Report To The Stakeholders

[philreed]

Originally Posted by MazeMonster

Well played. :) OK, I can wait.

If you've not yet seen them there are two BGG posts with a peek at the new edition:

https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/4...ytest-set-spin

https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/4...-sixth-edition

[Celti]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

If those books still have a meaningful chance of selling in that place, why are they still on that shelf after ten years?

Who's to say they've been on that shelf ten years? Stock rotates, people sell or trade books, stores buy stock from other stores, and sometimes things just languish in a storeroom for a while until someone finds them again. It's not like the book goes straight from SJGames to the store shelf, then stays on the store shelf forever or until someone buys it. There is an entire ecosystem that you are completely disregarding here.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by Celti

Who's to say they've been on that shelf ten years? Stock rotates, people sell or trade books, stores buy stock from other stores, and sometimes things just languish in a storeroom for a while until someone finds them again. It's not like the book goes straight from SJGames to the store shelf, then stays on the store shelf forever or until someone buys it. There is an entire ecosystem that you are completely disregarding here.

If the shop trades in second-hand books, that's a whole different matter, and good for them. Otherwise - no retail ecosystem cycles that slowly. One or two 3e books would be a curiosity; a whole shelf-load screams "dust trap".

[Celti]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

If the shop trades in second-hand books, that's a whole different matter, and good for them. Otherwise - no retail ecosystem cycles that slowly. One or two 3e books would be a curiosity; a whole shelf-load screams "dust trap".

Just for the record, I've never been in a gaming shop that doesn't trade in second-hand books, and I've been in dozens over the years. It didn't even occur to me you might be thinking of one that didn't.

[Anders]

I don't have a stake to hold. Can I get one from W23?

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Owen Smith

This may be a UK/US difference. I've used three UK shops (all now closed) and none of them ever dealt in second hand books. They were far more concerned with trying to sell new stock.

I wonder if it's even a regional thing. I'm in the US and I've been to a number of game stores across the country, and I can't remember any of them dealing in any meaningful way with used games. It's far, far more common to see old stock on the shelves. The excellent game store near me which still has a handful of 3rd edition GURPS books on the shelf is as nothing compared to a much older store which was the first game store in the area many years ago. After a series of transformations (from a model train and other hobby store with a small game section, to an exclusive game store, to a comic book store with a substantial game section), it finally closed down a couple of years ago. And among the things they still had on the shelves were a handful of items (Ral Partha miniatures, typeset hex-and-counter wargames) which clearly dated back to those early days in the 70s.

But we're getting off topic. So, then: if files have to go to the printer in early summer for Car Wars to stay on its desired schedule, what does that imply for the Kickstarter? Obviously, it has to be over before that point, but how soon does it have to start? How will a more or less successful campaign impact what goes to the printer initially? Or is SJ Games planning a more conservative strategy than for the Ogre KS, with the form and content of the initial set more or less set in stone and potential add-ons in an advanced state of planing no matter what happens and the relative success of the campaign determining what else comes out later? We'll see when it happens, I guess.

[RogerBW]

Originally Posted by Anders

I don't have a stake to hold. Can I get one from W23?

http://www.warehouse23.com/products/...ic-blood-types

Hope that helps.

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by xlyce

... What I am saying is if you, as a player, want GURPS to succeed, it is on you, not the store to help it succeed, as Pathfinder/WotC games are easier to get organised and run.
...

On the flip side one cannot purchase something that the shop does not stock.

[Parody]

Originally Posted by Celti

Just for the record, I've never been in a gaming shop that doesn't trade in second-hand books, and I've been in dozens over the years. It didn't even occur to me you might be thinking of one that didn't.

Of the five games stores I've been to in the last year, only one deals with used RPG materials and that's a very small part of their business. There was one store in the area that was once big into used books, but that one moved a few years ago and doesn't do used anymore. The stores do deal in used products of other types (trading cards and comics for a couple and console gaming items for one) but not RPG books or board/card (non-collectible) games.

The only places I've bought used gaming items lately are conventions and Half-Price Books.

Yay, anecdotes! :)

[Rocket Man]

The second hand section of my local hobby store consists of two small cardboard boxes, tucked beneath the bookshelf of the newer items. So ... yeah.