"Asmodee (FFG, Days of Wonder) To Cut Off Online Retailers" Topic

The.makers of X-Wing, SW Armada, and others are changing their retail agreements, ostensibly to boost FLGS sales, but perhaps more to cut off online retailers that undercut Asmodee's retail prices. Mixed bag; good for the FLGSs, but bargain sources for expensive games like Xwing, et al., may vanish.

link

More along the line of – There is such a high demand for their product that they can cut the online retailers throats without cutting their own.

Usually this means for me no reason what so ever to even buy there products. When any retailer can't order one single item for there customers its time for the company to fold up and quit.

It will also mean there will be so much of this stuff setting on the shelves that the online retailers will not be able to make any money off of it just like they can't with magic unless they get it sub-wholesale.

Then there is this quote from the Inside Pop Culture site ( link ):

Online sales and mail order will be prohibited with exceptions granted for online retailers that "contribute either significant scale, unique service, or other exceptional differentiation," the company said. Those sales will take place under separate terms of sale from the Specialty Retail terms.

This makes me think they're trying to cut out those on line business that give those deep 30% and 40% discounts.

New boss makes greed is good decision? Wellll what's new.

Maybe not a good move……Now if they would have made core games still accesable for cheap prices but kept the New releases going to FLGS first then scatter them to online dealers after a few months it may have been better. Hook em with a cheap startup then gouge em with the follow ons.

Shadowcat20's idea seems to me like a good one. Need to "hook" the new customers, and few people want to put down $100 USD-$150 for a new game they might not like. That's why I'm not shelling out for Star Wars: Armada, never mind any new GW product.

Some important considerations:

• The FLGS may have been telling them they won't stock a product readily available online at 30-40% off list. It means the shop is a showroom for the online retailer.
  
• If they sell to a distributor at 60% off who sell to online at 40% off, the trade off can be much to their benefit to do this. Yes, they lose some marginally profitable sales, but they may pick up direct online themselves where they get full retail. Lower sales, higher profits.
  
• Some online retailers hold no inventory. You order from them, they order from a distributor, so they don't really contribute much but get their 20%. This may just be a drive to drive them out.

  This policy has been around with man for a long time. As an online retailer myself, I was able to talk dealers into selling to me because I held significant inventory, and did not discount. They could also see I did a lot of direct importing of unusual product.

That's why I'm not shelling out for Star Wars: Armada, never mind any new GW product.

I gritted my teeth as long as I could, but couldn't hold back when a certain online retailer let it go for UNDER half price. It has not arrived yet, and I have already bought two expansions at an independent B&M at full price. I am fairly happy thinking of it as loss-leader hardware to sell the software. What it boils down to is that I will pay MSRP for a boardgame I really want (and have several times in the last month), but may resort to deep discounts for on-the-fence items.

Following this news, there's been a lot of shrillness (imagine!), and folks comparing the move to GW's dastardly schemes. I will reserve judgement. It is sound reasoning, but I am skeptical of their intent. And either way, putting this particular genie back in the bottle is gonna be a bitch.

Mark has many good points.

Deep discounters are not really the problem, but few specialty retailers dare tell off the manufacturer about those Target, Walmart, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon exclusives and/or pre-sales they keep doing. I know several B&M stores that won't carry more than one or two of the X-Wing base box, but have stacks of the ships precisely because the big box stores *only* carry the base box.

If the retailers complain, and I'm sure some do, FFG and Asmodee only hear the words (online, discount) that aren't making them boatloads of money.

. I know several B&M stores that won't carry more than one or two of the X-Wing base box, but have stacks of the ships precisely because the big box stores *only* carry the base box.

But it's not like Target normally sells under MSRP; occasionally, they have a sale, but otherwise, no big discount. And what the heck kind of "designer" games does Walmart even carry?

"And what the heck kind of "designer" games does Walmart even carry?"

Like Target, it varies over time.