Best if Fanatics sells everything direct online?

[speedyjg13]

What do you guys think?

Fanatics sells all their cards direct online direct to us. Pay online, shipped home.

Fanatics can also slab and sell all the hits (autos/relics) online and boxes can be filled with paper and chrome cards for all those building sets. Everyone wins, you pay for what you want. Kind of like "just buy singles". The only gamble would be for those who buy boxes.

What do you guys think?

[anusinha]

bots will get anything good, unless its priced dumb

[Rooftop]

Why sell a box to a distributor for $100 when you can sell to the public for $200

[marterburn]

You mean like ToppsNOW PLUS packs? Like a made-to-order print run, plus whatever they want to include in boxes, etc of those same cards?



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[OscarOne]

I do not see how you avoid the bot problem. And I think that problem is bad enough to wobble to the effort.

[speedyjg13]

Originally Posted by Rooftop

Why sell a box to a distributor for $100 when you can sell to the public for $200

I agree. They will pay up anyway if that's the only way to get em. Plus, distributors always mark them up big time.

Originally Posted by marterburn

You mean like ToppsNOW PLUS packs? Like a made-to-order print run, plus whatever they want to include in boxes, etc of those same cards?



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Yes, similar to that. It works. Look at the Topps NOW product, they even have "platinum" members who spend, I'd guess, at least $40k a year on it.

[BeefSupreme]

That business model would cripple every LCS.

[mossoholic]

Originally Posted by OscarOne

I do not see how you avoid the bot problem. And I think that problem is bad enough to wobble to the effort.

Every time I read this I wonder if people saying it have paid attention at all to the hobby the last 2 years. What is the one and only thing that bots haven't destroyed on a consistent basis? The Panini dutch auction. Just reverse dutch auction every hobby and limited product. As long as the floor is MSRP the market determines the value. If you want you have the opportunity to buy a ton of the product. It is the least botted aspect of the hobby the last 18 months.

The 2nd option would be a Montgomery Club type system. I think the only way that would work is if you had several membership tiers with the top one being $10,000 or more per year. If you have just one low price tier bots will get more of it than they have any year of Montgomery Club. Most of the people that had Monty Club the first 2 years were not bots and get first renewal option. Only so many new members each year so it isn't ruined by bots.

[MoreToppsPlease]

Everything they sell online should have the option of coming in a Fanatics slab.

[IlliniBear]

I think they should do it with a Dutch Auction with a high floor. Would love it if they went direct to consumers.

[letsgocapitals]

That's how they could grow their pockets. It's not how they could grow the hobby.

[Crosby 87]

Originally Posted by letsgocapitals

That's how they could grow their pockets. It's not how they could grow the hobby.

Growing the bottom line takes precedence over growing the hobby for them.

[Astros19]

Originally Posted by Crosby 87

Growing the bottom line takes precedence over growing the hobby for them.

Until those of us who have no interest buying online stop buying.

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[prospectorgems]

I don't think selling online is a good idea because as other had mentioned, the bots would get most of it. I have no problem with the distributors getting the product to sell to the customer, however there should be a rule in place that any 3rd party reseller has to sell at MSRP for 3 months after release. Any violation to this rule would suspend their account to not getting any other product for an extended period of time. Of course, this could result in resellers holding the product back for 3 months, but then risking the results of profits if it turns out to be a dud product.

[MGiuseffi]

Hard to imagine the investment in infastructure this would take to support shipping the amount of product Topps and Panini produce combined.

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[pewe]

Isn’t that the only way to buy NFTs???


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[Dbacksbaseball]

Originally Posted by MGiuseffi

Hard to imagine the investment in infastructure this would take to support shipping the amount of product Topps and Panini produce combined.

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Actually, not that hard at all.

Fanatics already has warehouses, and are D2C already. If you think that D2C wasnt in the proposal to do this with their executive team you are wrong.

Topps and Panini's ho-hum laziness opened the door for this, the supply chain of cards, where the guys actually producing the items, were making less then the major distributors and wholesalers, is definitely one of the things that opened eyes of smart money savvy people to make this move.

[Grid]

Originally Posted by MGiuseffi

Hard to imagine the investment in infastructure this would take to support shipping the amount of product Topps and Panini produce combined.

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Fanatics can already ship 1 baseball hat to anyone in the country that wants one. Zero % chance them shipping boxes of cards would make any difference.

According to their last fund raising, they current have over 80MIL clients, and will do over $3BIL in sales this year.

That is why them taking over cards, with their infrastructure in place, would be pretty easy to do. The current card guys are not set up like that at all. And that is why they need distributors to help get their product out into the market.

Fanatics doesn't need help

[Grid]

I say they would sell half online, 25% through retail and 25% through dealers.

Everyone gets an account, and dealers currently can have an account with wholesale pricing. Fanatics is already built for this.

They even have programs out there for affiliates (directing customers to their site, and when they buy the director gets a cut of the sale)

And for the social media pimps out there, Fanatics has a program for them as well right now. It is called their Ambassador Program.

What does all this mean for cards? Bulk buyers, like the major players IE Blowout DA ETC, can still buy product direct, for less than the general public via their dealer accounts. Smaller dealers (LCS & Card Show dealers) also get a break, but not as much as the bulk buyers. And with their affliate program, you would also be able to buy and pay through Blowout, but have your actual order shipped from Fanatics, much like what Amazon does. This is great for these bulk dealers, as they wont tie up money/space in inventory.

To be a dealer, you need a retail certificate. Meaning the general public cant get into the program.

And the retail offerings, will just be them partnering with existing Fanatics brick and mortar stores. Lids, Walmart, Target, those sports wear stores in your mall ETC. They would all get product as well, as not everyone shops online.

The only people in the current system that would get cut out, are the wholesalers that buy, and mark up, when selling to bulk/LCS/Dealers. They are no longer needed, and this is where a lot of the current pricing control comes in. And the flippers/bot bois, since Fanatics can price control what they sell with the push of a button. If the flippers can make $50 a box, when something gets posted. Fanatics can change the online price to match the current market, and get $45 more. If there is no money in the flip, that wont even try.

And you can only do that, if you control all aspects from production to sale.

[Dbacksbaseball]

Originally Posted by Grid

I say they would sell half online, 25% through retail and 25% through dealers.

Everyone gets an account, and dealers currently can have an account with wholesale pricing. Fanatics is already built for this.

They even have programs out there for affiliates (directing customers to their site, and when they buy the director gets a cut of the sale)

And for the social media pimps out there, Fanatics has a program for them as well right now. It is called their Ambassador Program.

What does all this mean for cards? Bulk buyers, like the major players IE Blowout DA ETC, can still buy product direct, for less than the general public via their dealer accounts. Smaller dealers (LCS & Card Show dealers) also get a break, but not as much as the bulk buyers. And with their affliate program, you would also be able to buy and pay through Blowout, but have your actual order shipped from Fanatics, much like what Amazon does. This is great for these bulk dealers, as they wont tie up money/space in inventory.

To be a dealer, you need a retail certificate. Meaning the general public cant get into the program.

And the retail offerings, will just be them partnering with existing Fanatics brick and mortar stores. Lids, Walmart, Target, those sports wear stores in your mall ETC. They would all get product as well, as not everyone shops online.

The only people in the current system that would get cut out, are the wholesalers that buy, and mark up, when selling to bulk/LCS/Dealers. They are no longer needed, and this is where a lot of the current pricing control comes in.

I have serious doubts that they will be willing to give enough of the pie to places like Blowout and D&A that it is worth them to stay open. GTS/Southern Hobby etc as well.

These guys just did a back door midnight deal with MLB to steal a license deal approaching 75 years. They don’t care about guys who got very very very wealthy the past few years.

[notoriousrmb]

But...but...what about the children??

[cardsin47]

Originally Posted by BeefSupreme

That business model would cripple every LCS.

I know an owner of a LCS that sells strictly new release Comics - been in business where I live in Westminster, MD for 18 Years. He recently told me he can tell / feel that if Marvel and DC had their way, they would switch their business model to direct to consumer only selling. Then they ( Marvel and DC ) could charge more for their product, and have less distribution headaches.

My question: is this any different than Topps and Panini for us? ( or soon to be Fanatics )
Doesn’t the internet make some new business models work great, and some old ones go extinct?

[Grid]

Originally Posted by Dbacksbaseball

I have serious doubts that they will be willing to give enough of the pie to places like Blowout and D&A that it is worth them to stay open. GTS/Southern Hobby etc as well.

These guys just did a back door midnight deal with MLB to steal a license deal approaching 75 years. They don’t care about guys who got very very very wealthy the past few years.

It is simple economics, and something every major players does. And that is, to give a discount to those that sell in bulk.

There is a transaction cost to every sale. There is a savings on shipping, when dealing in bulk as well.

If they can sell you, the average collector, 1 box for $75 and offer free shipping. Then they can certainly sell blowout 1,000 boxes at $60 and still make roughly the same NET money.

Not only would they be able to move a larger portion of their inventory (the goal is to sell out) but BO would have enough margins to be able to sell those on their website for $69.99 and make money as well.

Plus, the likes of Blowout can play the long game too, and hold their boxes by asking retail, and waiting for Fanatics to sell out, and then they can ask whatever they want for them.

Again, they are just taking away money from the Distributors, which will now be cut out of the channel. Instead of manufacturer to Distributor to retail. It will just be manufacturer to retail.

[Stech36]

Originally Posted by Grid

It is simple economics, and something every major players does. And that is, to give a discount to those that sell in bulk.

There is a transaction cost to every sale. There is a savings on shipping, when dealing in bulk as well.

If they can sell you, the average collector, 1 box for $75 and offer free shipping. Then they can certainly sell blowout 1,000 boxes at $60 and still make roughly the same NET money.

Not only would they be able to move a larger portion of their inventory (the goal is to sell out) but BO would have enough margins to be able to sell those on their website for $69.99 and make money as well.

Plus, the likes of Blowout can play the long game too, and hold their boxes by asking retail, and waiting for Fanatics to sell out, and then they can ask whatever they want for them.

Again, they are just taking away money from the Distributors, which will now be cut out of the channel. Instead of manufacturer to Distributor to retail. It will just be manufacturer to retail.

You really think blowout stays in business so they can profit $1-3 maximum a box?

[mc1]

Originally Posted by prospectorgems

I don't think selling online is a good idea because as other had mentioned, the bots would get most of it. I have no problem with the distributors getting the product to sell to the customer, however there should be a rule in place that any 3rd party reseller has to sell at MSRP for 3 months after release. Any violation to this rule would suspend their account to not getting any other product for an extended period of time. Of course, this could result in resellers holding the product back for 3 months, but then risking the results of profits if it turns out to be a dud product.

If they price stuff high enough then bots wont buy any.