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So my local GW just started a new policy whereby you have to spend £10 for every 2 hours you want to spend in the store- whether it be using a table for a game or just modelling/painting. As someone who is in the process of building up the 4000pts worth of models which I have already bought and so will not be receiving this store credit I am pretty annoyed. I like to use the tables for gaming and painting because it makes the hobby more social, and besides that, there is the fact I've been buying models from GW for 20 years now and apparently that counts for nothing and I'm effectively banned from the store unless I buy more stuff. I should have my own seat! Anyone else experienced this policy and what do you think about it?

The GW near me has lots of tables, events, and open play.

Wow wow wow... can they do that? i have never heard anything like this..then again our store aint that big... but we have gaming days but not open days we got clubs for that gotta hear with our manager about it. Where's this store you talking about?

Call corporate and ask what store policy is on having to 'rent' tables. You might be getting swindled by the guy who runs the place.

Yeah, this sounds fishy. Ask GW proper for more information.
Hopefully they will put their lawyers to real use.

 phatonic wrote:
Wow wow wow... can they do that? i have never heard anything like this..then again our store aint that big... but we have gaming days but not open days we got clubs for that gotta hear with our manager about it. Where's this store you talking about?

I don't want to name the store specifically as I dont want to incurr the wrath of the manager who is actually a really nice guy but it is in a London borough here in England.

From what i understand each local GW is free to do what they please under permission from corporate to do business.

It also seems like a UK thing because that's where i keep hearing this kinda thing happens.

It is called store manager is afraid for his job and is doing everything he can to get sales. Get the regional rep and "ask" if this is the new policy for the store and see how fast this is fixed.

 Talizvar wrote:
It is called store manager is afraid for his job and is doing everything he can to get sales. Get the regional rep and "ask" if this is the new policy for the store and see how fast this is fixed.

^ this.

 Talizvar wrote:
It is called store manager is afraid for his job and is doing everything he can to get sales. Get the regional rep and "ask" if this is the new policy for the store and see how fast this is fixed.

Well he's doing it wrong. Putting a tax on tables will lose sales, not gather them.

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:

 Talizvar wrote:
It is called store manager is afraid for his job and is doing everything he can to get sales. Get the regional rep and "ask" if this is the new policy for the store and see how fast this is fixed.

Well he's doing it wrong. Putting a tax on tables will lose sales, not gather them.

I think you are both right. That is the reason he is doing it but he is obviously neglecting the fact that people make purchases while playing/modelling in store and if he pushes them away they will just order stuff online instead. It will probably raise awareness that GW models are available at a discount from many places online and then he will never get those customers back.

When our new manageer arrived from England he had some odd ways of keeping costumers at the store as in not letting people use the Paint station unless they buy something, not allowed to use any paint and said no to pickup games. After a while i belive he understood how he had it at our local as the guys who usually hanged around started to dwimmle down and at one event he made only 1 guy showed up to play. ( i was there to buy the new white dwarf) Well making the story shorter he changed the ways back after getting tons of feedback (still not fully back ) but once more there's atleast people there.

It seems to me some manageers have a irk to....Make the store ¨Theirs¨ i'm the boss here kind and i'm allways right but hey! the redshirts can't do anything about it.. (now blueshirts) Heck he even sold one of the old store Armies they had on display when they were gonna replace it..totall worth 7,5k nok at that time... wich is about 750£ i got it for 250£ So the badies can turn into goodies you just gotta give em good time and.. ¨feedback¨ and don't be the one with the annoying tone to your voice when you give that said feedback

My FLGS here in the states has a slightly similar policy.

If you buy stuff from him you can play on the tables for free. He also runs tournaments and special events but doesn't charge an entry fee.

If you buy stuff from the internet/ebay you have to pay to use the table OR pay his markup on the item as if you bought it from him. For example, a guy got a great deal on some sisters on ebay. After he paid the markup, he still paid less than if he bought them outright and the store owner was cool with him using them in the store.

pay his markup? man, if that doesn't sound like a combination of highway robbery and bribery, I don't know what does.

I can understand having a (small) flat fee to use the space, but having to pay a percentage of the value of whatever models you bring to the table? screw that... not only would I be playing elsewhere, I'd be telling everyone else I know to as well.

Paying the markup is a one time deal for stuff you don't buy from him. He's a stickler about buying his products. If you buy it cheaper on ebay how is that keeping his doors open?

On the other hand, he does the same if you buy stuff from a local gamer. THAT I don't agree with. He's made money on it once, now he's gonna make money on it again? No thanks.

he shouldn't have any expectations of making money off of a sale he wasn't involved in. that's just shy of extortion, really. a flat fee to use the space I'm totally fine with. but trying to collect money for transactions that happened outside his store is super sketchy. to each their own, I guess.

I wouldnt play somewhere that you had to pay to use the table, in any form.

I mean it is their place of business so I think it is fair for them to charge money. Just my opinion.

It is fair enough as you are using their store space and there will be wear and damage to their property. However it may not be the best business practice to tax people for just hanging around.

I think the best way I have seen a store make some extra buck was to rent out the front area of their store to a coffee/snack bar which their got a cut of the business from. I got people in the doors to try to convince to buy his goods (he used to keep a bunch of board games up front) and kept his gamer customers both happy and spending money that he got a cut of.

my FLGS is in the process of doing exactly this: setting up a cafe next door. I'm very excited to see how it works out for them.

It's a shame that they felt that this was the only they could get money out of the people who used their shop.

To have all these people playing with models worth hundreds of dollars which the store sees none of because of poor decisions that have most likely been made by the suits back at GeeDubs HQ must be awful.

evilsponge wrote:
Call corporate and ask what store policy is on having to 'rent' tables. You might be getting swindled by the guy who runs the place.

THIS!

One of the stores I go to used to have table fees. The crowd there stopped going and formed an independent gaming group. Store later switched management, dumped the policy and the people came back. Granted it's also was and still is an independent FLGS so their main revenue comes from MTG anyway.

pejota wrote:
My FLGS here in the states has a slightly similar policy.

If you buy stuff from him you can play on the tables for free. He also runs tournaments and special events but doesn't charge an entry fee.

If you buy stuff from the internet/ebay you have to pay to use the table OR pay his markup on the item as if you bought it from him. For example, a guy got a great deal on some sisters on ebay. After he paid the markup, he still paid less than if he bought them outright and the store owner was cool with him using them in the store.

Thats BS, the sisters player should have said "I wanted to buy them here but you dont have them in stock on the shelves so there wasnt anything I could do"

Our FLGS has a free to play policy. And the owner is a super nice guy, so when he says "Hey cool to have you guys down here today! You guys should get some chips or soda while you play," it usually gets us more amicable guys to say "Sure!" I probably buy a Dr. Pepper out of their soda fridge every time I go down.

It's amazing how honesty helps so much with these kinds of stores. I bet this GW guy who implemented the pay to use the tables policy didn't realize he could still make 2 quid off anyone who goes in the store by selling them a Coke and Butterfinger while they were playing. Not only would the players not get upset at "highway robbery," they'd probably be glad to have snacks available in-store even at a markup rather than having to hit up a convenience store before coming.

They are perfectly free to charge for the space.

Its a dick move but perfectly legal.

I never pay to play unless its a tournament but that is just me.


A better move is to have drinks and snacks for sale. Its a sneaky way to get some extra money off of people without looking like a jerk. Just about everyone will have some loose change in their pockets and its far easier to seperate them from that for a soda than it is to charge them to play.

Profit margin on snacks is also pretty huge. You can get upwards of 80% pure profit on them.

pejota wrote:
Paying the markup is a one time deal for stuff you don't buy from him. He's a stickler about buying his products. If you buy it cheaper on ebay how is that keeping his doors open?

The same way it does if people are using armies that they bought 10 years ago, from a different store.

It's a crazy idea. Just put a rental fee on the tables, if he's concerned about people playing int he store but not spending money. Add a 'members club' that grants free table use for a one-time fee. Sell snacks. Run paid events... And get over the fact that people will sometimes buy stuff elsewhere.

\On the other hand, he does the same if you buy stuff from a local gamer. THAT I don't agree with. He's made money on it once, now he's gonna make money on it again? No thanks.

What's the difference? Either way he's expecting to make money off a sale that he didn't make.

I really hope people stop going there... You cant encourage such behavior.

pejota wrote:
My FLGS here in the states has a slightly similar policy.

If you buy stuff from him you can play on the tables for free. He also runs tournaments and special events but doesn't charge an entry fee.

If you buy stuff from the internet/ebay you have to pay to use the table OR pay his markup on the item as if you bought it from him. For example, a guy got a great deal on some sisters on ebay. After he paid the markup, he still paid less than if he bought them outright and the store owner was cool with him using them in the store.

That's crazy. I would never game there at all OR buy anything from him.

Makes me feel lucky to have the games shop in my town. I can't believe that some shops are so ...desperately low?