Small Retailers Still Unable to Make Money On Heroscape

[RobertDD]

I am frustrated. I have these nice guys here that run a small FLGS. They work hard, run games every night, and try to make a living, but it isn't easy on the sales they make.

Since I game with them I want them to supply me with my HeroScape wave 8, so I asked them to see if they can order that for me. They checked with Alliance, their supplier, and found that on an entire wave they make a couple of dollars, and that is if they sell the wave to me for the suggested $53.99 or something close.

They sell tons of collectable miniature games, all kinds of clix, D&D mini's, and they can make some sort of a decent profit on all that stuff, but not heroscape. They have to buy that for more than WalMart and Target sell it to their customers for.

What is up with this? I thought that the brand transferring to WotC would do something about this situation. Has the Alliance system not yet been updated with the new prices or will this game really always out of reach for the small retailers?

[fomox]

Interesting. How are places like CCG armory selling for so cheap if FLGS can't?

I assume it is at least partly a quantity issue, but $53.99? Ouch.

[Soul Shackle]

Is it taboo to say a post outside of it may belong in the official WotC thread instead of the other way around? I dunno, but that's probably where you'll get your answer.

[fomox]

Originally Posted by Soul Shackle

Is it taboo to say a post outside of it may belong in the official WotC thread instead of the other way around?

Good point, though. That might be the place to inquire.

[RageAngel]

My FLGS STILL cannot get find Heroscape through his local distributor. They do a lot of SW Minis and D&D minis though.

I ended up ordering though Sandra, though I had wanted to get a local supplier started in scape.

[RobertDD]

Originally Posted by fomo6

Interesting. How are places like CCG armory selling for so cheap if FLGS can't?

I assume it is at least partly a quantity issue, but $53.99? Ouch.

Note that I am actually not entirely sure how much he wave was over $50, but it was something like that. They definately cannot buy the wave for the price Target sells it.
I would like to know how CCG armory and others can maintain decent pricing.

Originally Posted by Soul Shackle

Is it taboo to say a post outside of it may belong in the official WotC thread instead of the other way around? I dunno, but that's probably where you'll get your answer.

I was torn between posting it there or here in it's own thread, but I made my choice and am sticking with it

Originally Posted by RageAngel

My FLGS STILL cannot get find Heroscape through his local distributor. They do a lot of SW Minis and D&D minis though.

I ended up ordering though Sandra, though I had wanted to get a local supplier started in scape.

I'll end up doing something like that, but I thought WotC had said they would make the brand available through our FLGSes?

[ReqMan]

I tried to start selling HS as an online store but met with many problems.

Wizards of the Coast Australia will not deal directly with online retailers. After leaving many messages (noone ever answers the phone there), they finally gave me some of their distributor contacts.

One doesnt deal in HS at all, the other had hardly no stock, and didnt know anything about Wave8,etc and could not confirm whether they could even get it or at what price.

So much for WotC improving distribution!

[guido]

Have you taken this up with WotC, that's probably the best route. I would guess that because W8 was already produced by Hasbro, packaging and all, that they have to charge the normal amount to make any profit. Once W9 hits the shelves in cheaper packaging, the FLGS might get a better deal.

[RobertDD]

Originally Posted by guido

Have you taken this up with WotC, that's probably the best route. I would guess that because W8 was already produced by Hasbro, packaging and all, that they have to charge the normal amount to make any profit. Once W9 hits the shelves in cheaper packaging, the FLGS might get a better deal.

The packaging of the waves is going to change? I can't really imagine how they will make it cheaper, it's already pretty low end (glued on blister) except that they might go for a non-windowed box and that would be a mistake, I think. The "prettyness" of the mini's is what makes 'em sell from the store shelves, I would imagine. Then again, maybe not...

Anyways, what's the new packaging going to look like?

[Elginb]

I thought the idea was to ship new waves to the FLGS earlier than Big Box stores, in the hopes that hard-core Heroscape fans would be willing to pay more to get the new releases earlier, while giving newer or more casual fans a cheap way to access the game.

If that's the strategy, it would work with me, because I would and do buy new Heroscape stuff at jacked-up prices at my local FLGS... when they, indeed, get it first. But the problem so far has been that the FLGS in my area haven't been getting them first, or haven't been displaying them first, anyway. The Nakita Agents thing was a killer, I think, because they didn't sell very well and that meant that the FLGS (in my area, again) were unwilling to order the newer stuff, or just re-order period.

It would be nice if the FLGS had the opportunity, when new releases are on the horizon, to return any unsold items. I think it's imperative for them to have fresh and new product, or they really won't compete with the Big Box stores.

I don't have any inside information about retail, but this is what it looks like from my observations.

[TOG]

I received the impression from my FLGS that he was getting his stuff direct from WotC, not through a distributor. He sold his preorders for Wave 8 at something like $37 a case, but you had to buy the whole case. Otherwise, the packs were $12.95 each. Cases of the large packs were $43 each.

[guido]

Originally Posted by TOG

I received the impression from my FLGS that he was getting his stuff direct from WotC, not through a distributor. He sold his preorders for Wave 8 at something like $37 a case, but you had to buy the whole case. Otherwise, the packs were $12.95 each. Cases of the large packs were $43 each.

That's a really good deal, I'd shop through him.