<![CDATA[Latest posts for the thread "What are the margins indies make on wargames and board games?"]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/7.page JForum - http://www.jforum.net What are the margins indies make on wargames and board games? http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/818936/11820969.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/818936/11820969.page GMT What are the margins indies make on wargames and board games? IIRC they generally bought stuff from distributors at like 50% off. But that may differ on products, etc.

From that profit they had some wiggle room for sales, but still needed to cover their overhead.

I know we have some actual shop owners who post here occasionally, hopefully you can get a better/more up to date answer.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/818936/11820970.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/818936/11820970.page GMT What are the margins indies make on wargames and board games? http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/818936/11820975.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/818936/11820975.page GMT Re:What are the margins indies make on wargames and board games?
Both distributors and retailers usually expect shipping to be included in the price, as well.

]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/818936/11820979.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/818936/11820979.page GMT What are the margins indies make on wargames and board games?
 LunarSol wrote:
Yeah, 50% is the general rule of thumb to buy from distributors.


Sure, but that is not the profit margin. From that 50% you have to pay rent, utliities, insurance, wages, subscriptions, marketing, and other expenses.

When I ran the numbers about 7 years ago the profits were almost non-existant, and you were putting in long hours for almost no return.

So my answer would be something like 0-5%. So if you sold $100K you would "profit" about $0-$5K dollars per annum. Enough to barely keep going, but one wrong bet and you were screwed. It was just as likely to lose money any given year.

There are a few caveats though. You could pack a lot of "living expenses" into those numbers if you also sold some grocery-style items and had a company vehicle. Of course, even losing money you could sometimes come out okay due to tax benefits, and possibly get more from tax returns in a year than actual profits. So the best way to make a million dollars in the Hobby Shop industry is to start with 2 million.

A business like this is all based on how good you are at building relationships/community (which is time and effort intensive) and how well you can absorb losses from year-to-year. If you want to survive, you have to take the money side extremely seriously, have a strong personality, and it helps to have an outside income stream as well.



]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/818936/11820991.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/818936/11820991.page GMT What are the margins indies make on wargames and board games? http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/818936/11820998.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/818936/11820998.page GMT What are the margins indies make on wargames and board games?
 Easy E wrote:
 LunarSol wrote:
Yeah, 50% is the general rule of thumb to buy from distributors.


Sure, but that is not the profit margin. From that 50% you have to pay rent, utliities, insurance, wages, subscriptions, marketing, and other expenses.

When I ran the numbers about 7 years ago the profits were almost non-existant, and you were putting in long hours for almost no return.

So my answer would be something like 0-5%. So if you sold $100K you would "profit" about $0-$5K dollars per annum. Enough to barely keep going, but one wrong bet and you were screwed. It was just as likely to lose money any given year.

There are a few caveats though. You could pack a lot of "living expenses" into those numbers if you also sold some grocery-style items and had a company vehicle. Of course, even losing money you could sometimes come out okay due to tax benefits, and possibly get more from tax returns in a year than actual profits. So the best way to make a million dollars in the Hobby Shop industry is to start with 2 million.

A business like this is all based on how good you are at building relationships/community (which is time and effort intensive) and how well you can absorb losses from year-to-year. If you want to survive, you have to take the money side extremely seriously, have a strong personality, and it helps to have an outside income stream as well.





Oh, I'm not in any way suggesting that is a good margin. Even discounting costs, you're looking at the reality of something that sells low enough volumes that priced at double what paid for from distribution, if you stock 2 and sell 1 you're breaking even. You are absolutely spending more to stay stocked than you're making back for a while and probably needing to have a few big sales to offload unsold products just to refresh shelves. ]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/818936/11821004.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/818936/11821004.page GMT What are the margins indies make on wargames and board games?
However, most people interested in a business like this are NOT going to be focused on that side of the equation. ]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/818936/11821018.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/818936/11821018.page GMT