James Delahunty
3 Feb 2007 18:37
Online retailer DVD Empire has closed its games business and attacked the games industry in a statement revealing its reasons. "The video game industry only cares about mass merchandisers like Toys-R-Us, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc. They completely ignore the needs and wants of the medium to small game retailers," the statement reads. The retailer said that lack of price protection and unpredictable MSRP changes take smaller retailer out of the business.
The company said it is not big enough to return products and receives no compensation when there is a dramatic change to a product's Manufacturer's Standard Retail Price (MSRP), which they must observe. "If we buy a bad title, we are stuck on an industry-induced money losing ride through the land of price drops," it says.
The statement also says how it is too hard to compete with physical retailers when you are online. "Games bring in great foot traffic for physical retailers and they make money elsewhere. EB Games/Gamestop relies heavily on their used business. It is very difficult for online retailers to have an advantage, except for convenience." the statement reads.
The full statement is available at the DVD Empire site.
Source:
GamesIndustry.biz