After Ubercon Report for the Forge

[Luke]

So, I'm just back from Ubercon.

Very tired, but I wanted to let everyone know how it went.
Let's do the tale of the tape, first. Here's how everyone sold:

Sorcerer   3
Sorcerer: Sex/Sword/Soul   1/1/1
My Life with Master    2
Universalis   1
FVLMINATA   0
Multiverser (and supplements)    0

And for comparison's sake:
Burning Wheel   13


So Sorcerer was the big seller. People recognized it and were interested in it. I only had one set of the supplements with me, if I had more I think I would have sold at least another set.

MLwM is intriguing and cheap, and I pitched Mike Holmes-style (getting back at the bastard!), but I couldn't really close.

Universalis one of my friends bought, so it doesn't really count. But it is a sale! I really couldn't seem to catch anyone's attention with Uni. I am going to have to play more so I can pitch better.

FVLMINATA I pitched really hard to a few people who were genuinely interested, but I couldn't close. I actually think it was the $30 price tag. In a store full of other games similarly priced, FVL is a steal. On a table full of games half its price, it's a hard sell.


As far as my own sales went, they were ok. My BW team ran 5 games altogether. I personally shepherded 25 folks through the Wheel. I think Don (eruditus) ran another 15 in total. So 40 peeps and 13 sales isn't great, but I'm not dissatisfied or discouraged. 13 is good for me: I'm trying to get the game out there! And the games we played were all very very fun.

But I am certain the low sales of the other games is due in part to the fact that they aren't being run at the con. It's a shame, too; such great games!

Let's talk about the set up:
I had half a table (the other half was occupied by my friend aaron's awesome t-shirts) in a good location with decent traffic .

The BW stuff was scattered in the center of the table.

The Forge books were placed in a nice, plastic, 6-tiered stand on the left end of the table. Uni  in front, then MLwM, then Sorcerer, then Sex/Sword/Soul/ then FVL then the Multiverser supplements. The rack was topped with a nice Forge logo sign (and web address). I pitched these games when ever I had an opportunity (if someone wasn't into BW, for example) or when someone started pawing through them or otherwise seemed interested.

I also had Forge "business" cards (which I just got back on thursday), which I plied liberally around the con. I also had Forge pins for anyone interested.

Our table was nice looking, bright, pleasantly cluttered with neat stuff and staffed by very cool, open and friendly folks.

I had a great time and was more than happy to represent all of you, and proud to put my game alongside yours.

And I'll be sending the money along shortly!

So Ubercon was a mildy successful experiment.

Here is why I asked for $21 to help make this all easy on me.

The hidden costs:
The display stand cost $100 from displaystogo.com. Took me about an hour to track it down on the web.
The biz cards cost $100 from 4over4.com and took about a month of tweaking in my spare time.
Pins (I made 35) cost 12¢ each and took about 2-3 hours to make.
The Forge sign that I made cost nothing, but took about an hour to make. (Like the signs I had at GenCon)

Lastly, my car/gas/toll costs were $100, but I would have incurred those without the extra games anyway, so let's put that cost to the side.

So a total of $204.20 plus about 5 hours/1 month of prep time for me to get the Forge stuff ready to go on the table. Not including the time i spent at the table pitching the other games.

No one asked me to do any of this, and I don't expect to be repaid or rewarded. I just wanted you all to know my logic behind my price scheme. I am very committed to this -- i very much want to build communal bridges between the pockets of game designers out there, and I am happy to undertake this cost and effort.

But it's nice when we share.

BTW, for full disclosure: Ron did contribute more than his share to each and all of the above costs. Perhaps that's why he had such good karma!

kidding. We all know the real secret why Sorcerer sells: It's Ron's demon!


I will be at Recess in NYC on Nov 2 doing the same set up as above.
I will be at Lollagazebo in NJ on Nov 7-9 doing the same set up as well.

-Luke

edited because i can't add. there was a mix up with the # of copies of sorcere with me at the con

[AdAstraGames]

As far as my own sales went, they were ok. My BW team ran 5 games altogether. I personally shepherded 25 folks through the Wheel. I think Don (eruditus) ran another 15 in total. So 40 peeps and 13 sales isn't great, but I'm not dissatisfied or discouraged. 13 is good for me: I'm trying to get the game out there! And the games we played were all very very fun.

Luke, that's an incredible sell-through ratio for retail.  That's considerably better than "ok".  Your sales of other products is more indicative of the average.

When I pack games to sell at my booth, my rule of thumb is that anything that isn't the New Release I only bring 6 units of...of which I'll typically sell 0-2.  New releases I'm not sure how many to bring, but right now it's 24.

Ken Burnside