How to run Friday Night Magic that actually makes money

Every Magic store runs Friday Night Magic. Most run it as a loss leader — entry fee barely covers prize support, staff hours eat the margin, and the hoped-for 'players buy singles afterward' conversion turns out to be thinner than expected. It doesn't have to be that way. Done right, FNM is the single most reliable retail driver in the shop.

1. Price entry where it belongs

The cheapest FNM in town isn't always the busiest one. Players pick their shop based on atmosphere, community, consistency, and prize quality — not £1 off entry. Under-pricing trains your regulars to expect loss-leader entry and makes it hard to raise later.

A defensible baseline: entry covers prize pool plus some store credit for the winner (not cash). Extract the margin from singles, sleeves, deck boxes, and snacks — not from the entry fee.

2. Pay out in store credit, always

Cash prize support is a direct expense. Store credit converts at your margin: a £20 credit winner typically spends £15-£25 of actual cost on singles worth £40-£50 retail. Credit also keeps the customer coming back — they have to come to your shop to spend it.

Storefront Pro issues store credit automatically from event results. Prize credit shows up in the customer's account instantly and can be spent online or at the counter.

3. Use the in-store hour to move sealed product

FNM players are the easiest sealed-product customers you have. They're already at the shop, already engaged, and already thinking about their next deck. Have booster boxes and preconstructed decks visible on the counter, not buried on a back shelf.

Run a 'during-event purchase discount' — £5 off any sealed product bought during FNM hours. It costs less than the prize pool and typically moves more sealed product than any other promotion.

4. Capture emails and phone numbers at registration

The biggest asset from a weekly FNM isn't the entry fee — it's the recurring list of names, emails, and phone numbers. Every week. For years. If your registration is on paper, you're throwing this away.

Digital event registration captures the customer once and ties it to their purchases, store credit, and buylist history forever after. After 12 weeks you know your regulars by name, spend history, and favourite decks.

5. Make pre-registration the default

Walk-in FNM creates staffing chaos, late starts, and uneven pod sizes. Online pre-registration (with optional pay-on-arrival) fixes all three. You know how many players to expect by Thursday, you can order prize support accordingly, and players self-select into your store.

6. Use FNM results to feed the buylist

Every FNM week, someone wins a prize pack and opens a chase rare they don't need for their deck. Someone else plays a deck that just got obsoleted by the new meta. Both are buylist candidates on the spot.

Having a buylist that works at the till (scan, grade, credit issued instantly) converts 'I don't need this' into 'here's £15 of credit, thanks'. That's the moment to move them to the counter for a sealed box.