I spent Sunday to Thursday in Las Vegas at GAMA. Overall, the show is small and sedate compared to Gencon and even Origins. GAMA is a "trade show" for RPGs, board games and card games. It's focused more on promotions and panels than straight up sales. It's also for schmoozing. Lots of "industry bigwigs" were there with plenty of time to talk or offer advice.

The show floor consisted of two largish rooms of exhibition booths. Again, smaller than Gencon or Origins, but much larger than local cons. Traffic, for those used to Gencon, was syrup slow. You could watch folks working their way down the aisle, booth by booth.

I was there representing IPR. We shared a stand with Profantasy Software (which sounds like Profanity Software when you say it quickly) -- Simon from Pelgrane's other company. I'd say about 60% of the people who stopped at our booth were there for Profantasy, 40% for IPR or RPGs in general. I'd guess we had a 10-15% crossover rate -- retailers who'd want to talk to both of us, or who were passed over to the other company after the initial pitch.

The quality, or rather utility, of each customer was generally much higher than the standard "consumer" show. Most attendees were retailers. These were people who, if interested, could be the portal to many sales of the games. I estimate that I talked directly to 25 retailers. Not all were interested, but all the same, that's not too bad -- considering our current roster is about 6 retailers. I also spoke at a seminar with about 50 retailers present. I can't recommend seminars and panels enough. I received a very favorable response and a number of retailers came to the booth or stopped me in the halls and professed interest in what we do and what we stand for.

And, just to get it out of the way, I had at least 3 retailers -- who order our games or want to order our games -- complain to me (rather vehemently) about IPR. They complained about the 42% discount and having to pay shipping on the smaller orders. They also complained about the shipping turnaround time. Apparently, IPR has the worst turnaround time out there. Even compared to Alliance! I explained that we were a small outfit and that our titles are self-published and POD. I think all of them said, "If your cost per unit is high, raise your prices." Apparently, the 42% discount is too narrow of margin for them. They claimed serious hardship! Anything we can do to ameliorate that would probably increase orders by a large degree. Personally, I think we should have a loyalty program. Retailers who repeatedly order should get a progressively better discount. Create a tiered scheme so that the retailers want to make their next order so they can get a better discount and make more from these games. I suspect we'd see an increase in volume.

That's all well and good. I can already hear Tony and Ben saying, "Fuck those guys." Whatever. Go on hating the money of people who want to buy your games.

Anyway, I don't think the discount issue is the end of the world or the most important lesson from GAMA. Regardless of the discount, I think there is a real opportunity at GAMA for IPR. I think IPR can storm GAMA like the Forge storms GenCon. I think IPR can create a fun, informative and exciting booth for retailers.

I learned that retailers are busy and they don't really care about how pretty or cool our games are. Most have no frame of reference for how that will translate into a benefit for their store. Being pretty and cool simply isn't enough to get the games into the store. Your average game retailer needs a broader web of data. They need reviews, quotes, promotional material, in-store displays, demo games and a clear view of how the game will look on their shelves.

I think that if we went to GAMA as a FORGE-style booth with fiery demos, posters, stickers, pins, PDF CDs full of preview materials and reviews, sample copies and, most important, actual shelves that display the IPR roster in a simulated store environment, we would blow retailers away. We could SHOW them how cool our games are, rather than merely telling them. I think this could be accomplished by a two or three man team with a corner booth at the show. It would require time, investment and commitment on the part of the whole community. But, I believe the benefits would outweigh the costs in the long term.  Everyone wants us to succeed. We are the new hope -- the revitalization of roleplaying games. But in order to be successful, we've got to be more savvy and better organized. We've got to stop looking like the rank amateurs that we are not.

Comments are welcome.
-Luke

Thanks for representing, Luke.  That's all thought provoking stuff.  I hope you got to snort coke off a prostitute or something while you were in Vegas.

The retailer perspective is interesting to me, and it sounds like what you heard from them varies considerably from what passes for conventional wisdom.  Conventional wisdom is that retailers complaining about things like form factor and fulfillment difficulty are just lazy and/or clueless, with stores like Endgame Oakland as the counter-example.  In what way was your experience at odds with this perception?

I don't like hearing that IPR has a poor turnaround reputation, regardless of the circumstances. 

Were the retailers you talked to upbeat and confident about their own situation and the state of the industry?  What was the general mood at GAMA?

No coke or strippers.

They complaine about form factor and fulfillment difficulties, too. But these are old saws. Individually, or even together, those aren't that much of a barrier. But add onto those the poor retailer discount and the shipping costs and you sliced our retailer base down to folks who do it out of love.

End Game stands as the prime example of retailers who carry our stuff. They are all of a type: These stores have an active manager or owner who like roleplaying games and keeps abreast of the latest developments in our community. They do it out of love. This is universally the case with retailers who carry IPR stuff.

As for the general mood at GAMA, I forgot to mention the title of that panel: Save vs Death, strategies for saving RPGs. We're the hind end of the rump, my friends. And we know it.

-L

Thanks for that, Luke. We have one store here locally that stocks a lot of IPR products -- but, yes, that 42% discount keeps them from ordering the whole catalog. And, recently, I had some not small issues with shipping, myself, when ordering product for distribution to websites (as prize packages for contests)*. There is quite a bit of room for optimization, as you rightly point out.

I totally understand the allure of running a company through an informal, communal, structure -- the problem is that to business men, such companies look like amateur hour operations. And, in fairness, that's because they are. Successful corporations simply don't utlilize the kind of informal framework that IPR does, with good reason -- even such liberal companies as Apple Computer or Ben & Jerry's realize that with formal structure comes efficiency (and, of course, efficiency is one of the most highly prized attributes when businessmen are choosing who to enter into working relationships with).

That said, when IPR is ready to move out of the garage, it will. It might not be today, or even tomorrow. I do think, however, that the day in question will come -- but it needs to come when there is a concrete plan for growth in place, not before then. There's no need to rush things, IMO -- IPR isn't a retail or wholesale powerhouse of any kind at the moment, but it is in a position to become one. That's a position that may be lost if growth is not managed carefully (as many a small-press publisher has discovered).

*FWIW, Fred Hicks did a phenomenal PR job here, but the individuals in charge of website updates and inventory really dropped the ball. I felt kind of bad for Fred and the anonymous fellow in charge of shipping as they were left holding the bag when others failed to perform their assigned duties in a timely fashion.

Thanks for the scoop, man.

Since one of my primary motives for signing up--if not the motive period--is to reach retailers, I'm concerned.

I think that if we went to GAMA as a FORGE-style booth with fiery demos, posters, stickers, pins, PDF CDs full of preview materials and reviews, sample copies and, most important, actual shelves that display the IPR roster in a simulated store environment, we would blow retailers away

Thanks, Luke! I am really behind hitting GTS in a big way next year, and point-of-sale branding and promotion is something IPR wants to implement. We were thinking of a shelf hanger style display, in addition to a free-standing one.

The turnaround time issue is definitely one that I am aware of, and I have been working pretty closely with Chris Hanrahan to step up IPR's game. He's not shy about criticising, and has helped me understand the retailers' needs a lot better. We may still be a bit slower than some fulfillment places, but I've got retail turnaround down to about three days (as long as payment is received--this has been a problem in the past: I don't ship until I have the money).

I'm sorry there were some problems with your orders, James, I am definitely the guy who fell down on the job. IPR is also a small potatoes operation, still. I have some extra help, which has been instrumental in helping us grow. The problems are definitely growing pain style problems. IPR isn't making enough for itself to have any full-time staff at the moment, although that will probably change. I was doing everything along with working a full-time job until January of last year, and the work was definitely getting to be more than I could handle. We have a dedicated fulfillment guy who does the pick-and-pack now, and Nathan Paoletta and Fred Hicks have been giving me essential assistance on web maintenance and customer service.

For the structural complaints, I am in a bit of a bind, and this is something to hash out with the membership. I already have publishers complaining to me about 42% being too deep a discount. Of course, I know it's not a competitive discount compared to other distributors, but IPR's mission remains maximum value to publishers. We'll see what comes out of further discussion here.

(We also have about 15-20 retailers who regularly order from us at this point, not 6 as mentioned above.)

(as long as payment is received--this has been a problem in the past: I don't ship until I have the money).

Heya,

As for the general mood at GAMA, I forgot to mention the title of that panel: Save vs Death, strategies for saving RPGs. We're the hind end of the rump, my friends. And we know it.

We could SHOW them how cool our games are, rather than merely telling them. I think this could be accomplished by a two or three man team with a corner booth at the show. It would require time, investment and commitment on the part of the whole community. But, I believe the benefits would outweigh the costs in the long term.  Everyone wants us to succeed. We are the new hope -- the revitalization of roleplaying games. But in order to be successful, we've got to be more savvy and better organized. We've got to stop looking like the rank amateurs that we are not.

Thanks so much for doing this, Luke!

I don't hate money!  I'm grumpy about an increased discount solely because it means I would have to raise my prices, which I feel like screws over my good, loyal, online customers.  Maybe I should do some sort of international shipping thing to compensate.  Hrmm...

Brennan wrote: I'm sorry there were some problems with your orders, James, I am definitely the guy who fell down on the job.

IPR is also a small potatoes operation, still. I have some extra help, which has been instrumental in helping us grow. The problems are definitely growing pain style problems.

IPR isn't making enough for itself to have any full-time staff at the moment, although that will probably change.

Sorry. "non-for-profit" in the above sentence should read "not-for-profit". A casualty of spellcheck, I'm afraid.

James,

IPR isn't actually operating at a loss, but that is because I don't draw a salary from it. I do get compensation as an owner, but our operation isn't big enough for that to be even a part-time salary. We will see how things shake out this year.

IPR is a for-profit company, and although we have a mission to generate value for the members, we also plan to keep IPR viable and continue to build it to a point where it supports staff and delivers profit for the owners. Not to worry, we do have a plan. :)

For what it's worth, I'm not an IPR stakeholder. But it seems to me what's relevant to a re-evaluation of the 42% discount isn't the past (discount precedent within the industry) or the present (discount comparison to other consolidators), but the future of the product category within the store. Are traditional roleplaying games a growing revenue stream for the store? Are mainstream board games a growing revenue stream for the store? Are collectible card games a growing revenue stream for the store? Are miniatures a growing revenue stream for the store? Is the IPR product line a growing revenue stream for the store? Etc. If you're a growing revenue stream among declining revenue streams, don't change your discount. If you're a decliner among growing revenue streams, you need to find out why, and adjust. If you're a slowly growing revenue stream among more solidly growing revenue streams, you need to be relentless in representing your enduring value and more solid future and minimize nuisances that might provoke resellers to abandon you in favor of products that burn twice as bright for half as long.

Paul

Good points, Paul. But, as I mentioned above, cutting into the retailer discount seems to create a barrier to entry. Rumors abound about game retailers suffering. Every year for the past 3 years we've heard of massive store closings. At the seminar, I asked the retailers if any had seen a decline in their RPG sales. I saw about 40 hands. I asked if any had seen an uptick in RPG sales. I saw only 6! hands there. At least three of those retailers carried IPR stuff, so that's encouraging. However, I think the majority of declining sales speaks volumes. We've got hot products, but we're asking wounded, wary beasts to take a chance on us. Why not meet them half way? Why not meet their expectactions of discount? They are the majority by 80% of the market. If each of those stores ordered once from IPR, it could be a huge jump in sales. And volume like that will more than make up for any lost percentage from the publisher.

Also, regarding the discount as a publisher, I have to admit my sympathy for the small discount is pretty much nil. If you're not pricing your books to be sold at a 50% discount, then there's something wrong. I've been all over the map in distro -- loss leading, break even and making money. It's not that hard to find a method of production and a price point that delivers a modest profit in distro and doesn't penalize the consumer.

Lastly, I used the word "distro" deliberately. Brennan is running a distribution company for small press and self-published games. Brennan's not fulfilling orders that go to distributers. He's collecting product and selling it direct to retail.

-L

This is hot stuff.  Thanks for the intel, Luke.

I've been doing what I can to up the ante in terms of IPR's pitch to retailers.  As folks may have seen over on my LJ, I've been putting together a revised "hard sell" document for IPR that specifically targets retailer concerns.

For what it's worth, I think the 42% discount issue can probably be talked around, but we need some strong clarity on what the message needs to be that can get the "wounded beasts" to a point where they are healed enough to be willing to take those risks.  (For those saying "Hey, I thought 42% was pretty standard!" -- I said the same thing to Chris Hanrahan of Endgame Oakland and he said "nah, that's actually one of the smallest discounts in the biz".)  You can read more about this over on my LJ and download a PDF of the "pitch sheet" here: http://drivingblind.livejournal.com/tag/ipr

The shipping issue with IPR is something that I've already seen improvements on since I stepped up to work the customer service queue this past month.  To put it quite simply, Brennan's been overwhelmed addressing both the direct-sales customer service concerns and retailer service concerns (and, heck, publisher service concerns) in the small envelope of time he's had for doing IPR work.  By having someone else on hand to hit the non-retailer stuff, Brennan's already been able to stand on top of the retailer issues more effectively.  Plus, I can nag the crap out of him.  Other folks -- like Nathan Paoletta -- have also stepped up to help with things like setting up new products, etc.  So, there are strides to be made with the retailer relations stuff, and they're *being* made; we're just early into that process.

I also want to comment a little bit on some of the "armflapping" I think I'm seeing over whether or not IPR's business model is sound.  First off, I think it's potentially naive to think that a solely RPG-focused business is something that should be able to pay a salary.  I simply don't expect that to be true unless you're a titan of the industry.  And, being as we're talking small press here, and what with IPR currently working as a "publisher's interests first" sort of alliance of small press publishers, industry titan is not the mode of the day.  IPR *is*, however, profitable, exactly as Brennan says, without paying salaries, and for the time being -- especially just a few years into its existence -- that's actually very good.  Thus I object to the flappery suggesting that it's somehow evidence of failure.  To me, financial success in the small press world is breaking even.  Anything beyond that is gravy -- and IPR has a heapin' helpin' of gravy.

Still, that helpin' could be a lot bigger, and I think it should be IPR's 2007-2008's mission to grow that as large as can be *managably* done.  Luke's intel from the GAMA front is definitely one of our best guides for what we should have in mind as we do so.

I am a shareholder in IPR. I was at Games Expo, another trade show in March with Brennan.

We recently switched to a professional fulfilment agent, also used by ProFantasy and Pelgrane. Before then, orders were shipped out personally by Brennan. Our retail turnaround, as Brennan mentioned is substantially better, and pretty much standard for the industry. There are some problems that obviously need addressing, but we'll deal with those. Up to the beginning of March IPR served a few, very active retailers including Leisure Games who each sold substantial volume of IPR stocked games. In March, at Games Expo and then GTS we began the push to make IPR a player in the distributor market.

The retailers we want are those who are genuinely enthusiastic about indie games, as enthusiastic as the players and publishers. If they aren't they simply won't sell any games. There are hundreds of retailers, and we are aiming for 50 or 60 this year. At this stage, we can be a little selective. We don't want or need retailers for whom our discount is a barrier. It's the revenue stream that's important, not the discount. (I think the rights and wrongs of publisher pricing are for another thread.) That said, we have to provide excellent serivce to retailers if the discount is not what they are used to.

We think that for the right retailer, IPR games will produce an evergreen, growing revenue in an emerging market, with a small shelf space and a highly enthusiatic proselytizing customer base. Indie games don't require other indie games to be played (razor and razor blade model) and each game tends not to be played to the exclusion of other games. All our games are carefully vetted for quality. This model has worked very well for a handful of retailers, and can work for others. It was educational to watch the retailers fall into the two camps at Games Expo; those that said "wow, these games are great, my customers want them, I can't wait to stock them", and the rest.

The absence of a full time employee is not a reflection of the success of the business. Our goal is not to "pay a salary". The fact that Brennan works full time elsewhere is allowing the business to grow, and lets us reinvest in the website, and the new distribution wing. What matters is that each part of the business is run professionally, whether by specialist freelancers or an exceptionally versatile employee.

Simon Rogers
ProFantasy Software Ltd

Hi guys,

Personally I don't think the 42% is a big deal. In Europe (well, certainly in the UK) 42% disocunt is a good to average discount from distributors. I'm quite happy buying IPR's range at 42% for Leisure Games (obviously I won't turn down greater discounts though and would be mroe than happy with a 'Loyalty Scheme'! :p).

I think any retailer that isn't prepared to test the waters with even a select few titles from IPR at 42% discount is loosing out big time. The minimum carriage paid order isn't too bad at all and it's not like a retailer can't order less than that if they're prepared to pay the shipping costs!

I think the thing that IPR needs to do is try and move the 'buzz' from various Forums and mailing Lists into the stores themselves. Then the stores will want to stock the games because they will see the demand and sales!

In the UK we have been pretty much exclusively a complete stockist of IPR's range plus other Small Press Publishers (such as My Life With Master, Prime Time Adventures, Wild Talents and a number of British based small press companies such as Postmortem Studios, Silver Branch Games and Anglo-Canadian Games to name but three). Through the use of our sales through both the shop front and our mail order department, combined with Convention apperaences (which we're ramping up this year primarily highlighting the Indie range) we've managed to help create a demand for the games over here. To the extent I'm now having other UK retailers ringing us up asking for either stock or details on how to get stock (Hey Brennan, if you need a UK partner to act as a agent or distributor for other stores over here let me know! - that goes for other non-IPR aligned publishers too).

The point is that as stores stock the games they will start seeing the benefits. Not all stores will be complete stockists but pretty much any store will be able to sell top sellers such as Spirit of the Century, Dogs in the Vineyard, etc.

Having a presence at GAMA is something that will certainly help create opportunities. I saw Luke in Vegas and had a brief chat with him (sorry I didn't get to chat longer or hang out at the bar for afterhours drinks - maybe at GenCon though!). The stand was certainly a starting point.

Next year though I'd suggest having a dedicated IPR stand and taking a greater range of titles to the show. There were only a handful of titles on show this year and with a dedicated stand you can really make a better display of what's on offer. The flyers that fred did were very good and hopefully a number of retailers will have taken those away and seen the extent of the range. I'm not sure if running demo's on the stand at GTS for retailers is really a good thing or not. I don't know how much uptake you'd get for that at a trade show.

In regards to IPR itself. Leisure Games is generally very happy with the company. A couple of times orders have been slightly delayed but a few days isn't the end of the world (unless we have a major convention and the stock fails to arrive until the folloiwng week :p). The one thing that I do think could be improved is fulfilment levels.

We get invoiced for our order, pay the invoice and then get shipped the goods. Generally speaking when the order arrives with us it is missing certain items that have eitehr run out of stock or were, for whatever reason, missed from the delivery. This is obviously annoying and causes hassle in the paperwork department with myself and Brennan exchanging emails tryign to find out what's gone on and arranging replacement stock or credit notes against future orders.

If we can find a way to only be invoiced what we're actually being sent that would be great. Hopefully with the new dedicated fulfilment company picking errors will be minimised.

Other than that IPR does a fantastic job and we'll carry on supporting IPR and Indie Games in general as much as we possibly can. I'm already looking at running a dedicated Indie Games Day in London this summer and combined with our Convention Calendar and, obviously, the showing that Indie Games get at Dragonmeet each year it should be a good year for the scene (as well as everything that Simon from ProFantasy and the Collective Endeavour guys are doing over here). We're also toying with setting up a second, dedicated, website for Small Press companies to heighten the range further in Europe (as well as keeping them on our core website).

Here's looking towards the future :)

Angus Abranson
Leisure Games
London, UK