Forge Booth Triumphant 2006

[Valamir]

GenCon Sales Results and Comparison
Click here for 2004 detail.
Click here for 2005 detail


In 2003 we had 287 separate customer transactions                        
In 2004 we had 360 separate customer transactions    (+73 Customers, +25.4%)         
In 2005 we had 516 separate customer transactions   (+156 Customers, +43.3%)         
In 2006 we had 671 separate customer transactions                        
This is an increase of 155 customers or 30.0% over last year                        

In 2003 we sold 513 individual products, averaging 1.79 items per transaction                        
in 2004 we sold 780 individual products, averaging 2.17 items per transaction    (+267 items, +52.0%; +21.2% items/transaction)
In 2005 we sold 1210 individual products, averaging 2.34 items per transaction  (+430 items, +55.0%; +8.3% items/transaction)
In 2006 we sold 1742 individual products, averaging 2.60 items per transaction                        
This is an increase of 532 items or 44.0% over last year.                        
Our average items per transaction increased 11.1%                        

In 2003 we did $8,105 in total business, or $28.24 per transaction and $15.80 per item sold                     
In 2004 we did $11,310 in total business, or $31.42 per transaction and $14.50 per item sold   (+$3,205, +39.5%)      
In 2005 we did $19,466 in total business, or $37.72 per transaction and $16.08 per item sold   (+$8156, +72.1%)      
In 2006 we did $33,206 in total business, or $49.49 per transaction and $19.06 per item sold                                 
This is an increase of $13,740 or 70.6% over last year (and 410% over 2003)                                 
Our average sales per transaction increased by 31.18% (after increasing 20.1% the previous year and 11.3% the year before that)                                 
Our average price per item sold increased by 18.5% (20.6% over 2003)                                 
Higher sales at higher prices - beau coup revenue...again                                 


Thursday's Top 5 sellers by unit:                                 
Burning Empires, Shock, 1001 Nights, Mortal Coil, and Dictonary of Mu
I'll note that Prince's Kingdom, Roach, and Dogs in the Vineyard were close at #6-8 and 4 other products enjoyed double digit sales                        
                                 
Friday's Top 5 sellers by unit:   
Burning Empires, Cold City, and Mechaton with Polaris, Dogs in the Vineyard, Hero's Banner, and Agon tied for #4-#7
5 other products enjoyed double digit sales
                                 
Saturday's Top 5 sellers by unit:                                 
Mechaton, Burning Empires, Push, Kwaidan, Roach                                 
With 1001 Nights and Heros Banner a close #6-7 and 5 other titles breaking double digits            
                                 
Sunday's Top 5 sellers by unit:                                 
Roach, Burning Empires, Cold City, with Dogs, 1001 Nights, Mountain Witch, and Best Friends tied for #4-7                  
9 other projects enjoyed double digit sales   
                                 
Over all top 5 sellers by unit:         
Burning Empires, Mechaton, Shock, 1001 Nights, and the Roach
Dogs and Mortal Coil were close #6 and #7 sellers.                                   
15 products had sales over 40 units, 16 more had between 20 and 39, and another 13 between 10 and 29                                    

Yes, you read that right.  31 separate games enjoyed sales north of 20                                 
Previous con sales records of My Life with Master at 81, Dogs in the Vineyard at 88, and Mountain Witch at 91               
were broken by our first triple digit seller Burning Empires at 102 copies...Vindication for the Wheel Crew.


Any booth members wanting a specific spreadsheet breakdown of sales should PM me their email address.

[Troy_Costisick]

In 2006 we did $33,206 in total business, or $49.49 per transaction and $19.06 per item sold

holy shit

[Blankshield]

The Thursday cheer when the day's sales where announced north of 10 grand was staggering.

Fantastic job, everyone!

James

[Lxndr]

The overall convention was a success, no doubt about it.  Completely awesome, and thank you Ralph for doing these numbers.

On a less happy note, I know Fastlane's sales were less than spectacular (I want to make a separate post on this in the near future, but not one copy sold) and was almost assuredly in the bottom ten.  I wonder - would it be worthwhile to know which other games were in the bottom ten, and as such possibly know where we, as a booth and a community, might want to turn some additional energies and attention between now and next year?

[Justin D. Jacobson]

The overall convention was a success, no doubt about it.  Completely awesome, and thank you Ralph for doing these numbers.

On a less happy note, I know Fastlane's sales were less than spectacular (I want to make a separate post on this in the near future, but not one copy sold) and was almost assuredly in the bottom ten.  I wonder - would it be worthwhile to know which other games were in the bottom ten, and as such possibly know where we, as a booth and a community, might want to turn some additional energies and attention between now and next year?

I think I had a few titles that sold but 1 or 2 copies, if any, e.g., Arcana Evolved titles. It's a separate issue, but I know the d20 stuff did not sell. The reasons for this are obvious. The people who come to the Forge booth aren't looking for d20, and the people looking for d20 aren't coming to the Forge booth. To be clear, this is not bitterness. On the contrary, I went into this GC with my eyes wide open. Obviously, I would have liked to have sold more copies of Helios Rising (just to avoid shipping costs, ugh!). But complaining about d20 sales at the Forge booth would be like complaining about the sales of Chevy Suburbans at the Electric Car Show. (My apologies for the strained analogy.)

[Justin D. Jacobson]

Not to take the shine of the numbers (and I'm certain there was overall improvement), but how many publishers and discrete titles were there by year?

The statistic that I find most exciting is the rise in money spent per transaction. That's an often overlooked avenue for growth.

[timfire]

The statistic that I find most exciting is the rise in money spent per transaction. That's an often overlooked avenue for growth.

Not to deflate some of the air myself, but I'm not terribly impressed here---the general price of indie titles has risen from $15-20 or so in 2003 to $20-25 this year. What excites me is the rise of 1.79 items/transaction to 2.6 items/transaction.

[Blankshield]

I fully expect the average price per item to drop next year.  Don't forget, our top selling unit - approximately 6% of volume and 12% of revenue - was a $40 brick.

(the most beautiful brick I've ever seen, but still...)

Last year's top selling unit was $24 of bloody ronin betrayal, at ~13% of volume and 11% of revenue.  That alone accounts for much of the year-over-year jump. 

James

[Judd]

I think I had a few titles that sold but 1 or 2 copies, if any, e.g., Arcana Evolved titles. It's a separate issue, but I know the d20 stuff did not sell. The reasons for this are obvious. The people who come to the Forge booth aren't looking for d20, and the people looking for d20 aren't coming to the Forge booth. To be clear, this is not bitterness. On the contrary, I went into this GC with my eyes wide open. Obviously, I would have liked to have sold more copies of Helios Rising (just to avoid shipping costs, ugh!). But complaining about d20 sales at the Forge booth would be like complaining about the sales of Chevy Suburbans at the Electric Car Show. (My apologies for the strained analogy.)

Was there anyone demoing d20 stuff?

Were any of the d20 publishers at the booth active on ENworld?

[Justin D. Jacobson]

Was there anyone demoing d20 stuff?

No. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I know I may be pilloried for saying this, but it just didn't seem right to be demoing d20 material. Honestly, no one at GC needs to demo d20. I made a half-hearted attempt one day to, in the words of Ron, "demo the setting not the system" with my "Stump the Setting" sign. But it was, well, half-hearted.

Were any of the d20 publishers at the booth active on ENworld?

Yes, i.e., me. But I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. People know the BDG name. If I had my banner up, I'm sure I would've gotten more sales, but that's not really the point.

[iago]

I fully expect the average price per item to drop next year.  Don't forget, our top selling unit - approximately 6% of volume and 12% of revenue - was a $40 brick.

(the most beautiful brick I've ever seen, but still...)

Last year's top selling unit was $24 of bloody ronin betrayal, at ~13% of volume and 11% of revenue.  That alone accounts for much of the year-over-year jump. 

Later this year, I expect to have Spirit of the Century out as a 426 page softcover, priced at $30.

Early next year, I expect to have the Dresden Files RPG out in hardcover, priced in the $35-ish range.

It'll be interesting.

[Andrew Morris]

Early next year, I expect to have the Dresden Files RPG out in hardcover, priced in the $35-ish range.

Man, if this comes out fairly soon after the release of the Dresden Files TV show, this could easily become a top seller, even if the show flops. I've never read any of the books, but I know I'll pick up a copy of the game simply because the previews for the show look good.

[iago]

Early next year, I expect to have the Dresden Files RPG out in hardcover, priced in the $35-ish range.

Man, if this comes out fairly soon after the release of the Dresden Files TV show, this could easily become a top seller, even if the show flops. I've never read any of the books, but I know I'll pick up a copy of the game simply because the previews for the show look good.

You've seen into the heart of my dastardly plan!

[Ron Edwards]

Guys, this thread is about the booth, not a given publication nor chatting about it ...

Thanks, Ron

[Tim C Koppang]

Saw the following on Slashdot; thought it might provide a certain outside perspective (http://games.slashdot.org/games/06/08/18/0632227.shtml):

"I did not get to make it to Gencon this year, but you missed the real good stuff... The Forge booth. This booth (at least among RPG companies) did third in sales this year (next to Wizards and White Wolf), and the funny thing is - they aren't a company, just a ragtag assembly of independent game designers. The games at the Forge booth are tremendously interesting, far more cutting edge than any new edition or new mainstream game released this year. It's really, really good stuff - you should check it out next year."