EN World GameStore Closing

[Bacris]

I have to admit, the fact that the new conglomerate is taking up to almost 1/3 of the sale in commissions does stand out as a bit much to me... For some, this means they're taking in anywhere from 5-15% less off the top than before... especially compared to the ENWorld commission rate, which was more competitive.

I'm also a bit disappointed that only last month, Dreamscarred Press purchased accounts with multiple vendors and now is having everything merged but not being reimbursed any of the costs... If it had been profitable in that month, sure, that makes sense, but for a small vendor who has not yet grossed a profit from the vendor accounts, it's just a little bit of a slap in the face.

Now, if it does indeed mean more sales, then it might be a good thing... after all 100 sales at 70% is better than 70 sales at 80% - but it's too early to tell and some of these negative aspects stand out more right now, since they are readily apparent and the less tangible possible increased sales yet to be seen.

Put me in the dubious category

 

[Alzrius]

Judging from the last few posts, it seems like the new OBS store apparently charges publishers a higher percentage on sales than some stores (I presume the ENGS, but possibly others?) did. Can anyone break it down for the rest of us? I hadn't heard anything about that (though maybe I just didn't do enough searching).

 

[Bacris]

From here:

"You earn a royalty of 70% (exclusive) or 65% (non-exclusive) from your sales..."

ENWorld was 80%. RPGNow was 75% (or 70% if a gold-level vendor).

 

[trancejeremy]

FWIW, bear in mind, AFAIK Mr. Skarka works for RPGNow. So he's not just a publisher, he's affliliated with the company.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

From a customer's standpoint, is the site going to operate more like DrivethruRPG or RPGNow?

 

[Morrus]

From a customer's standpoint, is the site going to operate more like DrivethruRPG or RPGNow?

What, the affiliate store? Take a look at it.

It's basically RPGnow with EN World's colouring.

 

[Hackmaster]

Well, when I first heard the news, I didn't really have an opinion one way or the other. I've had good experiences with RPGnow and didn't care for DTRPG at all.

Now I hear that the new store is increasing their cut of the sales. In all likelihood this will translate directly to higher prices for the consumer, as publishers are now forced to raise prices to maintain any sort of profit margin.

Competition is good for consumers. This merger doesn't sound like something that will benefit me in any way.

 

[Nellisir]

If you buy from the ENW affiliate sotre front (linked above) you are purchasing from the same shop, but EN World gets supported. So yuo could think of it like this - EN World still has a download store, only now it happens to contain everyone's PDFs - everything that was available at ENGS, RPGNow and DTRPG.

Congratulations Morrus. I'll be buying a community supporter account by the end of the weekend, and probably a few pdfs. I LOVE that the ENstore follows the RPGNow layout (I assume it more or less -is- RPGNow, just with a different skin laid over it), my wish list is here and accessible...it'd be great if the pdfs I've purchased there and at DTRPG eventually made their way into my "bookshelf"... and yes, it does make me feel better about the direction of the site in general. I'll be buying pdfs here from now on.

Good job.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Cool, that was my preferred solution. Assuming my wish list carries over from RPGNow (no reason it shouldn't), ENWorld will get a cut from now on.

 

[sckeener]

I'm more worried about Paizo in all this...don't they still compete with them?

If rumor mill here is correct, then WotC is holding up a hardcopy of Age of Worms, supposedly because they compete with WotC adventures. Then WotC is also supposedly putting a toe into the water of online magazines. Toss in RPGNow and DriveThruRPG merging into OneBookShelf and it makes me concerned for Paizo.

Paizo has good name brand with Dragon and Dungeon, but if WotC ever pulled out the Official label from them I wonder how that would affect sales.