Warehousing info

[MarktheAnimator]

Ok, so you have your new game ready to go...
Where do you ship it to??

Any advice on finding a warehouse or order fullfillment house??

Do you use import brokers if it is being brought in from out of the country?

Where is a good place to warehouse your products??

Do you store your stuff onsite at your company location?

How about inventory taxes?

[Malcolm Craig]

As far as fulfillment and warehousing go, we've recently started using Key 20 who we have found to be very helpful, communicative and really on top of their game. They also provide an on-line stock tracking facility for customers, so you can keep an eye on your stock levels in rel-time. A very beneficial thing to have.

Another group to get in contact with might be Indie Press Revolution. They aren't a fulfillment house, they sell direct to the public (and some to retailers), but they are extremely easy to deal with and already have a roster of top quality partners.

Our previous experience of fulfillment houses has been somewhat marred by the Osseum Debacle, but so far Key 20 and IPR have done us proud and I can't recommend them highly enough.

We do store some product ourselves, but that's mainly for selling direct through our own online store.

Cheers
Malcolm

[guildofblades]

>>Where do you ship it to??<<

Well, that depends. If you already have some distribution based orders, it should be possible to ship certain quantities directly from your printer to your distributors. The rest you will have to ship back to where you plan to warehouse the product.

>>Any advice on finding a warehouse or order fullfillment house??<<

If you are just beginning, my recommendation, if at all possible, is to save the expense and store the product yourself. As you are inevitably pinching every dime for future production in the early days of your business, you'll really like not having to cut a monthly check to a 3rd party warehouse faccility.

If storing yourself, some bits of advice.

Build shelving. Do not store on cement or at ground level. If storing in a basement or an outside shed, be aware of possible dampness effects on the product. Possibly run one or more dehumidifiers if neccessary. Where possible, keep the product in strong boxes. Prevents crushing and protects a little from weather affects. And of course, keep at least one box readily accessible for quick and easy order packaging.

>>Do you use import brokers if it is being brought in from out of the country?<<

YES! And, YES!. The money you will spend on them is absolutely nothing compared to the costs you could incure if you run into snags in the importing process.

>>Where is a good place to warehouse your products??<<

If you will be using a distribution based fulfillment house, then store as much of your print run there as you can. Store the rest at your place. At least until the day you have built a stable cash flow and can comfortably afford a fulfillment service or a commercial warehouse.

>>Do you store your stuff onsite at your company location?<<

We do. We're not quite busting at the seems yet, but we've had to become extremely economical about the space we have. Eyeballing some commercial realestate finally.

>>How about inventory taxes?<<

Um. What about them. This is not a simple question. Your ready to sell product is an asset, so you'll need to be able to track your actual inventory to know the value of that asset. You will need to track product sold or product given away for promotional purposes, because you get to write off the costs of that inventory as it goes out the door.

Ryan S. Johnson
Guild of Blades Publishing Group
http://www.guildofblades.com