Online Discounters - Pro vs. Con

My last article on Dicebucket was the catalyst for a good discussion on online discounting.  (and some moronic trolls but we sent them back under the bridge).  So I thought I would take some time to look at arguments for and against online discounters.

Dicebucket closes down!

Well, it looks like DiceBucket FINALLY got shut down by Games Workshop.  They have violated GW rules by having an online shopping cart for years now.

Dice of War - SoCal's Newest Game Store

Dice of War Games is a new game store I am starting with some friends and former Games Workshop employees.  Located in Southern California's Inland Empire (45 minutes east of Los Angeles) in the town of Rancho Cucamonga, Dice of War Games will carry all the usual suspects in miniature, tabletop and card games.  

Please go like the Dice of War Facebook Page and like it! 

MINIATURES GAMING

On the miniatures front, we will focus on Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy, Warmachine/Hordes, Malifaux and Flames of War.  We will hope to add Infinity and Dystopian Wars real soon as well.  I would expect July/August launches for those two lines.

APOCALYPSE GAMING

Dice of War will of course be the home of SoCal Apocalypse, Southern California's biggest Apocalypse gaming group.  And being that we are now 10 minutes from my good friends Wayne Clark and Bill Moran, who run their own Apocalypse games out of Wayne's garage, that group will be joining us for our games (especially in the brutal Inland Empire summer's!).  I have been playing with Wayne and Bill for 3 years and they are great guys.

GAME TABLES

Dice of War Games has 2,200 square feet of space, with another 800 sf of warehouse space that will be converted to store space next year.  Expect 6-8 tables to start with the ability to put up another 6 tables for big events, and still have room for Magic and other gaming.


EVENTS

Expect monthly tournaments for every game system we carry.  Team tournaments are a favorite of ours and we are planning on having innovative and fun events.


GAME CHAMPIONS

Have a favorite game?  Want to help promote that game, run tournaments and be a notable citizen of the realm?  Well, we are looking for Game Champions for each game system we carry.  If you like sharing your game and want to earn store discounts and hang out with the coolest game store staff in the known universe, then contact me about being one of our Game Champions.


SODA & SNACKS

We have a big fridge that will be stocked with all your favorite soda and drinks, as well as snacks so you will never get thirsty or hungry at Dice of War!

TCGs AND TABLETOP GAMES

We have Magic!  And will be hosting everything from Friday night Magic to bigger events.  Other card games like Yu-Gi Oh! And Pokemon and a wide selection of Tabletop games as well!

Please go like the Dice of War Facebook Page and like it!  

Loken

Spikey Bits Closing Down Bitz Sales!

Rob Baer, the founder and owner of Spikey Bits, has announced he is closing down the bits sales after Games Workshop ridiculously bullshit policy was announced that retailers would not be allowed to sell their product off the sprue.   You can read all about it on his blog here.

Rob basically started the bits business a number of years ago with Battlewagon Bits, sold that business to The War Store, went to work there and then headed off to start his own game store in Virginia.

I am a huge fan of Rob.  He is a great person, a fun gamer to hang with, and a great entrepreneur.  And if you know anything about me (I started 5 companies and speak on entrepreneurship at local colleges and universities) I love supporting other entrepreneurs, and Rob knows his stuff.  he is a real innovator in gaming retail and I support him whenever I can.

So go buy some bits from Rob and say hi to him at Adepticon!

Loken

Imperial Armoury - Imperial Guard bitz store opens

 
Yeah!  That got your attention eh?  Well, how better to get your attention than a hot, big breasted IG Commisar?  Well, now that I have your attention...

Imperial Armoury is a new 40K web store dedicated to Imperial Guard bitz.  Yeah, nothing but IG bitz.  How cool is that?  Kai Robinson is the brains behind this little outfit, and I thought he needs some free publicity.

Now, obviously this is a labor of love.  And I am all for supporting people who start a small business as a passion project.  And obviously Kai has a passion for Guard.  If you want to follow his thread on Dakka, go here.

Currently Kai stocks 393 different IG Bitz. And they are very reasonably priced. 

As Kai says:

"Why only one range, I hear you ask? Looking around other bits websites it seems it's impossible to keep high stock levels for the entire Games Workshop range, so I have decided to focus on a single range in order to keep consistantly high stock levels." 

Kai did an excellent bit by bit unboxing video of the Cadian Command Boxed Set.  It certainly is a useful resource when shopping for these bits.

So support the little guy and go buy some bitz from Kai at Imperial Armoury!

Alec

Games Workshop discounters 25% off Price War!

The front page of Bell of Lost Souls has two interesting advertisements that are very telling.  Two online retailers, Dicebucket and Miniature Market, are now giving 25% discounts off Games Workshop products.

While most online stores have been giving a 20% discount the past few years, and the word on the street was that it was the maximum you could give according to GW rules for retailers, now we have two major online discounters giving 25%. And I have confirmed with GW that there is no limit to what discounters can give.  So where does this stop?

We now seem to be seeing the latest escalation of the GW discounters war!  With the standard GW discount being 45% for retailers, that means Miniature Market and DiceBucket are only making 20% on each purchase.  And The War Store, the biggest online game retailer and a distributor as well, is still giving 20% off.  Will they be forced to match it?  I don't think so.  War Store has a lot of loyal customers who have been shopping there for years.

So margins are getting thinner, and of course, this is even greater incentive for gamers to NOT support their local game store and instead buy online.  Which is frankly not good for the hobby. I personally hate online discounting.  If you think long term you realize that it is killing the your FLGS  (Friendly Local Game Store).

Now we know for a fact that no retailer is allowed to have an online shopping cart of list of GW products on their site.  A fact that was confirmed by one of the top people in US trade sales recently.  And while Miniature Market doesn't have one and faithfully adheres to GW policies, DiceBucket has an online shopping cart and openly flaunts GW rules.

As I reported previously, this is not good for the long term future of Dicebucket.  There is simply no way that GW will permit them to continue to do this.  And the only reason they haven't been shut down yet is that they have carefully hidden all information that could lead one to find them.  No phone number or address, just an email.  But you think GW won't find out?  Of course they will, and when they do, Dicebucket is done.  

And who does business with a company that won't give you their phone #?    I certainly won't.

So again the question is where does this stop?  Will we see 30% off soon?  How much can a retailer still make an stay in business?  And is this good for the hobby?  I say no.

Alec

Countdown on Dicebucket?

Most of you know that Games Workshop doesn't allow retailers to have a web store or web cart in order to sell their items online.  It is specifically prohibited by the Games Workshop retailer agreement.  You can get away with it in Canada and The UK, but not in the USA.  Now most retailers don't mess with this.  Because if you get caught, there are serious ramifications.  If GW thinks you didn't know, they will just give you a Cease and Desist Letter.  But, if you are really trying to ignore GW rules, you risk getting banned.  GW will not only stop selling to you, but will make sure the distributors don't sell to you.  Yeah, they can do that.  

So how does Dicebucket get away with it?  They are a big advertiser on Bell of Lost Souls. 

Dicebucket has a shopping cart and advertises Games Workshop products using GW IP, clear violations of the GW retailer agreement.  They advertise a 20% - 25% discount and they have been doing so for months now.

http://www.dicebucket.com/servlet/StoreFront

Recent discussions with Games Workshop were quite revealing.  I asked the GW personnel why was Dicebucket still up if they were violating GW rules.  And while they couldn't give specifics, it seems that they are well aware of the situation and are waiting to have solid information before shutting them down.

You see, Dicebcket is VERY secretive.  They have a private listing for their website, and they don't have a phone number or address listed on their site.  Very crafty, and very shady in my opinion.  Dicebucket is certainly trying to hide their identity.  And they think they can get away with it.  

I am sure they do something to hide their return address on packages.  But will it save them?  No.  Come on, really?  You are dealing with Games Workshop, a $ 200M+ International concern who sued a 2 man outfit known as Chapterhouse Studio.  You think they are going to let Dicebucket screw them?  It doesn't take a genius to figure out who Dicebucket is.  And GW will, and my bet is Dicebucket is gone in 2012.

My two cents.

Alec