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Message: <blockquote data-quote="guildofblades" data-source="post: 3300219" data-attributes="member: 27324">>>Are there contractual agreements in place that prevent manufacturers from directly dealing with retailers? Or is dealing with retailers just an enormous hassle better left to a third party?<<No contractual obligations that limit it. However, distributors tend to lose what little motivation they might have had to sell your stiff if they suddenly realize they might have reliable competition. Read that as, as the manufacturer you wold have an unfair advantage since when you offer to sell the product you actually have it stock where, well, they claim to, but don't. So for the most part its an either or proposition. Sell through distributors to reach the retail stores or sell directly to the retail stores.The conventional wisdom suggests you will sell more product to retail stores if you sell through distributors than if you sold direct. Its a pretty theory that was surely once true, but I question its validity in today's market. The reason is there are a LOT of retail stores that don't want to stock a single item deeply or stock a majority of the products that are available for a given line. Hence if they order the product directly from the manufacturer they might only order a few products at a time. And thats a scale where it becomes not worth it for either the retailer or manufacturer's time to bother with. The theory holds that if you sell your products through distributors because they can offer those retailers consolidated shipping and the ability to mix and match products from many manufacturers that the retailer thus has the option of ordering just a few products from each manufacturer. Multiplied over the number of total retailers out there and wham, you are suppose to get a lot more sales.Here is why that theory is no longer valid (for the majority of manufacturers).1) The number of dedicated stores that stock a wide variety of manufacturers products as opposed to just the top few is actually fairly small. Less than 500. Probably less than 250 for the number that carry much in the way of "small press".2) With the casual stores not all that interested or dedicated in selling anything other that what the top manufacturers product, of those that do stock a copy or two of your product, they'll have forgotten about it after that first order. For the bulk majority of them, they won't bother to re order. So you get a first round pass on sales to this audience as your reward for dealing with distributors only.3) After that first round is done those stores that are the dedicated hobby stores and interested in actually restocking and continuing to sell will immediately run into out of stock situations at their distributors. So almost right away the bulk of "extra" sales you generated due to selling through distributors are being lost due to the dedicated stores having supply problems in restocking. Over some number of months (or years) this translates into more lost sales than were gained. The only difference may be that in the very short term going through distributors might generate more initial cash flow and for companies that do not have strong back list ongoing sales, that extra little bit off their "newest" product might be what they need to keep the doors open.4) When you sell direct to a store you have more opportunities to remind those stores about your entire product line, not just your newest item. Hence you and the store can create a stronger in store environment for support of the product line and fan base. This can generate an upswing in sales that stores that only dabble in the product line can't hope to achieve.5) If a manufacturer takes the time to set up an efficient "pick and pack" area for their company it is not difficult or time consuming to package smaller packages meant for direct sales to retailers. USPS offer all the necessary tracking info now at affordable prices to make shipments of smaller packages cost effective. And computer technology and even the most basic of CRM packages allow the manufacturer to easily keep track of a larger number accounts. used color copiers or refillable laser or ink jet printers can allow a manufacturer to print all of its solicitation materials in the quantity desired and at an affordable price.In essence, additional service options in shipping and advancements in both printing tech and customer relations software have vastly reduced the "added value" that distributors offer due to their shipping and ordering consolidation function, which is pretty much the only real function most of them have to sustain their businesses.The one point of resistance in offering direct sales is, the retailer. For 20 years retailers in our industry have been taught to be lazy in their product sourcing. Most retail businesses, large and small, have a multitude of vendors from which they have to keep track of and place orders with. In hobby gaming some of the smaller retailers use a sole distributors (yep, just one), and basically have to take the product offerings that distributors offers and nothing else. Its a completely unorthodox situation rarely duplicated in any other retail business and there is no way it could last in the more modern industry with such vastly expanding selections of hobby game product available on the market. That just one more reason the hobby distributor tier has become antiquated and is doomed to collapse unless they get busy innovating on how they do business.Ryan S. JohnsonGuild of Blades Publishing Group<a href="http://www.guildofblades.com" target="_blank">http://www.guildofblades.com</a><a href="http://www.1483online.com" target="_blank">http://www.1483online.com</a><a href="http://www.thermopylae-online.com" target="_blank">http://www.thermopylae-online.com</a></blockquote>

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