Thursday, January 22, 2009
The Rare and the Exotic
Spotted in Frontierland at Disneyland. I thought it was funny. It sums up my love-hate relationship with used merchandise. I really want to have it. I hate having to buy it. Used games often defy the formulas and retail models that I love to rely on. It's "big picture" merchandise that helps out in ways that aren't always easily calculated. It's subjective merchandise, if there can be such a thing.
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I don't get the problem with used games. With a tiny bit of work and a small bit of overhead a store can set itself apart from almost every other store and provide a unique reason for customers to visit on a regular basis. There are two very successful game stores that have large used sections and both do very well. One is in the Bay Area and the other is in Madison, Wisconsin. I know there are others as well. The way I look at is I am willing to travel a very long way to visit a store that I know has the potential to sell used games. The reason is because that way, much like a used book store, I literally never know what I migth find. At a mainstream store that doesn't allow used games at all I might visit from time to time but frankly I won't travel far or out of my way to do so as I can find whatever they have at most any game store. At those stores that I frequent that have a healthy and regular used game section I have established a relationship in which I now buy almost everything I want new from them as well simply because they provide a service that is so valuable to me I am eager to continue supporting them in any way that I can.
ReplyDeleteAs a final comment it was mentioned last week the BDG doesn't offer or take used board games, yet I visited the store on the weekend and found a used board game that was newly put on the shelf and it wasn't there previously.
We don't buy used board games.
ReplyDeleteDo you take them for credit? I'm trying to figure out how come there were used board games in the used section last time I was in the store.
ReplyDeleteDonations to a good home.
ReplyDeleteDonations? There were price tags on the used board games I saw.
ReplyDeleteI'm betting if you bring in your high-quality used games to donate to BDG, they will be happy to put price tags on them as well.
ReplyDeleteMany people will give them to us rather than throw them in the trash, knowing we'll sell them to someone who wants them.
ReplyDeleteOk, so you don't BUY used board games but you will TAKE them for free and sell them to your customers. Frankly I don't care if you find them in the dumpster, I just want to know if I can consider BDG a regular source of used board games or not.
ReplyDeleteWhat you can consider us a regular source for are board games at reduced price. Most of these will be left over from our ding & dent auctions. Some will be liquidation. Our selection changes constantly.
ReplyDeleteWe're not a good source for older, used board games that are out of print. Once I can afford two staff people at all times, then we might add this.
There are some very real concerns in dealing with used board games that don't effect other used products such as books: namely missing parts.
ReplyDeleteEven a simple eurogame tends to have around fifty to a hundred individual parts, especially if it happens to include a deck of cards. When you sell a used game you want to be reasonably sure that it's complete, but even a cursory examination is time consuming.
Even if you have an "as is, no returns" policy, you still want to do your best to offer a product that your customer will be pleased with, so that cursory examination is a minimum requirement.
Then you still have the issues of "how much is this game worth" that you have with any used product.
None of this applies to new products where you have a fixed cost established by the manufacturer and distributor, and if there's anything wrong or missing those same people can be held accountable.
Another option is to buy all used board games at a price that assumes missing parts, but I would get few takers.
ReplyDeleteThe used wargames I've seen and that I collect are often very easy to determine if they are complete, especially if they are unpunched. If so they generally come with a map or two, rules, charts, counter sheets and a die or two. In those cases it's very simple to determine. With punched games it's much harder to determine unless the game is sorted. If so you assume it's complete and price it accordingly. If it's just a jumble of counters in the box you list it as-is. I can't really comment on Euros as I don't play or collect them. As has been mentioned already there are other local stores that have huge used board game section and they appear to do rather well. I've never had a problem buying games from them and later finding them missing parts.
ReplyDeleteAt any rate I think this is and has been a good discussion. It feels good to be somewhat a part of the direction the store may or could go in.
btw, one reason I am so passionate about this subject is that there a scant few places in the world you can walk into and actually have a remote chance of finding used or oop board games. As a result some of us tend to lobby very hard to insure those few outlets that we do have are maintained to some degree. I understand the behind-the-scenes committments involved in selling used games, but I can also assure you that in my case at least I don't just scavange off the used shelf at the expense of everything else in a game store. For one thing the used games I look for aren't things anyone sells in stores anyway, plus I tend to spend lots of money across the entire range of game products at those stores that have used sections as that is what draws me in. I tend to spend at those places on other things as well.
ReplyDeleteYou definitely impact the direction of the store by participating here.
ReplyDeleteWhen you mention these other stores, two things come to mind:
•how long have they been around? I'm guessing a lot longer than us, meaning they have a larger customer base to support these games and can afford more staff.
•Do their games actually sell? A large amount of stock is no indication. I would be curious if it rotates briskly.