Hello! I've asked my FLGS about this but I believe they have bigger fish to fry, so I thought I'd do some detectiving of my own.
If I set up my own subscription (Campaign Setting, in this case) I get both the physical book and the PDF, whereas if I place an order with my local store, I just get the book. Is it possible to set up a subscription "through" a local game store? That is, can I have my cake and eat it too - get the subscription perk PDF while still giving the store my money?
Hi Andrew,
We do not offer subscriptions through game stores. More information about why not can be found here: http://paizo.com/paizo/faq#v5748eaic9o9m
If we can help with anything else, please let us know.
Thanks!
~Sharaya
Shucks, but makes sense. I appreciate the reply!
Depending on how much you're prepared to pay, there may be a DIY solution. I organised with a local gaming store that I would subscribe through Paizo but amend my address with them to be his shop. He would then receive the goods, unpack them, clean off peanuts and such, ring me up to tell me they were there and I'd then collect them from him. We decided I'd pay him the subscriber discount (30/15/20 percent depending on the sub) as a kind of "handling fee" which seemed reasonable to me and given I subscribed to everything back then was going to work out okay for him.
Once we shook hands he then almost immediately moved interstate and closed down his business (before even the first shipment!), so I have no idea if it was going to be a lasting success. Nonetheless, there was a way - albeit it involved spending more money so that Paizo didn't lose anything and it was still worth it for the FLGS owner.
In terms of what was in it for me, the only real benefit was going to be a saved day (since the post office wouldn't leave me a "we missed you" note while I was at work, delaying delivery by 24 hours) and not having to deal with the packaging material. There's no denying it was a costly proposition from my perspective, so not for everybody.