Distribution in Italy
For Zappo,
You have your stuff simply 'cause your shop (Unicorn I think?) order directly in US. You are lucky indeed but for the other italian players the problem remain.
Anyway if we, the italian players, could find some form to support the rpg in general can be a good thing. [/B][/QUOTE]
I'm a games retailer so I'd like voicing my opinion on this subject. I have always experienced a delay of one month from the official release date in the US and the actual arrival of English D&D books in my store. More lateness, recently: I have never received CoC d20 or Deities and Demigods (but I'm told they will arrive at the beginning of June).
Please note however that English d20/D&D sales in Italy are very small compared to the Italian language ones. Of course in this forum things seem different, but they don't reflect the reality of the Italian market. Just to make an example, I sold six copies of he English Manual of the Planes and TWENTY of the Italian edition in one month (and they keep selling)... and I'm a very specialzed store with some English reading customers.
Because I care of my customers, I talked a couple of times with 25 Edition about English products lateness. They told me that the European warehose will be closed (for D&D and d20 stuff) because in WotC/Hasbro eyes it has become 'unprofitable'. Perhaps it will exist, in an purely theoretical fashion, only for fiscal reasons (when I voiced my surprise in seeing WotC willing to risk customs delays and taxes for their books, they replied "Yeah, we too").
WotC response has been this: they told the European distributors to gauge an estimate of how many books they will sell for the ENTIRE LIFE of a product and then order that number of copies. I was almost strangled by laughs when I heard this... but 25 Edition kept telling me this so I realized it COULD be true. Perhaps, in a true multinational-ivory tower-cost managers-fashion, they think to have one huge shipment to the Old World, splitting it for Germany, France, Italy, Spain, UK and so on and the problem is solved.
Ugh!
Their 'solution' is a stupid one. This way, they will push more and more customers in ordering via Internet, lowering sales for game stores like mine (it will not be a real damage, but a sale is a sale!). Luckily, we have the Italin editions...
About price differences, I can't say a word for other European countries, but you Italians should consider that the books must cross the Atlantic and pay custom duties if a company (any company) imports them for sale (and dont forget the OBSCENE 20% VAT for non books) and that lira/dollar exchange rate has always been very unfavorable for us (and the euro in our country reflects this so far - of course I hope that the euro/dollar exchange rate will push the dollar under so English books will turn more affordable and so more popular). This makes direct ordering from the US unprofitable and I don't do it - I prefer using a small company that works with the huge Diamond/Alliance conglomerate has good prices and efficient service.
Being this a discussion forum, I don't want to tell the store I manage and own - I don't like advertising this way. If any body is interested, please feel free to write me personally.
) but since the subscription all has been great.
