Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

the question is in the topic


OFFTOPIC!: what does the paperclip next to the thread mean?

Yes, a career in retail sales for a niche market catering to generally eccentric people is what I've dreamed of my whole life! =D

lol well I wanted to be the garbage man when I was young

If I could make a good living in doing scenery/miniature painting at my FLGS I'd do so in a heart beat.

Oddly enough,the last time I was in my FLGS a gentleman walked up to me and begin to ask me questions about Orks..
I'd never seen the man before,nor did I assume he had any knowledge that I owned an Ork army,but I answered his questions and helped him pick a few kits to get started with.
I then helped him choose some paints and washes,discussing various clan paint schemes,techniques for painting ork skin,etc.
When he'd made his selections he asked if I could ring up his purchases...when I told him I didn't work for the store we both had a good laugh after which he commented that I should.

No thanks. I enjoy having disposable income.

And the paperclip?

kronk wrote:No thanks. I enjoy having disposable income.

Exactly...that would be the biggest drawback IMO,there's just no way the money would ever be enough.

I thought for the longest time about opening up a comic book/gaming store as I loved both. However, I'd heard from many gamestore/comic book store owners that their beloved hobby becomes work and no longer is fun. That and I've seen so many stores come and go. Very few have had a long run and those that have are hard work! I believe you have to have a great people-person type of demeanor along with business savvy to make niche market items work. Gamers and comic book fans tend to not have a ton of money, are young with either no job or transitional states of employment. Not to mention the gamer funk!

Maybe one day when I'm independently wealthy...

I'd do it if they could afford to pay; I need money at the moment so hiring out free services isn't top priority.

Also, a paperclip next to a thread indicates an attachment.

I've enjoyed running my stores and not lost my love of gaming, going on 22 years now, but I think I might be in a minority of owners. Many of them do complain about gaming being work. I've never really figured out how they thought it wouldn't be. )

Work doing what you love is IMHO a lot better than work you hate. If I make less money running my stores, and working more hours, the trade off is that I'm not stuck somewhere in a cubicle doing accounting, or a secret underground lair mutating small children into willing minions for supervilians. I might enjoy the work more because I continue to paint and game, and read and collect comics.

It's not for everyone though. I've got some business background, some training in displays and customer service, and a Masters in Stats theory. The latter makes accounting, forecasting, inventory, and many other things involving numbers a whole lot easier. Without those skills I'd have some problems.

There's an old joke about making a million dollars running a game store. The secret is to start with 2 million, and quit when you get down to one million.)

mikhaila wrote: or a secret underground lair mutating small children into willing minions for supervilians.

Next time you come across someone hiring for this, please consider passing my name along. This is just the kind of work I would love. I can provide references.

I have thought about opening a game/hobby store too, maybe it will happen someday. The trick seems to be putting a store in the right location.

My wife an I thought about it briefly as Southampton has no FLGS (GW =/= FLGS!) but financially it wouldn't be viable nor was the location suitable.

I think working in a FLGS would be the best way to kill my interest in the hobby.

I actually do work at my FLGS running all of our wargaming events and associated products. I love it, I'd like to do for the foreseeable future, but I'd like to have a job that pays more than 15K a year...

Anyway, I've only found my love of painting and modeling to grow with this experience. The idea of impressing and inspiring the next generation of young gamers to play wargames and work on their painting so they can create and play with something they can be proud of.

I was trying to get a job at my FLGS forever, but no dice. However, I run a lot of gaming events, run the 40k gaming group, and work for them on special occasions, such as conventions and the like. As a result I get 20% off there, but no luck in getting a 9-5 job at the store.

Retail is hell, seriously stay away from it.

I don't have an FLGS i have a small GW store. an i did in my youth work there.

NEVER AGAIN!

It turned from a hobby into a retail job, granted the 50% off retail was brill, and the induction at head office? holy moley they give you a bucket and allow you to fill it with whatever you wanted (this is back in 98 mind)
however it was retail.

loved the saturday morning training and stats meetings, boss used to play Insane Clown Posse whilst we priced up and sorted the store

good points about working for gw in retail:
music is better then most other stores
relaxed atmosphere
hobby immersion

bad points:
its Retail, you have targets and you have to push
it does kill the hobby somewhat for you
painting up 2000pts of marines for the display cab in a week is KILLER, especially if directly after your asked to do another army...and your a slow painter.
sweaty teens - nuff said
having to explain to people its not a creche!
etc
pete

No. No.

No. Nonononononononononono.

No. No. God no.

First, because I had friends that ran a FLGS, and despite working their backsides off they ended up going out of business.

And second, because though I like to think I'm an expert at nearly every subject under the sun I am terrible with money.

As I sit here in my cubilce eating my "healthy" breakfast, nothing right now would be more appealing to me then working in a FLGS.

Dashofpepper wrote:Yes, a career in retail sales for a niche market catering to generally eccentric people is what I've dreamed of my whole life! =D

I worked at a place that had games, comics, toys, anime, and metaphysical books & items. Hows that for ya? To say it brought in an interesting crowd is an understatement.

It started as a meta book store/shop. Then branched into comics. When my buddy took over as manager he brought in the mini, card, and RPG games. Soon they were 55% of store sales. Problem was the owners meta friends (who rarely spent any money, just window shopped) gave her crap about all the non meta stuff, she lost cred with the locals, and opened a yoga studio/meta shop...funneled money from the old place then closed it down. Pretty sad really. Most of the staff was gamers, and it was by far the best games store in Tampa bay.


The employee deal of cost + 10% was great too.

If you're going to work at a gamestore; don't quit your dayjob.

evilsponge wrote:lol well I wanted to be the garbage man when I was young

seriously? Me too!


OP: Thought about it and really wanted to. When I enquired I was informed that because I played with the little men in the back on Saturdays that no matter how good my resume was I wasn't going to be hired. Now they've kicked out the tables and are moving to a location that doesn't have room and will no longer be stocking wargames.

Phototoxin wrote:My wife an I thought about it briefly as Southampton has no FLGS (GW =/= FLGS!) but financially it wouldn't be viable nor was the location suitable.

Out of curiosity, where was the location? Or are you talking about Southampton in general?

i always wanted to work in a FLGS but for the past year i have to say i cant complain about being an electronics repair tech, as i replair alot of portable dvd players and video game consoles(xbox360/ps3) and i have a computer with no website restrictions so 90% of my day is sitting at a computer surfing while taking apart something, or watching movies(more of the dvds i own are at work than at home lol) , or even "testing" a game system with some FPS's

i dont think that if i did work at a gaming shop that i would lose interest though, i just prefer to be in a tourney rather than hosting lol

Le Grognard wrote:If you're going to work at a gamestore; don't quit your dayjob.

It was a second job for me, part time. Gave me some extra cash, about 1/3 of which went back into the store.

I was planning to open my own shop, was pretty close to jumping in head first but decided to hold off mostly for money reasons. Just can't get the cash together to open a place worth shopping at, and I don't want to have a massive loan to worry about every day. Guess I gotta just keep buying those powerball tickets.....

i worked at my flgs over the summer in college, was pretty cool but i dont think i had any money left from my job at the end of the summer cause i spent it all at the store.

i got a friend now who owns the flgs, its his dream and the second or third one that hes opened ( the others he got bought out or sold) but its hard, and he is working a part time job in addition to owning the store for insurance and enough to keep everything floating. Its not easy.

I would never work for the LGS. I would however consider opening my own as I believe I could make it work.

Did it. If your managers aren't dicks it can be awesome fun and you develop really tight connections with the customers. That's the sum.