3d printing miniatures is great, but don’t forget about your local game store or fellow hobbyists and why they might raise an eyebrow…
So, what are we even talking about? Well, if you 3D print your entire army and never buy anything from your local store, but still want to play there for free, it’s not really cool. As it costs a lot of money (and maybe more than you would expect) to actually run a game store.
We recently saw a Facebook conversation about this issue and it got us thinking…
While 3D printing your entire army is cool, there are a few ways to actually help your store and not have any issues with your 3D printing hobby as well.
3d Printing Miniatures is Great (but, don’t forget this)
So, this was the initial post that got people talking about the issue. Basically, the OP was a little upset that he couldn’t play with a fully printed army. The store owner brings up a good point, if you are just trying to use the space without supporting the store, it’s not really fair to the owner.
As if you want to have an LGS, they need support, as we have shown you in the past games tables cost upwards of $100 a month in rent alone, meaning, stores have to sell about three times that to break a profit just for that space!
As you can see here, they talk about the idea that running free tables is actually a direct loss for stores, and they are right, in a way. It brings people in and you’d hope they would buy from you, but if you just 3D print everything, you really don’t spend money there. However, there is another option.
This is a great idea, if you want to run a tournament, pay for the space and make your own rules for a fully 3D printed tournament! Or, there is just another option.
If you want to use the tables and all the terrain, paying a small fee isn’t a big deal. Plus, this would let you bring any army you could possibly want, and no one would complain as you’re paying for the space. You have to think about it this way if you charged $110 a month for a table fee (this is actually to break even, not profit, we’ll show you below). Generally, stores have an average of a 30% profit, so, if they sold $330 worth of product (with overhead, replacement costs, and profit margin) it would only make them roughly $110. However, if they could rent out a table for $220 a month, it would be equivalent to selling that $330 worth of product with nothing to restock.
However, if you don’t spend any money in the store and don’t pay for table space, stores get nothing.
Now, with all this in mind, let’s look at how much running a game store can actually cost.
Hidden Costs of Running Your Own Game & Hobby Store
We’re going to start off by talking about your standard 4×6 gaming table. But to do so, we have to add in all space that the players use to walk around and set their stuff on as well. If you’ve played Warhammer longer than thirty minutes, you’ll know that there are a ton of players that go to LGSs with boxes on top of boxes of models. That takes up space. Once the players finally get their game set up, they have to walk around and use an area outside of the table.
For argument’s sake, let’s make the total space used including the table, the luggage, and the walking space 10×10 feet. Using simple math, that comes out to be 100/sq ft. Now on average, game store owners can expect to pay about $13/sq ft in rent every year on their store’s space. And yes these numbers obviously fluctuate based on location, and foot traffic (like a Mall store, etc) for sure.
At 100 sq feet, the monthly cost totals add up to just over $100 a month. How’d we get there? Well, $13/sq ft x 100 for the game table space equals $1300, then Divided by 12 months, and you get $108.
Now here’s the kicker. How many LGSs do you know of that only have one gaming table? If a store has four tables, that may be at least $400/month on wargaming table space alone which means they need to clear $1200 in sales just to break a profit on that space.
If you want to see the full breakdown of the average costs of running a game store, check that out here.
Essential List of 3D printing Hobby Supplies & Products
Do you think it’s fair to ask for players to actually spend money at your local game store for playing?
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About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
