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kahonen
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
358 Posts |
 Posted - 24 Sep 2002 : 22:00:55
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I spent a few hours in Southampton this afternoon and visited a few of the shops I normally buy D&D stuff from (Forbidden Planet, Waterstones) and found that none of them had ANY D&D stuff on the shelves. Speaking to the management in the shops they all had the same answers - they can't get hold of books to fill customer's orders so they were being forced to stop taking orders.
Now, by coincidence, I've just received a very interesting e-mail from WotC, the text of which I've copied below:
Dear Wizards Online Store Customer:
As you may be aware, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. has reached a distribution and licensing agreement to outsource our online retail business to SVGames, LLC. From this point forward, to place an online order for Wizards' product, please go to http://www.svgames.com.
Should you have any question(s) about an order you placed previously with store.wizards.com, including Gen Con tickets or RPGA memberships, please contact Wizards of the Coast at ordersup@wizards.com. Include your name, address, and the Order Number, if applicable, in the text of your message.
Our email address will remain active through September 30, 2002 in order to serve you.
Should you have an outstanding gift certificate for use at the Wizards
Online Store, SVGames.com will be honoring them. Please contact SVGames for details at orders@svgames.com. Be sure to use a subject line of "Outstanding Gift Certificate" and give them your certificate number.
Thank you for your past business. We certainly enjoyed serving you and hope you try out SVGames.com.
Sincerely,
Wizards Online Store Staff
ordersup@wizards.com
So what do people think?
Is this an admission of failure by Hasbro and an attempt to put the distribution problems right,
or
Hasbro dumping an embarrassing bit of WotC because of the distribution problems they're having.
Personally I hope it's the former and things improve. I'm going to the USA tomorrow and intend to visit the WotC shop in Grand Rapids. It'll be intersting to see if they are having problems getting stock of new items.
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Halidan
Senior Scribe
USA
470 Posts |
Posted - 25 Sep 2002 : 00:27:36
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quote:
Originally posted by kahonen Is this an admission of failure by Hasbro and an attempt to put the distribution problems right,
or
Hasbro dumping an embarrassing bit of WotC because of the distribution problems they're having.
Personally I hope it's the former and things improve. I'm going to the USA tomorrow and intend to visit the WotC shop in Grand Rapids. It'll be intersting to see if they are having problems getting stock of new items.
Kahonen,
I don't hink it's either. I think it's Hasbro divesting themselves of a portion of WotC that they both have no previous experience in (e-commerce opperations) and no interest taking the time to learn how to do it right. I don't think it will be too long before we see the same thing happen to the Wizards brick and mortar shops as well.
I can't speak to the issue of product availability overseas - but work in a hobby shop here in the US (Lansing, MI - about an hour from Grand Rapids, MI) and we've had no probelms whatsoever. regardless of if it's getting 3E product straight from the source (WotC) or through second party distributors, there hasn't been any shortage or delay.
I think this is more of an international thing - especially in light of all the travel and shipping restrictions following the events of 9/11/01. It's effected many things you did't realize at first. It now takes nearly 2+ hours to cross the bridge from Detroit to Winsor, Ont. - something that used to take 20 minutes even in heavy traffic. I suspect the effect on customs and security checks has caused numerous headaches for any company trying to ship product overseas.
Just my 2 cp's |
"Over the Mountains
Of the Moon
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,"
The shade replied,
"If you seek for Eldorado!"
Edgar Allen Poe - 1849 |
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The Great Drizzt
Learned Scribe
USA
280 Posts |
Posted - 25 Sep 2002 : 08:17:47
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Ok, now thats disturbing, but out here in So. Cal. we are having NO problems getting any stuff. I wonder if its only in certian states or what?
The Great Drizzt |
"Don't poke Drizzt, 'tis highly unsociable!" Drizzt Do'Urden -BG1 |
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Lord Rad
Great Reader
United Kingdom
2080 Posts |
Posted - 25 Sep 2002 : 09:11:40
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Well distribution over to the UK is abysmal!! 
I still havent seen novels over here which were released back in June\July! You just cant get them anywhere!
Gaming products arent THAT bad but theres still a good month or two til we see them here. An exception to that is CotSQ which I picked up a couple of weeks ago! I was shocked to see it in the stores, maybe things ARE changing after all!? |
Lord Rad
"What? No, I wasn't reading your module. I was just looking at the pictures"
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kahonen
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
358 Posts |
Posted - 29 Sep 2002 : 21:33:37
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Having visited the WotC shop in Grand Rapids during the week I can tell you that they themselves are having difficulty getting WotC products. They had 2 copies of Monster Manual 2 in stock (which I bought - expect an e-mail later Jay) and hadn't been able to get hold of City of the Spider Queen at all. They had also sold out of "The Silver Marches" a couple of weeks ago and were "waiting for deliveries". The guy that runs the shop has run it for just over 5 years and reckons the current situation is "laughable" and "very embarassing". They can't even get hold of Dungeon and Dragon Magazine.
I went to a couple of BIG bookshops looking for novels and they reckon supplies of FR novels are almost non-existant, one of them has given up ordering FR novels and is considering stopping stocking them because of hassle they're getting from customers when they can't fill orders.
If WotC can't meet orders in USA, we don't have a chance. |
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Lord Rad
Great Reader
United Kingdom
2080 Posts |
Posted - 29 Sep 2002 : 21:41:18
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Thanks Kahonen  
Wow, that really is disturbing! I didnt realise the situation over in the USA was so bad! This isnt good news for D&D\FR at all. What on earth is going wrong here? Do WotC actually realise the damage such poor distribution is causing to our hobby?! I have a bad feeling about this.......remember the days of TSR back in 1997?  |
Lord Rad
"What? No, I wasn't reading your module. I was just looking at the pictures"
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kahonen
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
358 Posts |
Posted - 29 Sep 2002 : 21:42:43
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Thinking about what Halidan said earlier,
"I don't think it will be too long before we see the same thing happen to the Wizards brick and mortar shops as well",
perhaps stock shortages at WotC outlets is part of the run down of these shops prior to dumping them.
I hope this isn't the case as my pilgrimage to a WotC outlet is an enjoyable part of my trips to USA. I'll have to find out where Lansing is (directions anyone) |
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kahonen
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
358 Posts |
Posted - 29 Sep 2002 : 21:48:39
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Rad wrote:
I have a bad feeling about this.......remember the days of TSR back in 1997?
To be honest, I was concerned when WotC took over TSR but didn't really notice any effect (apart from a couple of months while subscriptions to Dungeon and Dragon magazines was sorted out).
I think the problem is that each time the product moves to a new producer it becomes less important:
TSR - Main product
WotC - Important product
Hasbro - Just one of hundreds of products
You just have to look at the web site to see how the emphasis within Hasbro is changing - D20 Star Wars anyone? |
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Lord Rad
Great Reader
United Kingdom
2080 Posts |
Posted - 29 Sep 2002 : 21:54:20
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quote:
Kahonen Wrote:
TSR - Main product
WotC - Important product
Hasbro - Just one of hundreds of products
I think your breakdown of how D&D\FR stands as a product of each company has hit the nail on the head! I too was dubious on the WotC\TSR takeover but it didnt take long for WotC to prove that they will, and indeed have, made D&D and FR much better! The quality of the products far outshine the days of TSR (IMHO), but i feared the Hasbro takeover much more, in a much darker way! ....and i hate to admit that it looks like this is, as i feared, the worst thing that could have happened to D&D.
Gutted!  |
Lord Rad
"What? No, I wasn't reading your module. I was just looking at the pictures"
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Edited by - Lord Rad on 29 Sep 2002 21:55:15 |
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Mumadar Ibn Huzal
Master of Realmslore
1338 Posts |
Posted - 30 Sep 2002 : 13:28:24
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quote:
Originally posted by kahonen
Having visited the WotC shop in Grand Rapids during the week I can tell you that they themselves are having difficulty getting WotC products. They had 2 copies of Monster Manual 2 in stock (which I bought - expect an e-mail later Jay) and hadn't been able to get hold of City of the Spider Queen at all. They had also sold out of "The Silver Marches" a couple of weeks ago and were "waiting for deliveries". The guy that runs the shop has run it for just over 5 years and reckons the current situation is "laughable" and "very embarassing". They can't even get hold of Dungeon and Dragon Magazine.
I went to a couple of BIG bookshops looking for novels and they reckon supplies of FR novels are almost non-existant, one of them has given up ordering FR novels and is considering stopping stocking them because of hassle they're getting from customers when they can't fill orders.
If WotC can't meet orders in USA, we don't have a chance.
I moved from the US to Europe recently and I had no problems aquiring FR or D&D material at Barnes and Nobles... and mind you I lived in the Deep South, middle of the bible belt. Besides the brick & mortar stores, I also make frequently use of on-line shops (like Amazon). I can't say that I have had problems there.
Now Europe will be a little more of a challenge when it comes down to brick&mortar stores to buy material. Yet with some delay the use of on-line shopping works just fine. |
Edited by - Mumadar Ibn Huzal on 30 Sep 2002 13:30:59 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
Posted - 30 Sep 2002 : 14:31:36
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Greetings, and well met.
Living in Perth, a city on the west coast of Australia, I have very rarely had to complain about the release of RPG products. Most of the new novels and source materials are released with very little delay.
And after a little research into the shipping and delivery processes to this country, I have discovered that Australia is one of the few countries to receive orders rather speedily. In fact nearly all of the orders I have placed with my local games store have been filled and, when a delay did occur, it resulted in about a two-to-three week waiting period (and these delays, when they happen are very rare).
Most of the products are readily avaiable in store, not to mentioned the vast amount of archived and second-hand material you can purchase. I have nearly all the 3E D&D rulebooks and sourcebooks, my collection is only missing Monster Manual 2.
It would seem that not every country has these delay or sales problems.
Well that's it for now, until next time...
"Even a straight path offers choices" - Liao Warrior House Aphorism
('Mechwarrior: Initiation to War' by Robert N. Charrette) |
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Another bit sold ...
