Local store dropping reaper

[Suden]

I think distributors are just mad they don't get their cut from kickstarter profits. It's why kickstarters can offer such comparatively good deals, they eliminate a couple intermediate profit taking steps. They are trying to poison the well for companies like Reaper, so they can tell other manufacturers the only safe way to bring a product to market is through them.

 

Never mind that kickstarters are an exciting new avenue for minatures, and are bringing new (and returning) folks back to miniature purchasing. Even if you are adamantly anti bones, it is clear just from perusing the forums that there is a ton of new blood in the hobby thanks to Reapers and others kickstarters. It is the same narrow minded thinking that has all but killed the comic book business.

 

I don't have any insider knowledge of Reapers methods of order fulfillment via distributors, but I have had eight orders filled by Reaper in the last year and the kickstarter never delayed any of them. I can't imagine they treat the distributors who are their bread and butter any worse than they treat the little guys who order via the web store.

 

The only valid complaint I see is the lack of new metal minis in the last several months. I think that was caused by the size of the first kickstarter blowing up bigger than expected (I know they plotted it out to $4 million, but I doubt they really expected or fully planned for it). As long as this doesn't become the norm, I think it's a pretty weak reason to drop a company you have been doing business with for years.

[Inarah]

I was listening in last night as a buddy of mine talked with the owner. He said that since the kickstarter, reaper's dealer service has gotten so bad that both he and his distributor are planning to drop the line entirely. That he tries to order or special-order minis, and the distro can't get them in stock. And very little new has been released in the last year.

 

... and apparently his needs along those lines aren't being met.

The store owner needs to take the issue up with Reaper, not gripe at random customers.

 

I would bet that Reaper is his #1 or #2 selling product, despite supply issues. It makes no sense to discontinue selling it.

 

And this isn't the first time I've heard "the distributor says he can't get it" stories. It usually turns out to be a case of someone more unwilling than unable to source product. It may be time to find a new distributor.

Edited September 15, 2013 by Inarah

[Last Knight]

My local store has been having issues getting Reaper product in stock, as well. They order through Alliance.

[Adrift]

From what I heard at Gencon the distributors are causing trouble for people that have run kickstarters, don't know why it affects them but they hate it, so to be honest I wouldn't be surprised if this game store just contact reaper they'd actually have no problem getting stuff as I'd wager there's some dishonesty going around from the distributor end. I talked to a lot of game companies and heard pretty much universally the same thing and that some distributors are telling game stores not to buy kickstarted products. The most shocking thing I heard was that many distributors were insisting on 60% to carry anything from a company that used kickstater and there was some very valid scuttlebutt about how those same distributors were quite upset with Reaper over the Bones Kickstarter.

That's disturbing.

 

Business evolves; find a way to keep up and evolve with it, or perish. Distributors would be smart to come up with a way to jump on the band wagon, rather than punish companies utilizing Kickstarter.

[Nocturne]

A company that specialises in stock storage and global distribution is exactly what a lot of Kickstarter projects need in the fulfilment phase. If only there were companies that specialised in doing just that which already existed which could adapt their existing business model to tap into the revenue stream instead of being excluded from it.

If only.....

 

 

ahem..,.

 

 

 

I've seen a few articles now on Amazon Warehouse being a great help for kickstarter organisers for doing just that, distributors may be cutting their own throats if they don't want to support kickstarter projects and letting the big guy take their place/

[SamuraiJack]

Very odd.. both of the main FLGS' in town have gone all in on Bones..

[Talae]

My FLGS doesn't carry much Reaper at all. They have one spinning rack with some minis that I am unsure if they every get picked through. I keep pressing him to pick up the BONES line and the paints, but I feel like he is rolling his eyes at the thought. I just don't get it.

[Sanael]

See, my local shop has had some trouble getting special orders through distribution. I told them about a year and a half ago (since ReaperBryan has mentioned it many times, in many places) about ordering Reaper-to-retailer direct. They now have no problems getting special orders of Reaper product, and the last time I asked them to get something for me (an oop mini) they had it within a week.

 

I have no familiarity with the problem described specifically by the OP, but distributors have a vested interest in keeping retailers in the dark about the ability to go directly to a manufacturer. They also, as has been mentioned, have reason (perhaps justifiable, perhaps not; which isn't germane to this post) to dislike KS projects. I would suggest to the store in the OP that they should try going directly to Reaper and see if that doesn't solve the problem.

 

If they're being snooty about tin vs bones, they shouldn't knock it til they've tried it; my flgs can't keep even the old Bones in stock for anything, and its not for lack of receiving product. Stuff just flies off the pegboard.

[Talon65]

The problem is that some of the retailers feel the same as the distributors do. My favorite FLGS has said something similar. The

owner has a whole wall of Bones but he feels that Reaper is bypassing the distributors and the retailers and giving the public a

huge discount for doing so. He says that the vast majority of his regular figure buying customers that would be buying figures have

already participated in the Bones KS so he's not seeing any sales on his in-stock Bones because they already have more than they

can paint. He feels that KS is supposed to be a tool to get revenue, not a marketing tool which is what he feels Reaper is

using/abusing it for.

 

And since I participated in the Bones KS and will probably participate in the Bones II KS, I have really no need to buy anymore figures

for quite a while, if ever again, so I can see his point.

[Nocturne]

He feels that KS is supposed to be a tool to get revenue, not a marketing tool which is what he feels Reaper is

using/abusing it for.

I don't understand this point. Retail and marketing are inseperable. Getting lots of people to know that your product exists is essential to being able to sell it otherwise you're just hoping someone stumbles across it.

[MonkeySloth]

Is there palpable evidence that distributors are actively undermining companies that use Kickstarter?

 

I know Reaper had to spend a lot of effort over a year convincing distributors to carry anything Bones. But for the circumvent, I only heard actual stories from one small company that they directly were. They had set up a demo at a local game store and the day before the demo the store cancelled on them due to them being a "Kickstarted company". Apparently when they tried to place the order for some minis (to sell during and after the demo day) they were informed it was a kickstarter product by the distributor and how they wouldn't want to carry it as "everyone who wants it already has it".

[Ellyria]

Off topic but could someone enlighten a newbie on what all the different roles everyone in question plays?

 

Is the distributor like the middle man?

 

In which case, why is Kickstarter killing them (and local retailers) any more than online shopping has this whole time?

[Nocturne]

"everyone who wants it already has it".

 

 

Between limited sales period, project saturation and hobbyist turnover I think that sentance is one of the biggest myths, if not outright lies, about kickstarter.

 

"Well the new D&D Players Manual has been on sale for a month, may as well pull it from the shelves as no one else will ever buy it"

[MonkeySloth]

Honestly everyone blames Sedition Wars and Zombiecide for that statement. I heard those two branded about a lot at the con as they didn't sell well at retail, especially sedition wars, but one of the reasons was that there was so much hype that stores over ordered them so a lot of game stores felt burned by kickstarter because of it.

Edited September 15, 2013 by MonkeySloth

[aku-chan]

 

"everyone who wants it already has it".

 

 

Between limited sales period, project saturation and hobbyist turnover I think that sentance is one of the biggest myths, if not outright lies, about kickstarter.

 

"Well the new D&D Players Manual has been on sale for a month, may as well pull it from the shelves as no one else will ever buy it"

 

 

Quoted for truth.

 

Any time I read a forum thread about a Kickstarter project, there always seems to be quite a few people who missed it and are now eagerly awaiting the retail release.