Shops, Items, and such. GM advice needed.

[Shik]

I am a relatively new GM and am having trouble deciding how to let my players approach purchasing items.

How do other GMs determine what stores have what goods (dice rolls, similar to determining loot drops)? What if a player wants something a store doesn't have? Can they custom order (a player has suggested this) or do they just have to wait (which, if inventory is determined by dice roll, could be forever)?

I want players to have fun gearing the way they wants, but I don't want to start an amazon.com ordering service in game...

Any tips, links, or advice greatly appreciated.

[chaoseffect]

For a random shop the DMs I play with tend to roll out whats there (besides "common" magic items like Cloak of Resistance, Ring of Protection, +1 or +2 common weapons/armor etc.). If a player is looking for something in particular that's uncommon, a percent chance for the shop is usually used or the player can make a gather information check to find out where one is definitely (or not depending on the town size).

[Brad McDowell]

Black market.
Hermit in the woods.
Traveling merchant.
Gather information to find out that the wealthy family on the hill has some magic items they're willing to part with.

[closetgamer]

In my upcoming Reign of Winter campaign, I'm banning all Item Creation Feats except Brew Potion and Scribe Scroll.

In order to facilitate having the PCs "give up" all those Feats, I have insured them that they will be able to either

a) Buy magical items based on the GP/Item limit for the community they are in at the time. Even then it's not always going to be a given that the item will be there.

b) Commission Items to be crafted by NPCs. This will still use the applicable variants as option a). Finally, option

c) is that they can Craft their own base items, and then have them enchanted by an NPC as in option b).

This will allow me to fluctuate the gold involved if necessary. Economies change all the time and I think this will help me keep the game from getting "overpowered"...

As for the vendors/suppliers of said items/services? They will come in all shapes and sizes like Brad suggests above.

[nogoodscallywag]

http://www.wijbrandus.com/applications/app.html

This tool is excellent. It allows you to determine magical items assailable by city size.