so). Many of his customers bought the gift set at Amazon.com for just a few dollars more than he got the set from his distributor. In other words, at a price he couldn't come close to matching and at a price he couldn't really fault the customer. He said he might have done the same if he were just a customer instead of a guy trying to live his dream of running a comic and gaming shop. Complicating matters, of course are that others aren't switching to 4e at all. This wouldn't be bad except that (at least right now) they aren't buying the remaining 3.5e products on his shelf either. I see Pathfinder RPG as a way to help my FLGS, and I have been plugging it to him and other folks around the store, but some of the things that make Pathfinder great (free PDF download) aren't great for him. Obviously, he will have copies of the Beta for sale, but what else can he do, both in the short term and the long term? I have an idea that the Pathfinder Society is designed to help FLGSs, but I am unclear on how it will directly benefit FLGSs. My basic question is: how can he maximize Pathfinder to help his store stay afloat in this confusing time for gamers?
Thanks in advance for your help!
FYI: He sells comics and games, and he runs in-store games (4e, 3.5e, Warhammer, Heroes, Magic, Axis and Allies) weekly, and you can check out his website at the link below if you want to learn more about the store in particular: http://www.thecomicbookstore.net/
Marnak
If you want to help him and use pathfinder, try running a weekly Pathfinder game there. You can show off the rules and you will be bringing more people inther that will be surounded by his product. That about the best any one can do. IF you do Pathfinder Society games, players get perks that they can use in game.
Remember that the Pathfinder Society will be using only 3.5 rules until the final PFRPG hits in August 09, so running some PFS games at your store seems an ideal way to keep interest in 3.5 products alive.
The desire to save one's FLGS is most noble! Although I have no sensible suggestions other than to continue buying and promoting Pathfinder through the store, you have my respect and my best wishes!
Good luck!
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Volunteer to run Pathfinder games at the store for free. If you want to make a cash investment that can help, spend money on printing copies of the alpha to give free to players who try PFRPG on a designated day. If you have the capital to do it, also offer some raffle type items for players who pay a small fee (the proceeds of which go to the store to buy those raffle items). Run Pathfinder games using the alpha and encourage players to come biweekly or whatever you are willing to run them.
Generally speaking, it is good business for a game store to have as many people in the store as possible. If they are there they are more likely to buy stuff. When this guy sees the turnout for the Pathfinder events you are running, he will be motivated to stock more Pathfinder product for those folks to buy.
It will take some time, but I think generating interest in this way is exactly what his store needs. You could expand this idea to events for any game you think you can get a good turnout for. Spread the word to your friends about the event. Advertise it at a college campus at their student union if you have one nearby. You could go to Meetup.com and set up a meetup group for Pathfinder in your area, and have the meetup site be at the store. Some of those events can get quite big and it only costs a few dollars a month to subscribe to the Meetup service.
Finally, word of mouth advertising is the life blood of the small game shop. Ask your friends to tell their friends and so on. Tell people at your church, at your companies softball league, or at your weekly poker game. Anyway you get the idea. If every person you tell just tells one other person about it, you can generate significant interest in a short time.
Hope all that helps.
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A few suggestions come to mind.
Start a Pathfinder Society game, or just Beta test the rules. That is the first step.
Encourage players to buy the Pathfinder Gazateer.
Encourage players to buy miniatures for their characters and paint them. Kill a few of the wealthier players' PCs to get them to buy a few more minis. :)
Encourage players to explore character ideas from other 3.5 books.
Encourage the players to start their own games, then they will want to buy more Pathfinder material.
Most Pathfinder items are aimed at GMs, so you want to convert as many players into GMs as you can.
You can offer XP awards or item awards from the item cards for doing these kinds of things.
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A few suggestions come to mind.
Start a Pathfinder Society game, or just Beta test the rules. That is the first step.
Encourage players to buy the Pathfinder Gazateer.
Encourage players to buy miniatures for their characters and paint them. Kill a few of the wealthier players' PCs to get them to buy a few more minis. :)
Encourage players to explore character ideas from other 3.5 books.
Encourage the players to start their own games, then they will want to buy more Pathfinder material.
Most Pathfinder items are aimed at GMs, so you want to convert as many players into GMs as you can.
You can offer XP awards or item awards from the item cards for doing these kinds of things.
But make sure you tie in your FLGS when you do this. If the people in your game ask for these things from the FLGS there is a double win for Paizo and the store owner.
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oh yeah that was the idea I just didn't say so.
You want them to buy everything there at the store.
Another idea for miniature sales is you are sitting there with the map and their minis and you lay down a nickel for the bad, guy and say "sure wish I had a figure of a succubus for this fight. 100XP if anyone has one." And watch the mad dash to the counter to buy one.
Chief Technical Officer
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I have an idea that the Pathfinder Society is designed to help FLGSs, but I am unclear on how it will directly benefit FLGSs.
The most obvious way is that it gets customers coming into the store on a regular basis, which presents the store with more opportunities to win the hearts (and wallets) of said customers.
Many stores that run organized play also use the opportunity to make some cash off of snacks and refreshments—which works especially well if the retailer is purchasing these snacks from a warehouse club such as Costco that A) has low prices to begin with and B) doesn't charge sales tax to customers buying for retail resale.
My basic question is: how can he maximize Pathfinder to help his store stay afloat in this confusing time for gamers?
Marnak
The hardest thing to do for many retailers in general (myself included)is to anticipate the future needs of their customers, which seems to be the problem your friend is having. Obviously, there aren't many of us that can compete with online businesses as far as pricing, so the key is to encourage the social atmosphere, so to speak, of the storefront. Having a place for like-minded people to gather, especially in gaming, is a godsend for many of us, so organizing in-store events, such as new releases, one-day tournaments (with prizes), game days (or nights) are probably the easiest ways to get customers through the front door.
As far as encouraging people to invest in Pathfinder, try this strategy:
1. download and print out the free introductory Pathfinder/Gamemastery products, or use "store copies."
2. round up and recruit capable and/or willing DMs to run one-shot adventures, or mini-tournaments with said products; you can 'pay' them with either gift certificates or one-time purchase discounts.
3. give out prizes for mini-tournaments; these don't have to be the big ticket items, just cool enough to get the players' attention (the adventure path guides come to mind)
4. keep a small stock of Pathfinder/Gamemastery items on hand; "one to show, one to go" is an important retailer mantra. If sales pick up, you can always order more.
5. don't invest heavily in just one system, even if it is your favorite (ie; 3.5 vs. 4e). The key here is to boost sales overall. Keep ordering your core products, the ones that sell most consistently, and slowly add in the new stuff.
I don't know if all of this has been tried by your friend already, but my FLGS has been doing this for years (24+) and they are still around.
I appreciate all the feedback so far. I have compiled a list of ideas to share with the owner, and I am hoping that they help. He actually does a pretty good job with the social atmosphere. Lots of folks play as part of the in-house games, so many that restrictions had to be put in place on playing in multiple in-store games. Still, we had 18 or so folks for the last DND session. The problem is that all these players cough up relatively few bucks to the store. The exception are the Warhammer player who, while fewer in number, contribute greatly to the store's economic success. I am hopeful that some of the ideas about encouraging players to spend more (snacks, minis, etc.) will help out. Also, I am thinking about having the store's best GM give a session on "The Art of Running a Game" to encourage players to become GMs, since GMs are the main purchasers of materials and products. Finally, I will certainly see about arranging both an in-store Pathfinder Society game and maybe a separate Pathfinder Beta test game. Thanks for all the ideas, and please continue sharing if you can think of anything else.
Marnak
I have an idea that the Pathfinder Society is designed to help FLGSs, but I am unclear on how it will directly benefit FLGSs.The most obvious way is that it gets customers coming into the store on a regular basis, which presents the store with more opportunities to win the hearts (and wallets) of said customers.
Many stores that run organized play also use the opportunity to make some cash off of snacks and refreshments—which works especially well if the retailer is purchasing these snacks from a warehouse club such as Costco that A) has low prices to begin with and B) doesn't charge sales tax to customers buying for retail resale.
This is a fact.
I almost never end up buying any books from my local store, but I drop 5-10 probably every time I walk in the door on food, drinks, dice, whatnot.