Steve Jackson Games wrote a post about the difficult situation game publishers/retailers are facing with huge increases in international shipping costs. We encourage you to read this so you know what’s going on & why this is very challenging.
Steve Jackson Games - August 10, 2021: Freight: An Extinction Level Event
Fri, 08/13/2021 - 16:12
Fri, 08/13/2021 - 20:56
#1
I Agree
I teach people about the basics of international trade and shipping, from a material-handling perspective. Although it's been a bumper crop of containers coming into ports (on the East Coast USA in particular, where I am), it's largely due to increased demand plus increased delays starting at about Spring 2020 - when everything else was also grinding to a halt.
There was an historic ship accident in the middle of the Suez Canal earlier this year, and while it was only a delay of five days, it certainly didn't help matters any, literally all across the world.
This Steve Jackson Games announcement is consistent with TGC's message earlier this year, discussing their price changes. It's a weird time for everything. But at least one thing hasn't changed: if you want to see businesses survive or thrive, you have to spend your money with them.
...Amazon's gonna be fine, folks. They're not the ones that need extra help.
There. I said it out loud for the ones in the back.
Sat, 08/14/2021 - 00:43
#2
I once heard that...
Apparently with the NUMBER of Containers used to SHIP "Mac/Apple" products there is competition to use Sea Freight because of the rate of purchase of all of the "Mac/Apple" products. Someone (I can't remember where I read this) ... was saying that because they are shipping a ton of iPads, iPods and iPhones (and there are newer versions always coming about) ... It's all about the USA consumerism when it comes to popularity of "Mac/Apple" products. I could be WRONG... But I definitely remember READING about this... I watch a ton of videos and read a bunch of articles... So I'm not sure where I actual learned about this "Mac/Apple" issue.
The bottom line: freight space is price-y and a very competitive space.
Importing of goods from China has surely gone up with Amazon.ca and Amazon.com ... With that too adding to the usage of freight too!
In some ways this is GREAT for POD companies like "The Game Crafter" (TGC) ... not only are you shipping local from the USA to the USA, you don't need to worry about flooring and other warehousing fees. And the USA shipping is very reasonable (the last time I checked...!)
Sat, 08/14/2021 - 01:04
#3
Hmm... Funny perspective
...But at least one thing hasn't changed: if you want to see businesses survive or thrive, you have to spend your money with them.
And here I thought you would be a man about it! (Just kidding) ... But I truly honestly thought you would say:
But at least one thing hasn't changed: if you want to make money you need money. And in the end, EVERYONE wants to MAKE money INCLUDING us Game Designers...
Because I think in general, Game Designers get the "short stick" and are the last people to get PAID when it comes to game projects. Why are WE paying for contractors that make art and we don't pay ourselves when in the end... All we do is "short change" ourselves.
I think we will see a dramatic increase in the COST of modern day games. And I think this will BENEFIT the traditional games (Hasbro, Mattel, Parker Brothers, etc.) because they produce in higher volumes and they get higher economies of scale.
We'll see... But I think in some way this is GREAT! Personally, and again I don't say this because I am some kind of "greedy" person... But IF I am expected to PAY more for freight then the end-result is that my price point will be higher. And considering that my project is going to NET $0.00 USD ... It's good that prices are going up ... Which means that I will be able to get higher price points for my projects.
Again, in a way it's not about money ... But then you've got Jesse who can't afford to heat the entire house. We deserve to be living like Rock Stars bringing happiness to the world... Not hoboes with brilliant ideas.
And so far this industry has taught me ... That very few make it and it seems like that 1-2% make it BIG ... While a bunch of the smaller ones never succeed.
Sat, 08/14/2021 - 04:34
#4
questccg wrote:
In some ways
In some ways this is GREAT for POD companies like "The Game Crafter" (TGC) ... not only are you shipping local from the USA to the USA, you don't need to worry about flooring and other warehousing fees. And the USA shipping is very reasonable (the last time I checked...!)
GREAT for Americans maybe. TGC shipping to Europe is not cheap (probably not their fault, of course). At least not last time I checked. Sorry if this has changed and I am spreading false info, but that was always the case in the past at least.
Shipping also comes with a high risk of being intercepted by customs. I order a game for $30, that becomes $50 with shipping, then customs will add a $10 fee and $20 taxes on top of that. Not worth it.
There are POD services that have printers set up in different countries and can print closer to where you are, so you get low shipping and no packages are stuck in customs. Sounds like the only sustainable future of printed boardgames. That or something like cheap color 3D home printers or better tactile VR maybe.
Sat, 08/14/2021 - 15:51
#5
A EU POD service???
GREAT for Americans maybe. TGC shipping to Europe is not cheap (probably not their fault, of course). At least not last time I checked. Sorry if this has changed and I am spreading false info, but that was always the case in the past at least...
Well maybe the Business Case for a 2nd Worldwide Location for another TGC Factory should exist??? Maybe somewhere in Europe?! I guess someone needs to examine how many Designers are in Europe, how many would be willing to use a POD service (for Prototypes and some End-Products)... I've clearly spent to date on TGC AT LEAST $2,000 USD in prototypes, pre-prototypes, and end-products (I had a Crowd Sale which netted $800+ USD). Still I use TGC pretty often. For pre-prototypes too (just want a nicer looking components for some aspects of some of the games that I am working on)!
I think they would need to have a "Factory" setting which allows you to choose what "Factory" the games are meant to be shipped from. They do this with my Hosting company: they have East-Coast (NY) and West-Coast (California) which are the two (2) Data Centers.
So something like this for TGC might be of "future" value depending on the amount of "business" generated in the EU (and around). It's a matter of TGC to build a "business case" and see if the clientele and business warrants another location for production (like in the EU)!
Mon, 08/16/2021 - 08:59
#6
That is why we need to go
That is why we need to go digital. I hope this pandemic would change how people handle good in order to reduce the environmental impact.
If people did not changed their IPhone every 6 month, and if android devices were designed to be used for more than 3 years, There will be no need to ship that many mobile devices.
Also, there is always inconsistencies in the economy. Many years ago, a ship going from France to Quebec sank and we lost a shipment of books. I asked to the manager, why don't they simply send the PDF file of the book and print it in Quebec, it will be much easier to handle. But apparently, it's less expansive to print it in France and ship it here, than printing it here and distributing it locally.
So maybe this increase in shipping cost could indeed change how we produce goods. Normally, a shortage of fuel would have triggered this change, but it seem we will have got a taste of it before the fuel runs out.
Mon, 08/16/2021 - 11:16
#7
Chickens Coming Home to Roost
Well maybe the Business Case for a 2nd Worldwide Location for another TGC Factory should exist???
I think that what you propose here will eventually become the de facto state of affairs for the industry. There's fast rail transit being expanded by China, so Europe and the rest of Asia will likely have their own regional "branches" or licensing partners. Sending things first to North America for distribution overseas again doesn't make sense.
If the property is owned by a company in NA, they will likely license to a European or Asian partner, then do QA/quality checking and then distribution there. If this is a practice that's currently happening, it will likely expand to accommodate most or even all but the rarest use-cases.
Logistics and the ways to "get my stuff to you" are reshuffling in an undesirable way for nearly all industries right now. The big picture is that the buyers for products are located -away- from where the products themselves are made. The world has adapted to this situation over the past 35-ish years with few interruptions.
When the system is at such a massive scale (as it is now), any element of change or imbalance can muck it up for everyone involved. Whether it's increased demand/marketing, planned obsolescence, severe weather, geopolitical instability, workers asserting their rights... The logistics problems caused by and incentivized during the "free trade era" are now becoming too big to solve with the current systems.
There are a lot of moving parts involved in international logistics, and I apologize if I'm going too far afield of the original topic.
