- -----Original Message-----
From: BenandAmy
To: birthright@MPGN.COM
Date: Wednesday, October 07, 1998 12:43 PM
Subject: Re: [BIRTHRIGHT] - BR Cancellation


>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: J. D. Lail
>To: birthright@MPGN.COM
>Date: Wednesday, October 07, 1998 12:10 PM
>Subject: [BIRTHRIGHT] - BR Cancellation
>
>
>>Ready for a shock ? According to a TSR staffer Sean
>>Reynolds in the BR folder on the TSR website it seems
>>that as a product the Birthright Boxed Set Lost Money.
>>Not a lot but since that item should be the best selling
>>one in the line if it lost money then you can bet that
>>the expansions were not much better if at all.
>>
>>In a later post he also stated that the Players Secrets
>>were found to be competing with each other.Too many were
>>being sold at one time.
>>
>>L8R
>
>
> This, Is probably true, but in my experience, they didn't sell because
>they weren't on the shelves---not because people didn't want them. I bought
>everything I could find, and so did a few other people I know. It was
>pathetic---we would scout the shops every other day waiting for this stuff
>to come in so we could get them before anyone else could. It just wasn't
>available. IS ANYONE LISTENING AT TSR??????
>Maybe I'm the exception, I don't know.



Nope. Exactly the same in my town. Fortunately, I scoured
several cities at once. :)
birthright' as the body of the message.
Same here, I think I've got one of each of the BR products that reached OZ,
so that leaves about half the novels and about 25% of the 'Players Secrets'
to go!



I have to agree with Benand, atleast I didn't see more than 2 Birthright
settings Boxes over here in Gothenburg. One of the stores stopped to take in
BR stuff as they thought quite early that the BR wouldn't have a future.




Oh...I wouldn't describe you as an exception...I have that problem with
most gaming products around...that's why at least once a quarter...I head to
LA to do some shopping...and even there I usually have to hit several stores
to find what I'm looking for...and it isn't because of us lacking stores
here in Vegas....there are just too many products that don't reach the
shelves...
I don't believe, however that this is entirely TSRs fault...but rather
problems with various shops...because they don't get things...or get too few
of them because a fair number of them have to pre purchase however much they
order...and they don't want to get stuck with unsold merchandise. There are
a few however that are too stupid to be in business...one of the stores in
town here that won't order things for a customer even if he asks...too much
bother I guess...
CIAO



Nope. Exactly the same in my town. Fortunately, I scoured
several cities at once. :)



OK got some responses here. Somebody must not have been doing something
right. Where I work, they call this issue "demand fulfillment".
It refers to the ability of the company to meet the demand the public has
for it's product. At Compaq, we couldn't get our product to the customer
fast enough, and it was sending business to our competitors. (Check out
Dell's growth figures.) We had to change the whole operation from a
"sell-through" approach to a "sell direct" approach. Our channel partners
just weren't cutting it for us. (They would be the stores that stock our
computers). This is a HUGE change in the way the company operates---radical,
even. It's working. Maybe this company formerly known as TSR should consider
a two-pronged approach to this. Compaq now sells direct, and through the
channel. We promise the stores selling our computers that our "sell direct"
operation won't undercut their prices, plus we sell to the growing group of
consumers who like to buy direct. We win both ways.
TSR could do this, too. Don't undercut the comic shop, but make products
available to us when we can't find them. Everybody wins!


Ben