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.

Greetings all, small and tall.

I'm working on opening a little shop and would like to help my customers get a good idea of what to get and why depending on what they want to do with the hobby. So I've comme here, and other forums, to try and get as much imput as i can. My goal is to write up a e-book, a sort of buyers guide for every army out there.

So, for example, if you're playing a mechanized Tau, I'd like to know what you think about building that kind of Tau army, what to get and what you think are the best buys (not looking for prices) depending on what kind of list you want to put together. Right now I'm focusing on 40k, but will expand eventualy. Once I'm done, I'll send a copy to everyone that helped me out!

Cheers!

So, the first thing that everybody needs is a copy of the rulebook, and a copy of their codex.

No exceptions.

Ever.

The rulebook can be purchased in miniature form from Assault on Black Reach (or whatever GW's starter sets will be in the future), but they need to have a copy of some sort. As for the codex, there's really nothing to do but to buy a codex.

After that, there are a few things in common with every army. One of them is that players should start with 3 troops choices. Only 2 are required, but, with a few exceptions, new players are going to need more than that to be competitive in 5th ed. Plus, you can always use more, regardless of the points values. Along with this, new players are probably going to want to bitz order (you can do this for them) some weapons upgrades, as GW is usually painfully lacking. Imperial Guard, for example, requires you to bitz order like 8 plasma and/or meltaguns because the regular boxes of infantry don't come with these weapons.

Once they have a good HQ, and a few solid troops choices (with or without transports, depending on the army and on the lists), AND HAVE PLAYED A FEW GAMES WITH THEM, then I'd encourage new players to go out and look at some of the more popular lists out there on the internet, and combine what they learn with the experiences they've had with their basic troops.

Only then should they start considering support options, which you can then steer them towards.

The one thing I would avoid, if longevity is your concern, is to push people towards expensive, shiny things right away. The new players who tend to stick around the longest are those who begin by learning the fundamentals. Bringing nothing but "toys", and then losing games because they lost one or two ludicrously upgraded HS or elites choices is a great way for new players to become frustrated and bored.

Also, being able to pool players of similar skill and/or veterancy together (say, with leagues, for example) is a good idea.

OP:

Couple of notes:

1. If you're opening a shop to sell mostly 40k for now, you'll start a relationship with GW - and what you stock will be heavily driven by "stockist" or eventually "partner" status. These give you free prize support quarterly to put out to players for events to help bring people to your store.

2. What lists are popular should be expected to be largely irrelevant in a local community - in the grand scheme of things, the people who use the "popular" lists are few and far between. Better to poll your local players for what they play and what they'd be wanting to get in the near future as funds allow. Special ordering is going to be a big part of it.

Ailaros wrote:The one thing I would avoid, if longevity is your concern, is to push people towards expensive, shiny things right away.

Very good point, thank you!

Hmmm well I would agree that a rulebook and codex is required, maybe templates as well and dice if they don't have those. Next would be their army of choice. I would think a nice way is to explain the army in a bit of detail, let them find what they think is cool. Could try and help build a small list they can work from, get them 2 troops and a HQ of choice and set them on their way.

One other thing you may want to have a simple printout with basic info about each army and generally how they play. One of the demo people at my local store had them and it helped me when I was selecting an army to purchase.

Havok210 wrote:One other thing you may want to have a simple printout with basic info about each army and generally how they play.

This is exactly what I'm trying to do, but in the form of an e-book that I could send to my customers on my online store. I'm collecting information on every army by asking people what's the best buys you can do with every army. Simple as that. Must admit I'm getting tons of feedback on every subject, so I'm not doing too bad yet!

The best kind of comment would be to talk about your army a bit adn about what you bought and why and so on

Oh my bad. That is what happens when I post while I am supposed to be working. :-)

For me, I play Space Marines. Assault on Black Reach was a great buy for me since it gave me a rulebook and plenty of miniatures to start with. If I was buying outright, here is what I would start with:

Space Marine Tactical Squad x 2 for the troop slot requirement
Terminators x 1 for an elite slot
Captain Sicarius or Pedro Cantor for an HQ (I can see value in either)

There are other things that would round out a SM army, but those are normally the backbone of my army lists.

cool thanks

One of the popular items I see are open box items. These are Battle Forces taken apart and their contents sold at a 10% extra markdown (my store does a 20% markdown normally, so this comes to a 30% markdown). This allows players to get stuff they really like cheaply, without having to find someone to split the costs. In addition, open box items sold individually like this tend to give you a larger profit than if you just sold the battle force (given the compounding discounts, I would save almost 50% on the contents of the battle force if I bought from my FLGS, remembering the 20% discount along with the battle force's innate discount. The FLGS is effectively getting 20% more per battle force sold by doing open box stuff like this) so everyone wins.

MechaEmperor7000 wrote:One of the popular items I see are open box items. These are Battle Forces taken apart and their contents sold at a 10% extra markdown (my store does a 20% markdown normally, so this comes to a 30% markdown). This allows players to get stuff they really like cheaply, without having to find someone to split the costs. In addition, open box items sold individually like this tend to give you a larger profit than if you just sold the battle force (given the compounding discounts, I would save almost 50% on the contents of the battle force if I bought from my FLGS, remembering the 20% discount along with the battle force's innate discount. The FLGS is effectively getting 20% more per battle force sold by doing open box stuff like this) so everyone wins.

Will do. Do you have any items that tend to sell more than others?

The FLGS I go to regularly runs out of AoBR models, everything but Deffkoptas and the SM captain (although Deffcoptas seem popular on the web, due to how you can make them into Warbikes). Other good selling items include Khorne Berserkers, Drop Pods, Space Wolves, and Rhinos. I can never get these because they're available on a first-come-first-serve basis (and they're sold out almost immediately). Tactical Marines and CSM rarely ever get sold, while the other items (like Guard Infantry squads and command squads) do better than their boxed versions.

My store use to do open box fantasy stuff, but apparently no one likes them, so he has since stopped. His best selling product are the AoBR tactical Marines (which he sells for 20 bucks, more than 50% off that of NIB Tactical Marines).

I dunno why, but every time I'm looking for them, there's NEVER any Drop Pods. Generally, most space marine kits sell well.

Guess you have to read all tactica threads yourself. One thread is not enough to summarize 10000 pages of different advice.
There is no instant expert button.

Whereabouts is this shop (going to be)?

It probably has already been said, but stating what squads can be used for on the tabletop is a great way of getting them sold. "You can always arm up your sternguards with combi-meltas for some good tank-bustin'!" things like that.

I also appreciate things like paint scheme ideas from the staff. helps me out alot in deciding what I want my armies to look like, you know?

There's another thing that the local gameshop does that really brings customers in, and that is clearance sales. While I know you cant do it right off the bat, it really brings in the customers. The discounts, though, generally run pretty high. My old GW stores also did "auctions" where, instead of just slapping on a clearance label, they did in-store auctions for stuff (like a bag of 10 OOP Plague Marines, a box of Old One Eye, etc....) Got some good deals and had alot of fun too (which kinda made me forget that I spent MORE on the models than if I had bought them somewhere else).

If you've got Necron players, you'll want Lords, Destroyers, and Wraiths. Just sort of ignore Pariah/Flayed Ones outside of special order as, sadly, they aren't very good with the current Codex.

Immortals too, my friend is an avid necron player and he adores his immortals.

Probably a Monolith always in stock to, just for the sheer presence it has!

Nightwatch wrote:Whereabouts is this shop (going to be)?

internet, for now


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Kroothawk wrote:Guess you have to read all tactica threads yourself. One thread is not enough to summarize 10000 pages of different advice.
There is no instant expert button.

If I wanted to write a 40k bible, then yes, I would have to do that. Right now I'm just trying to get as much advice as I can. It's working too.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

MechaEmperor7000 wrote:The FLGS I go to regularly runs out of AoBR models, everything but Deffkoptas and the SM captain (although Deffcoptas seem popular on the web, due to how you can make them into Warbikes). Other good selling items include Khorne Berserkers, Drop Pods, Space Wolves, and Rhinos. I can never get these because they're available on a first-come-first-serve basis (and they're sold out almost immediately). Tactical Marines and CSM rarely ever get sold, while the other items (like Guard Infantry squads and command squads) do better than their boxed versions.

My store use to do open box fantasy stuff, but apparently no one likes them, so he has since stopped. His best selling product are the AoBR tactical Marines (which he sells for 20 bucks, more than 50% off that of NIB Tactical Marines).

Yeah I noticed that AoBR has a good profit margine! hmmm I did not know Khorne berserkers sell alot, makes sense

I'm no expert, but maybe I can give you some advice.
When I started guard, I loved the looks, the fluff, everything. But when I went to a store and wanted to seriously collect the imperial guard, they would usually just do a list of things, which actually made me stop the hobby for quite a while.
1. They would try to sell me the most expensive stuff
2. If not, they would give me some good advice, but without explaining why. To explain this: I went to the FLGS, said which units I had and asked what I should get next. The guy there responds "Another box of regular troop guardsmen. Then after that another and another and another!" Even though I realize now that this would have been a lot smarter than blowing my chash on random units of various factions, I had no idea of the game and why I should even get more of these generic soldiers.
3. They'd tell me that I should read the rulebook a gazillion times befor even considering to play a game.

I think that's about it... So my advice to you, is not to do the same. Give your clients some basic information about the units, what they can do, why they are good and bad. Then show them some gameplay, let them have a taste of the actual game and why they should care about all the rules. Then, I guess, people will do some research of their own, be more interested in the rules and collect with a lot more passion.
If they had told me the potential of the regular imperial guardsmen, how to use them and maybe even shown me in a game in the store how the units and or the army work, I would have been a lot more dedicated.

hope that helps

Hmm, the problem is that #'s 2 and 3 are both very good pieces of advice. Perhaps the trick is to find some way to sweeten this.

40k has a huge degree of prepwork before you can play the game properly. There sort of isn't any way around this. Getting people past this stage (perhaps by letting them play a store army (you're internet only, I know), or something) would be a necessary thing.

Battleforce bundles are always good. An old FLGS use to have a special where if you purchased a battle force, HQ and Codex, you get a discount off the whole lot (sort of beginner set). It's perfect for beginners and much more sensible. Another FLGS I've been to gives you a "discount" card, where if you purchase a certain amount of stuff (roughly 500 or so) then you get a discount card worth up to about 50 in store credit. It's a great way to encourage purchases.

Also, Berserkers tend to sell well because in a CSM army, they're actually fairly good, and you get 2 extra marines while paying less than a normal 10-man tactical squad. Each Berserker is also 21 points, meaning you get more "points" per buck.

How about supplies? who has the best prices?

Mantic
And for printed GW media the internet

Kroothawk wrote:Mantic
And for printed GW media the internet

Mantic does not do 40k, with this comment and the last, I'd say you're not really helping

In my opinion I think it's important for you to know the rules of the game, which will allow people to ask questions via email. When I go into a GW or a FLGS, I feel a lot more comfortable if their employees know the game, I can ask questions and get a reliable answer.

Formae wrote:In my opinion I think it's important for you to know the rules of the game, which will allow people to ask questions via email. When I go into a GW or a FLGS, I feel a lot more comfortable if their employees know the game, I can ask questions and get a reliable answer.

Don't worry about that, I know the rules