Gamesmaster

[silentwhispers]

A couple of xbox 360 games that are £15 on the net were being sold for £30+

 

I don't mind it when companies have a small margin, But they no doubt buy wholesale so it'll be even cheaper than £15 and they make £15 on every game!,

 

 

No Doubt he buys wholesale but tbh how much discount do you think he gets on 10 copies of one game personally i dont think it would be much, it not like he's GAME buying 40,000+ copies to sell off a internet site and multiple retail stores then you would get good discount, its when large high street stores who could sell at a discount but sell at full RRP that annoy me.

 

i like to buy local if its in stock on the day i want /need it, i know it costs more but make things easy if anything goes wrong.

if not then off on the super highway i go

[Nitro]

No Doubt he buys wholesale but tbh how much discount do you think he gets on 10 copies of one game personally i dont think it would be much

 

But if he can get cheaper than the online prices, They are effectively gaining 50%+ profit.

 

Like you said though, They aren't any different to game (price wise) and its nice to have something new in Ramsey.

[Mission]

There is the possibility that a retailer might be making 50% profit Nitro (some make a heck of a lot more than that, others less) but that's GROSS profit - take into account all the overheads and salaries and that soon vanishes.

 

If anything, your anger should be directed at the chains who have far superior buying power, yet still charge full RRP for stuff rather than doing it cheaper.

 

Try running your own business and see just how tough it is...

[Nitro]

Mish, My opinion is solely as a buyer, A hunt for the cheapest price as I can't afford to throw away money, I don't think about overheads before buying anything (and you could think rather selfishly) I just want the lowest price and the savings in my pocket.

 

For example :

 

A popular xbox 360 game, Gears of war is £39.99 at Gamesmaster, The next cheapest high street price is Game at £37.99 (so not a huge difference) and the cheapest online price is £26.95 (with cashback is £25.60).

 

So Gamesmaster is at least getting the game for £25.60 or even cheaper (Wholesale?), So is making at least £14.39 profit or in other terms, I'm saving £14.39......., But I'm not saying Gamesmaster is a rip off though because compared to high street stores, It isn't, As for running a local business, I'm not saying its not tough, Infact I think its probably damn hard work, Especially with the internet competing on every level and prices constantly changing, Its never going to be easy.

 

You can expect local shops to be dearer though, Thats almost a certainty and when their isn't a massive price difference I try to shop locally.

 

I'll give another example thats recently happened, Looking at buying a new LCD TV, Found one with good reviews etc, So had a look in Mea showrooms and Waltons, The price difference on tv's was phenomenal!, The same TV as on the net for £500 is £750 locally!!!, Just unbelievable!, Even when asked neither shops would do a discount near to the internet price, Hardly a surprise as while in there people were actually paying the price's!

[Mission]

No offence mate but you're making an awful lot of assumptions there. I popped in there tonight after work and he showed me the invoice with Gears of War on it and I can tell you, he's making nowhere near the level of profit on it you think he is. He could put it out at full retail (£49.99 and make a decent - still not great) margin on it but he's taken the view that he want's be be as competitive as possible with the likes of Game. He used to work at Game so he knows the numbers they used to buy on games and that's just one of something like 500 stores that Game have. They'll have massively bigger buying power than him.

 

Tell you what, he's an approachable guy, why not pop in and chat to him about it - you might just be surprised.

[modey]

How can't he be making that much profit on it though? surely if we the public can buy the game for £25.60 online then he can at least get it the for same if not cheaper, and so with him selling it at £39.99 he's should be making £14.39.

 

If he's not then surely he needs to be looking at where he is buying his games?

[Mission]

It's not just a case of him looking at where he's buying from though, it's also a case of who'll supply him. A lot of wholesalers might not be interested in an account of that size so maybe he's forced into using who he is atm. I don't really know a lot about that sector but I guess he must having worked for a large chain prior to going it alone. Seriously, if he's buying in maybe a dozen copies of one title and the local Game is buying in 200 copies of it (and they're one of 500 stores) don't you think the big guy is going to be getting a much better deal?

 

The internet in general has made a mockery of the traditional supply chain and in some cases, it can be cheaper for a retailer to buy from an online seller (selling to joe public) than it is going through a wholesaler. Something that probably needs to be addressed if retail is to survive in any form I guess.

[Nitro]

No offence mate but you're making an awful lot of assumptions there. I popped in there tonight after work and he showed me the invoice with Gears of War on it and I can tell you, he's making nowhere near the level of profit on it you think he is. He could put it out at full retail (£49.99 and make a decent - still not great) margin on it but he's taken the view that he want's be be as competitive as possible with the likes of Game. He used to work at Game so he knows the numbers they used to buy on games and that's just one of something like 500 stores that Game have. They'll have massively bigger buying power than him.

 

Tell you what, he's an approachable guy, why not pop in and chat to him about it - you might just be surprised.

 

Would you like to share what the exact profit margin on Gears of war is?, I'd be intrigued if the gross profit is less than £14.39?

 

If I started looking from the selling side of things Its easy to realise that he doesn't make much from every game, But as a consumer (and thats why it does sound selfish) i'm solely interested in finding the cheapest price, Not who the store is.

 

It seems like i'm knocking Gamesmaster which I'm not, In the (highstreet) market they're in, They're price competitively compared to the likes of GAME, Hmv, WH-Smiths, Woolworths etc and fair play to him, He won't have the same buying power as them etc, I do realise that.

 

If he is an ex-manager for game, I'm surprised if he couldn't contact the same suppliers and get a sample of say 50 games sent, Explain he is a new business and that if they sell well he'll order up another couple of hundred and as the business expands he'd be buying more and more, etc.

 

Its probably even the wrong thread to be discussing this anyway, I've used Gamesmaster as an example which is totally wrong, I don't want to put anyone off from going down and having a look, His prices aren't really any different to the other high-street stores.

[Mission]

Would you like to share what the exact profit margin on Gears of war is?, I'd be intrigued if the gross profit is less than

£14.39?

 

Not on here no, that would be wrong. Like I said, go in there and speak to the guy and introduce yourself...

[Nitro]

Would you like to share what the exact profit margin on Gears of war is?, I'd be intrigued if the gross profit is less than

£14.39?

 

Not on here no, that would be wrong. Like I said, go in there and speak to the guy and introduce yourself...

 

You know me dude, I'm in no way an internet warrior, But its a bit different a local businessman asking questions/taking a interest as apposed to me walking in and asking.

 

He might be approachable/reasonable, But why would he need to justify his costs or business info with me?, I'd get kicked out the shop for sure....

[Nitro]

Well anyways to clear the negative airways a bit.....

 

On Gamesmasters opening day they had a competition to win a Xbox 360 core console and Viva pinata, Very good of a new store to do, Never seen are local highstreet stores do that....

 

They also had a £5 off (for that day only) on everything over £30 (could have been over £40, But think it was over £30), Again, A nice introductory offer.

 

Oh and an Ad in the paper, Which doesn't come in that cheap these days, Also they had to refit the store, Buy the stock and in turn put a lot of hardwork in and find the capital to start in the first place, I can't knock them for that.

[*daniel*]

I'll give another example thats recently happened, Looking at buying a new LCD TV, Found one with good reviews etc, So had a look in Mea showrooms and Waltons, The price difference on tv's was phenomenal!, The same TV as on the net for £500 is £750 locally!!!, Just unbelievable!, Even when asked neither shops would do a discount near to the internet price, Hardly a surprise as while in there people were actually paying the price's!

 

Same thing happened with me. We do get a bit ripped off. I wanted a new phone, saved myself £100+ buying online than MT (both for a sim-free jobby). Did happen to question them about it when they were offering the same phone as a prize for precious market research at the job fair thingy at the villa. They didn't seem to happy to answer to why they were ripping us off so much. I really wouldn't mind paying say £30-40 for a phone for the convenience of having somewhere to go if there is a problem/question or whatever, but when you get into margins like that it does get ridiculous. The site that I got it from was a smallish site, so wouldn't have much buying power anyway, certainly wasn't a big business. Think it's shut down now so i might be in a bit of trouble if anything goes wrong, but with the money I saved, i could just buy a new phone anyway.

 

This doesn't really have much to do with the thread so i better come up with something to add a contribution.

 

I think in business, the same with life, it's not about how much effort you put into something, it's to do with the contacts you have. Like has been said, if this guy was a manager then hopefully, with a bit of luck, he will of made some contacts for supplies. However, ramsey might be a good place for setting up a new business, not sure if computer games is the best market to be in in ramsey, with all the oldies living there. B)

[MarcusAurelius]

Just been in for a skeet and got a DS for the missus...nice chap in there who helped me out.

 

Hope it works out for him.

 

Thanks for that WSAG.Especially appreciate positive comments from a fellow blue.Nitro , I sincerely wish I could buy Gears Of War for £25.60 from my supplier and that I could make £15+ on each copy.However that is not the case.As Mission alluded too , I think you may be shocked at how much it costs to stock games.

 

Unfortunately the likes of Microsoft , EA , Ubisoft , Sega etc.. only deal with one supplier so as much as I would like to shop around and get better prices I can't.

 

When I was at Game , I did not get involved with buying as that was all done at head office but suffice it to say when Final Fantasy XII was released we got 200 copies in our store in Douglas and that would be replicated across the entire chain of over 500 stores.Ask yourself what their buying power must be like.

 

It has cost a significant amount of money to get this store fit for purpose,stocked ,advertised , etc.. and we cannot afford to have it fail so with that in mind I constantly check Game's prices , Amazon and Play and make us as competitive as I can.

 

Anyway , if you ever want to come in and have a chat your more than welcome.Thanks for the thread about our shop Mission.

 

All The Best

Mark

Gamesmaster

[modey]

Just a quick question, If the best price you can get for games is from an online retailer and not a supplier why can't you just buy bulk from an online retailer and so have a better profit margin?

 

Is there something stopping you doing this?

[WilDDog]

Just a quick question, If the best price you can get for games is from an online retailer and not a supplier why can't you just buy bulk from an online retailer and so have a better profit margin?

 

Is there something stopping you doing this?

 

I'm assuming he probably can, but then he has to sell them all and any stock he doesn't sell would certainly eat into any profit already made on the ones sold.