Dont forget that in the US they add sales tax on top of the advertised prices, which varies per state, something like 6% and up, and I believe they have added new laws to get around people buying out of state and not paying the taxes.
Pinball info
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For Sale Venom Pro SPECIAL OFFER, no extended warranty.
- Thread starter philpalmer
- Start date
Parallax Digital
Site Supporter
I will be up front and can confirm that I did not complain about the pricing either - I did enquire if there were any deals available to take advantage of, but it would appear that I was not first to get in touch with the disty - it's no big deal for me to be honest and if I had excess stock, I would sell it at whatever price I could do a deal on, but I fell foul of advertising below MSRP on public forums when I bought my first reasonable size batch of machines in, and then put the project on hold ( a sizeable chunk of cash tied up in boxes in the warehouse) and it was made clear that the same gentlemen's agreement between disty and reseller was in still in existence, in the same way it was around the late 80's when it was Ruffler & Deith then Deith Leisure, alongside Electrocoin - all amusement machines reselling worked on this principle, and as there wasn't an online - you did your special offer deals on the phone, one to one, after advertising in Coin Slot Magazine (takes me back a few years). You could publicly advertise at MSRP and offer deals to get a competetive edge - trade ins/credits/cash discounts etc etc which is the way I understand it to work now - then it was all B2B sales so everyone got the VAT back, and with a significant percentage of consumer sales now in comparison, the VAT really affects things in terms of pricing. A complaint was made when I offered below MSRP in a similar way, so all of my posts have MSRP listed, as you will have seen - knuckles rapped 
The current quarter is a reasonable time for revenue (and profit) for resellers (for me it is not my principle line of business so not a factor) but if you are told to advertise at a minimum price, and not below, then the disty gives an unbelievable offer to one or more of the resellers, and not you (on one product line potentially, but the inference was potentially on other product lines) then you could feel badly done to, and in a position where you would lose forecast revenue, and be stuck with stock, so there will be some upset companies - and everyone checks these forums for the for sale section - no matter what you might hear.
It really feels like '93-ish again, where it's moving from zero stock at the disty to a decent amount, with more inbound, and that has a detrimental effect to the long term success of the industry - sales go down - manufacturers cut back on staff (creative and mfg) and then companies start to go out of business in a war of attrition - manufacturers need to support operators and rekindle that part of the industry, and despite previous opinions, I think Stern are doing that at the moment as they must realize that with a new larger facility, they cannot just clear 6 months of backlog, then need to book more orders and keep it going.
Called Phil earlier but we did not get a chance to chat, but I will go on the record that my personal belief is that if you have stock, and you need to sell it, then go for it however you need to do it. I have sold stock at cost to make sure I could cover my R&D costs comfortably when I had excess machines - you do what you need to do for your business. That said, I do believe that the Manufacture/ Importer-Distributor/ Reseller arrangements probably need a bit of a review, given what potentially lies ahead
Hope you managed to clear a few of them Phil - I am still sat on some Rush Pros, but I can feed them into ops to offset that
J
The current quarter is a reasonable time for revenue (and profit) for resellers (for me it is not my principle line of business so not a factor) but if you are told to advertise at a minimum price, and not below, then the disty gives an unbelievable offer to one or more of the resellers, and not you (on one product line potentially, but the inference was potentially on other product lines) then you could feel badly done to, and in a position where you would lose forecast revenue, and be stuck with stock, so there will be some upset companies - and everyone checks these forums for the for sale section - no matter what you might hear.
It really feels like '93-ish again, where it's moving from zero stock at the disty to a decent amount, with more inbound, and that has a detrimental effect to the long term success of the industry - sales go down - manufacturers cut back on staff (creative and mfg) and then companies start to go out of business in a war of attrition - manufacturers need to support operators and rekindle that part of the industry, and despite previous opinions, I think Stern are doing that at the moment as they must realize that with a new larger facility, they cannot just clear 6 months of backlog, then need to book more orders and keep it going.
Called Phil earlier but we did not get a chance to chat, but I will go on the record that my personal belief is that if you have stock, and you need to sell it, then go for it however you need to do it. I have sold stock at cost to make sure I could cover my R&D costs comfortably when I had excess machines - you do what you need to do for your business. That said, I do believe that the Manufacture/ Importer-Distributor/ Reseller arrangements probably need a bit of a review, given what potentially lies ahead
Hope you managed to clear a few of them Phil - I am still sat on some Rush Pros, but I can feed them into ops to offset that
J
Silverpaolo
Site Supporter
I was going out tonight for a boogie but il stay in this is way more fun 
You've got some moves Paul, they will miss you tonight on the dance floorI was going out tonight for a boogie but il stay in this is way more fun
Silverpaolo
Site Supporter
That was when I was a young lad
You sure?I was going out tonight for a boogie but il stay in this is way more fun
Silverpaolo
Site Supporter
I’d prefer not to talk about that club … I had a bad experience
Like most stern games
Everyone looking at @David retro
Stern has apparently dropped the mandatory MSRP pricing for distros. | Buying and selling advice | Pinside.com
| Forum Topic by PismoArcade
pinside.com
Stern has apparently dropped the mandatory MSRP pricing for distros. | Buying and selling advice | Pinside.com
| Forum Topic by PismoArcade
@David retro didn't get the memo and cried to electro coin his profit margins were toast
I’m here on a Friday night FFS…..
If only Neil was allowed to post this would be thread of the centuryThread oh the year so far this one
Neil sprung to mind just as Alan posted
He’s not needed. We’re all doing a great job without him
He’s not needed. We’re all doing a great job without him
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Warning points issued for personal attack
Is it that hard for you to actually be nice or positive Kirk? You seem to get off on others misfortunes or vulnerabilities. Grow up and get a life you pathetic idiot.
Parallax Digital
Site Supporter
Guys - what on earth is going on here?
What you are seeing is the beginning of a change in the hobby/industry dynamic- we have been here before but arguably before many were involved in the scene - the manufacturers have to manage thiis in the first instance
But - distributors and resllers /sub-dsts are not without blame or accountability - we commit to games while they are in the US, often without seeing the latest release in the flesh - the distys are on the hook to make sure they hit their nos and pay up front, irregardless of the order satisfaction date - this is an industry like none other I have ever seen
If you buy into the eco-system then you live and die by it - lost of few quid over the last couple of years, but you have to understand what you are getting into
As for what lies ahead.... there will be some tough times.... those that look at commercial operations, if they build the supporting infrastructure will do best and succeed - play only to the home market now, and its game over
I have had some ding-dongs with Stern over the last 18 months (no big secret) but I cannot remember operating back in the 90s where I had zero service calls on a decent number of games over 6 months, and the on-site serviceability makes this a viable concept - without that reliability, operating would be a no-go
What you are seeing is the beginning of a change in the hobby/industry dynamic- we have been here before but arguably before many were involved in the scene - the manufacturers have to manage thiis in the first instance
But - distributors and resllers /sub-dsts are not without blame or accountability - we commit to games while they are in the US, often without seeing the latest release in the flesh - the distys are on the hook to make sure they hit their nos and pay up front, irregardless of the order satisfaction date - this is an industry like none other I have ever seen
If you buy into the eco-system then you live and die by it - lost of few quid over the last couple of years, but you have to understand what you are getting into
As for what lies ahead.... there will be some tough times.... those that look at commercial operations, if they build the supporting infrastructure will do best and succeed - play only to the home market now, and its game over
I have had some ding-dongs with Stern over the last 18 months (no big secret) but I cannot remember operating back in the 90s where I had zero service calls on a decent number of games over 6 months, and the on-site serviceability makes this a viable concept - without that reliability, operating would be a no-go
.
Not really, I just think it a shame someone has spoilt the community getting a great deal on NIB machines
And while you were sending me abuse which would get you banned via DM yesterday I was actually talking to Robin and making sure he was okay, guessing you didn't jump on @Big Phil for saying the exact same thing as me.
You jumping on me is trolling and bullying, Neil got banned for less you do
il help it along
Thanks but I have some big shoes to fill there eh?
Sending you abuse? I’ve never sent you one message in my life!
I was only copying Kirks's message , I have no issue with you either or dealings but we are a small group,no need to blast peeps on a forum or private message unless its about Wayne then fire away
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i reckon you can step up
Warning points issued for content
“And while you were sending me abuse which would get you banned via DM yesterday I was actually talking to Robin and making sure he was okay, guessing you didn't jump on @Big Phil for saying the exact same thing as me.”
@Tilt_Birmingham - I had Robins best interests at heart after you posted a very horrible comment (that has since been deleted!), I called you a ***** and then was polite and gave you a thumbs up when you told me you were talking to Robin. If moderators want to ban for that I’ll take the hit
Moderator Edited to remove content.
@Tilt_Birmingham - I had Robins best interests at heart after you posted a very horrible comment (that has since been deleted!), I called you a ***** and then was polite and gave you a thumbs up when you told me you were talking to Robin. If moderators want to ban for that I’ll take the hit
Moderator Edited to remove content.
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God bless beer!
Why am I still here?
Why am I still here?