"WizKids Pulling a Games Workshop with Internet Sales." Topic

Below are some edited snippets from an interview with WK. The new Alliance and Diamond exclusive distributorships seem like a way to cut out Internet sales and focus on b&m sales, think they are WK's salvation. I can't imagine they would be but what do I know. I only buy single figs anymore on the Internet, not bosters.

ICv2 also has an article about reaction from other distributors that WK has axed as part of the deal. The reaction from ACD is very interesting, calling it a slap in the face when they backed WizKids in the beginning when no one else would. No honor among theives and game businessmen, I guess.

link

Is one of your goals to control access to your product by Internet discounters?

Chandra: Our products are best served when they're sold in brick and mortar stores because of the interaction that that venue provides. We have a policy, and we're going to make sure that we implement the policy that Alliance and Diamond are selling to brick and mortar stores. That doesn't mean that our products will not end up being on the Internet.
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Do you have an official policy not to sell to Internet discounters?

Hauck: I think you're familiar with the legalities around price and how we can conduct ourselves: we can't dictate price, but we can define channels of distribution. We are very committed to making sure that our products are sold through brick and mortar stores

I think that will be the nail in the coffin for Wizkids. Just like GW, I can almost guarantee they will loose tons of sales over this. I can't count the number of people I know who quit buying GW stuff because they couldn't get it online easily and cheaper anymore.

The only thing they've got going for them is that they aren't quite as outrageously priced as GW is.

Delthos, I think my wife would disagree with you on the issue of WizKids pricing versus GW's pricing. She considers my move from Heroclix to miniatures a financial blessing, as I do not spend nearly as much on minis as I did on Heroclix. I think is has to do with the collectible aspect of Wizkids' games and the "have to have them all" mentality. At least with GW or any other mini manufacturer you can make up an army list and then buy only what you need for that list or that army. With Wizkids, you either have to buy a whole lot of boosters filled with doubles (and triples and quadruples) or pay grossly inflated prices on eBay for singles. Either way, it's way too much money for not enough value. Anyway, that's my two cents on that.

As far as trying to restrict their trade channels, I do agree that it could affect sales to a point, but their main games probably have a fairly loyal consumer base by now that will buy them no matter what. You can still find cheap GW stuff online, and I imagine that people will quickly find a way to do the same with Wizkids' products.

What will 'hurt' is folks who don't have a 'B&M' store close by and don't have other optins but internet….

I like B&M stores fine- but to willfully exclude the internet sales is stupid as EVERYONE I know only buys the cases they do cause they can get better discounts.

When I played mechwarrior my local store charged me well over $500 USD for a box. I prepaid the whole amount since I wanted to 'support my local b&m'. They forgot to order the box (even though I prepaid) and when a box finally did come in they only gave me half becuase they were concerned about 'customers'. 2 months later I finally got the rest of my over priced box.

Ah well Wizkids has been proceeding with heads firmly up asses since Crimson Skies and Shadowrun so this is no surprise.

I don't have any B&M stores near me. It was a hassle to find one to buy my Davey Jones ships, when I first started gaming "Pirates". I was happy to buy a case of "Mysterious Islands" over the internet, from Neal, at The War Store.

So I'm one of the customers that they'll lose – I might buy a case of a new "Pirates" release that marginally interests me (like "Frozen North") over the internet, but I'm not going to make the drive and pay full retail to get it.

Interesting that they (presumably) looked at the results of GW's similiar move and decided to imitate them. Are they seeing something I'm not? I thought the GW internet retail limitations hurt them badly…

"When I played mechwarrior my local store charged me well over $500 USD USD for a box. I prepaid the whole amount since I wanted to 'support my local b&m'. They forgot to order the box (even though I prepaid) and when a box finally did come in they only gave me half becuase they were concerned about 'customers'. 2 months later I finally got the rest of my over priced box."

Man-you are generous!I'd never hand over 500.00 to a hobby store. Those things go out of business all the time. I do support one store that allows after hours gaming in the basement, but I would never hand over 500.00.

I will still have them as I am both internet and bricks/mortar.
:-)

Neal

lol well the store was one that had been around for years- in fact is still in business today lol. They just dont get MY business anymore lol

I think they are a bunch of idiots ! Most distributors ask for proof that you're B & M ! Business L. pictures inside and out etc.Iam NOT going to open another account just for WizKids ! Oh and guess what Wiz boys:I HAVE ALWAYS sold my over stocks on the internet !What I think is this is a bean counter move ! Ship to one point for dist.and save $.Too bad thet are circling the bowl.

Back when I was financially care free (high school)…I'd pay my game store 10-20% up front for my order and only pay the rest when they, and I, received it. My orders usually ran from $200-500 then too.

Now I live in an area where it's a 3 hr drive to the nearest game store, so internet purchasing is the ONLY way I can 'restock' my lead and update my rules collection…or get other supplies. So I have to agree with the assessment that someone is making a marketing strategy maneuver the equal of Custer's Last Stand…

What's really funny here is that when Wiz Kids fails, all of you will believe that it was their decision regarding internet sales that was responsible. The seeds of their doom were sown well before with their cute little Horrorclix retailer back stab. Here's how it worked: a customer would buy a Horrorclix "brick" from his favorite brick and mortar store, you know, the ones Wiz Kids is claiming to support. The retailer would give them a coupon for their purchase to get a premium Jack the Ripper figure.

Fast forward. Wiz Kids now has the names and addresses of all these customers and sends them a coupon for an exclusive Aliens vs. Predator set that they can buy for $30.00. It will be available for $40.00 USD later without the coupon. Will it ever see an appearance at the brick and mortars? I know how much good will they've generated with me!

I don't believe that their internet decision will be the cause of failure…but it is a big nail in the box they're building.

They, much like GW, are basically dooming themselves with their high priced proprietary lack of product diversity…and generally cheesing their customer base off.

Bye, bye WizKids, and "Ouch!" again, Topps.

You'd think that so many forrays into fields other than "gonzo" trading cards would would have taught them a lesson, but there you have it.

lol no I think they screwed themselves years ago- as I said Shadowrun, Crimson Skies… they are generating as many stinker lines as successful ones and thats only a 50-50 average lol

I just don't get manufacturers limiting sales one way or the other. You'd think they'd want to sell in every venue possible and do weird things like make more money. Companies that don't deserve to fail.

I made the decision last year to go car-free so mailorder pretty much everything (nearest game store is a 45 minute bus or bike ride so I don't impulse buy). So Wizkids doesn't want my money -- well, they weren't getting it anyway, but it's the principle, darn nabbit!

Not sure how I truly feel regarding this type of move?

On the first hand, in a free market system let the cards lay as they fall. On the other hand if the industry does not get a handle on the failing retail sector it could spell disaster long term.

Rabbit

AS a former retailer, I watched as the Wizkids sales steadily dropped over time. In store events were the only way to force someone to pay close to retail price. It was always eye-opening to see the number of players in with their cases of product and they were quite open about the fact they were buying product at $5-20 over my cost for a case.

Internet sales are not being stopped. As Neal from the Warstore points out he will still be able to get product. Many other stores run a sizeable internet business in addition to there local operations. I honestly doubt that stores will see any great increase in regular sales as gamers will still seek out the best price, meaning the internet or deep discounts from the local stores and how many extra cases of a product is a reatiler really going to order?

The fact that Wizkids is finally making premuims, collectors sets and special events available to the retailers will be the greater boost for the B%M retailer.

Well, I already said this on another thread, but why not here too…

There's two differences between WK and GW that might not make this a bone-headed move on WK's part. First, WK tries very hard to promote in-store tournaments. That means they want you to buy in the store, and then play in the store. If you buy on the Internet, what's the store's incentive to run games? I mean, I'm obviously cool enough that having me in the store increases sales, but that's not true for all WK players :). GW wants you to buy in stores (or over the Internet from them), then go home to assemble, paint and base your figures, before possibly coming back to play a game in the store. Or you can play at home; they don't work the organized play nearly as hard as WK.

Second, WK and their Heroclix mean they make a lot of sales to comic book stores. I don't have their sales numbers, but I would bet they sell to more comic stores than most other gaming companies, and significantly more than GW. Comic book stores have a Diamond account, or they don't exist. And since they're already dealing with Diamond, I'd imagine a large number of them deal with Alliance when they want to order games. So consolidating on Alliance won't hurt them as much as it might some people.

Now, do I think these two factors are enough to overcome the negatives? I'm really not sure. They have announced that the collectors sets (that Cyrus complains about above) will start being available to B&M stores, so that's a good step. I also like them changing MechWarrior to non-collectible; they haven't generally done well with non-collectible, but that doesn't mean I can't like it. We'll just have to see how things turn out.