Trying to buy Games in bulk. [Need Advice]

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NzReborn

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Topic # 95516 6-Jan-2012 15:38

Hey guys I'm new to Geekzone and I'm not sure if I'm posting in the right place but it is gaming related.

Basically I'm trying to buy video games in bulk for a rental store. I've been searching around to no avail people mention contacting the Game developers market division but i dont intend to buy in HUGE volumes. maybe around 10-20 copies of 1 title.

Platforms. Xbox 360,PS3 and Wii

Any help would be much appreciated. thanks

xpd

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Reply # 565449 6-Jan-2012 17:48

Contact the distributors or even a store such as MightyApe. Pretty sure they'll be able to help you out.

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NzReborn

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Reply # 565456 6-Jan-2012 17:59

Hiya sorry for the dumb question but how do I find these distributors? I've typed everything in google but I'm at a loss.

and yup I have contacted MightyApe but they must have a massive backlog of questions at the moment so guess I'll have to wait, I've also asked some Video Game sellers on TradeMe but I think I'm being ignored.

btw Im not an established rental business so im not really in the know how, just doing my research on a potential business once I'm active enough I'll be posting in the startup section for some feedback.

Thanks.

LennonNZ

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Reply # 565459 6-Jan-2012 18:11

https://www.gamewizz.com/ is the distributor in NZ for a lot of stuff

gzt

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Reply # 565474 6-Jan-2012 18:56

NzReborn: Hiya sorry for the dumb question but how do I find these distributors? I've typed everything in google but I'm at a loss.

and yup I have contacted MightyApe but they must have a massive backlog of questions at the moment so guess I'll have to wait, I've also asked some Video Game sellers on TradeMe but I think I'm being ignored.

btw Im not an established rental business so im not really in the know how, just doing my research on a potential business once I'm active enough I'll be posting in the startup section for some feedback.

Thanks.

At the rate many of them are closing down you could probably walk into one of the independents and buy it for a box of beer or propose a deal that works for your side of the business.

NzReborn

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Reply # 565872 7-Jan-2012 20:32

LennonNZ: https://www.gamewizz.com/ is the distributor in NZ for a lot of stuff

OMG! thank you. now I just need to get in touch with them. honestly could not find anything on distributors in NZ typed in all sorts of things and no result. thanks alot!

also thanks to everyone else :) does sound like a good idea as most video stores are going out of business.

PANiCnz

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Reply # 566020 8-Jan-2012 10:28

NzReborn: does sound like a good idea as most video stores are going out of business.

Have you stopped to wonder why they are going out of business?

NzReborn

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Reply # 566043 8-Jan-2012 11:59

PANiCnz:
NzReborn: does sound like a good idea as most video stores are going out of business.

Have you stopped to wonder why they are going out of business?

Yes I have lol.

My idea is to concentrate on the gaming community, my business is only on renting out games and not movies there is a site in NZ who does this called gamehog but they are not very well known and I think with good marketing it could be quite successful.

At the moment I'm just researching if this would be a potential business.

floydbloke

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Reply # 566060 8-Jan-2012 13:26

You'd also want to make sure that you're covered with regard to the renting and any other license restrictions that the copyright owners have put on the games.

E.g. just reading the DVD cover of one of my games here (happens to be GRID for PC but I'm sure it exist in one form or another for many games across all platforms):
"... Unauthorized copying, adaptation, rental, ... , charging for use, ... is prohibited. ..."

Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important. (T.S. Eliot)

rscole86

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Reply # 566065 8-Jan-2012 13:38

When I was working in retail I use to sell games to a local video store. A lot of the time we could sell the games to them at a lower price, and have them in stock, than their preferred supplier. They were a franchise operation, and had a "preferred supplier" that they were meant to use, gamewhizz was one, and another was Australian based.

Ragnor

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Reply # 566765 10-Jan-2012 09:47

There is a trend towards online registration, achievement tracking, downloadable content post release... ie: you can only activate the game on one account (xbox live or ps3 network).

Also in the longer term you will have to compete with OnLive and Gaikai type services:
http://www.onlive.com/
http://www.gaikai.com/

I don't see a bright future for console game rentals.

sen8or

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Reply # 570067 17-Jan-2012 17:44

*** Disclaimer - I own a video shop *****

Gamewizz as mentioned above for most of the product, the other is totalinteractive for microsoft and activision stuff (they are absolute rip-off merchants to rental stores, charging more than retail + GST to rental stores, DSE / The Warehouse etc are always cheaper for this product).

Be wary that Sony "can" be pretty pigheaded in regards to licensing of rental product with only product through gamewizz licensed for rental, ofcourse, it would take someone to actually check, but for the strictly legal perspective.

There are some games only rental places, gamestation in christchurch for example, not sure about outside our city.

As to why not many video rental stores are heavy into gaming, "on average" it takes 60-90 days for a game to pay for itself, letalone actually make any money from it, and that is on the assumption that some scum bucket doesn't hire it out and not return it, theres $100 down the tubes plus future potential earnings on that product. With movies turning a profit in anywhere from 14 - 28 days its not rocket science as to which avenue is the most profitable.

If its a physical store you are looking to set up, see what else is on offer in your area, are there video shops and if so, whats their game selection like, how many copies of the "big games" do they have, for COD/BF3, any less than 3-4 copies of each and they aren't very strong. What do they charge, how is your offering going to be different etc. Anybody can be cheaper, and if you get into a price war with a strong games store, unless your pockets are quite deep, chances are you will lose as they have other income avenues to subsidise gaming, whereas you won't (and as above, 60-90 days just to break even on games is a long time to wait when bills are payable in 30 - 55 days).

As a general rule, United Video tend to lead the way in regards to gaming, with Civic/Video ezy following and I would hazzard a guess Blockbuster and any other independants etc a way behind them again.

Your planned copy depth is quite high, but don't forget catalog games, this is where there can be some profit to be made as games continue to "tick out" over quite a long period of time and popular games like CODs etc will die (scratched/broken beyond repair) before they stop renting.

You sound like you are doing your homework first, good for you. Research is (all but) free, a wrong step could be very costly.

Good luck

Sen

PANiCnz

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Reply # 570196 17-Jan-2012 22:40

Honestly I can't imagine why anyone would willingly get into the game/movie/tv rental business when the online distribution models are only going from strength to strenght (e.g. valve, netflix). Particularly in the form of bricks and mortor, maybe if you had an e-Commerce element you might stand a chance of survival.

Big ups to those in the business already that are nutting it out and making a living, any small business owner deserves respect but anyone starting a new business in a dying industry deserves to have their head read.

Surely you wouldn't consider opening a book shop and trying to compete with Amazon? Same thing goes for the game market.

Invest your time, money, and effort into an industry that will still exist in five years.

sen8or

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Reply # 570269 18-Jan-2012 09:42

The iminent death of the rental industry has been going on for the last 20 years ever since sky came into operation, oddly, it still exists. The uber-geeks that set up vpns or proxies or whatever it is to get at the overseas online content only represent a fraction of "the market". 10 years from now, who knows, but, the rental channels have evolved in the past, they very well could in the future.

There has been some culling in the last 12-24 months or so, with chains that tried to open up stores on every corner where the market was already adequately serviced being the worst effected (Video Ezy, which has gone from 160 stores to about 120 in the last 2 years). But the stores that are around now will continue to go from strength to strength. $100k + per year plus "lifestyle", yep, I can see why that wouldn't appeal.

If you are happy with the quality of a compressed 700mb divx file to watch your movies on, fair enough, but for me, nothing but a "good" DVD at worst or Blu-ray is ok to watch. Why spend thousands on a big flash tv, sound system etc to then comprimise on the movie experience?

Rental games are a different kettle of fish, as I said above. Expensive to get into and "gamers" are the least loyal customers of the lot, happily going to 2-3 shops to get the game they want, when they want it, whereas movie watchers more often than not will simply pick something else if their first choice is not there. Rental games can be a good way to try before you buy, although with EB offering a 7 day full money back gtee, this is less of a selling point.