WotC's (lack of) direct selling: please explain it to me

[Mercurius]

I honestly don't get it - the fact that Wizards of the Coast does not have an online store in which folks can buy books from. I mean, the cost to run such a show has to be rather miniscule: you employ a nerd or two to hang out in a warehouse, check orders as they come in, pull books off shelves and package and send them out. Given that even if you discount direct sales by, say, 25-30% to stay close to competitive with Amazon (or perhaps use a subscription scheme like Paizo), you still make much more profit than you get by selling product for 40% off cover price to distributors.

I'm not a business person or manufacturer, so I honestly don't know. Can someone explain to me why WotC doesn't direct sell? Is it less lucrative than I think it is? Do they feel like it will negatively impact game stores? What? I'm trying to understand why this isn't just another exhibit (or symptom) of how WotC is floundering with D&D.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Hmmm, they did, once upon a time.

Part may be Hasbro policy - but I do not know if Hasbro actaully has such a policy.

More publicly, it is so WotC does not directly compete with their retailers. If folks can go directly to WotC then there is no need to go to Mom & Pop's Local Game Store to buy the newest and shiniest.

The Auld Grump

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Not every business direct sells.

Some don't want to deal with the additional hassle, even if it is minimal.

Some don't want to annoy the retailers they deal with.

Some have done CBAs and found that the additional expense of doing so isn't worth it for their business.

Some haven't thought of it.

And there are probably a dozen more reasons. Which category WotC/Hasbro falls in, though, can only be answered by them.

 

[Klaus]

Maybe do something like Mattel does with mattycollector.com ?

Mattel sells limited runs of products that don't have mass appeal through their Matty Collector site. It has been really successful with their Masters of the Universe Classics line.

So maybe there could be limited editions or special minis or whatevers sold only through a direct website store? Stuff like a printed edition of Perkins' Against the Giants series or some such?

 

[Jan van Leyden]

It's no small effort to sell directly to end customers. See, the business related processes (book keeping, accounting, etc.) are very much the same whether you sell 1 copy to the gamer or 1,000 copies to a distributor.

 

[Dragonblade]

Maybe do something like Mattel does with mattycollector.com ?

Mattel sells limited runs of products that don't have mass appeal through their Matty Collector site. It has been really successful with their Masters of the Universe Classics line.

So maybe there could be limited editions or special minis or whatevers sold only through a direct website store? Stuff like a printed edition of Perkins' Against the Giants series or some such?

I could see WotC being pretty successful by partnering with Lulu or something to provide a print on demand option for all their prior edition materials.

And it would establish a lot of good will in the gaming community.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Wizards seem to be putting a lot of effort recently (in hte last couple of years) in to supporting stores. Not sure of the strategic motivbation behind this but opening an online store would work counter to this effort.

 

[GSHamster]

If you were a store owner, would you purchase product from WotC, knowing that WotC sells that same product directly to end consumers for a lower price than you are able to charge?

My guess is that you probably would not be happy, and would not purchase product from WotC under those conditions.

So WotC is left with three choices:

1. Don't sell to stores.
2. Don't sell to the end consumer.
3. Sell to the end consumer at the same or higher price as the stores.

Unless WotC is willing to give up on external retailers, they don't really have a choice but to avoid selling directly to the end consumer. Or more accurately, through DDI they are selling to the end consumer, but in a manner which does not tread on the toes of the stores.

 

[OnlineDM]

I'll echo the "it's the stores" argument. WotC has made it very clear that they really, really value the relationship with friendly local games stores (Encounters, Lair Assault, Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium). I really don't get why this relationship is so critically important to them, but it clearly seems to be the case. Selling directly to gamers would hurt the stores, so they don't do it.

 

[Dice4Hire]

Overall, I really think WOTC wants tot small gaming shop to survive or even thrive. Selling directly would hurt that.