Topps Re-Vamps Distribution. Cuts Distributors

[meuandthelot]

There was alot of talk coming from the Hawaii trade conference about Topps and their new distribution policies. Much of it WAS BAD as speculation took hold, because many long time dealers were left in the dark..

Here's a brief from the conf.

(NOTES AT HAWAII-Day Two)
(TOPPS RESPONDS TO DEALER FEARS ON CUTS)
The big news of the day came as Topps held a dealer roundtable headed by Mike Gardner who dealt with the recent re-allocation situation for Home Team Advantage Stores. Store owners, angered at the slashing of direct accounts allocations, were waiting for this particular meeting.

Gardner basically told store owners Topps wants to get rid of the dumpers (people who dump their product on the internet) and the way to do it was to start from the beginning and cut everyone across the board. He told the group over time allocations would be raised as stores needed them.

He didn’t give a time table or discuss how Topps would determine how those allocations would be raised. Gardner pointed out Topps has everybody’s records and they had to look at the situation globally rather than on an individual basis. Basically the new system is in place and it isn’t going to change.
TBR Correspondent Jeff DeGraw of Matt’s Sports Cards in Joliet, IL, asked if stores were actually going to hear from Topps regarding this individually and the answer was “not currently,” as those changes will just show up on their order forms.
Topps upset the dealer base when the new system was put into place without warning; not so much as an email that it was coming. Some stores who have a customer base for 5-7 cases legitimately were cut to just one case. The option is to buy more from local distributors at a higher price and pass that cost onto the consumer. This is what hobby stores object to the most especially as internet competition increases.

Well the update is here. And it seems the New Topps Distribution program has merit. Evidently they needed to cut Distribution across the board until they(Topps) could get some feedback.

In perhaps the boldest move Topps cuts powerhouse D.A.C.W

March 14
(TOPPS OFFICIALS SET NEW DIRECTION, APOLOGIZE TO DEALERS FOR FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE)

Saying they have done a lousy job in the past Topps officials issued an official apology to a large group of hobby dealers in Las Vegas over the weekend and turned what was a potentially hostile crowd into a group of dealers willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. The day long session (Topps sponsored Retailing for Success Seminar) was the battleground which failed to materialize as direct hobby dealers, angered by drastically cut allocations, were ready to attack. That which irritated dealers the most is they were never told of the upcoming changes except by seeing new order forms with allocations as low as just one case. It was not a good start for a brand new management team and the question was why?

First he cut the Internet dealers (those without store fronts) from the program, second he looked at accounts who were considered product dumpers in the industry. Those accounts which bought heavy and sold at a wholesale price or lower to the public.

“The largest volume account in the HTA Program was Dave and Adams Card World and we cut them,” Gardner told the group which responded with a loud cheer and round of applause. “Next we revamped the Master Distributors and kept the good ones and last we did the HTA stores.”

Read whole Story Here

Good for the Hobby? Bad? Thoughts?

[meuandthelot]

With the new landscape being 20 baseball brands per company (Topps and Upper Deck only) down from a total of 87 baseball brands in 2005

Some noteworthy facts: 47 LESS MLB brands in 2006

[meuandthelot]

Bumping this to see if anyone has noticed the affects from this change, and if they were good or bad?

[Dengar]

I don't know about anyone else but I have noticed an increase in box price recently at my local hobby shop. I waited too long and watched a box increase $10 after they had to reorder. Do not know if it was because of the article info, but a few topps products that aren't really hot products have gone up between $5-20 per box and .50 - $5 per pack depending. I did notice this at 2 different shops.

As for the long run I do not know if this will help or hurt the hobby since maybe it will drive some collectors from buying for a higher price. Maybe Topps will be hurt by people not buying as much of their product as usual. I guess we will see. All in all I am glad there aren't a TON of product out there anymore and that they have eliminated some product.

I also think that if Topps supplies a distributor, which in turn supplies shops, that Topps should at least sell for less and put a cap on box prices to shops. It would be unfair to eliminate a distribution venue only to try and keep box prices high without the possibility of relief.

There is still UD, which I stay away from unless the box price is right and usually is on sale at the local shop.

Which brings me to a question. (sorry if this strays a little from the original Q)

I am considering an Allen and Ginter box. I have a chance to pick one up off ebay for between $10-20 less then at the hobby shop. Yet I have heard of nightmare internet/ebay dealers that search their packs and boxes and don't want to take my shot at a searched box. Should I take the internet plunge(done this before and got burned) and save some money, or should I take the sure thing of an unsearched box. I like supporting my local hobby shop since I have the best luck with them. What would you do?

Thanks

[Seablazer]

The shop I go to is purely "brick and mortar" with box and pack sales, but sell singles, and VERY high end online... They were getting 2-3 UPS deliveries from Topps per week, but it is now 1 per week on Tuesdays...

And to top this off, she is only getting 2 BC cases right now (1 1/2 cases already sold whenever they do come in), and she has only received 1 case per week of A&G which sells it before it even comes in...

In a way, I can understand what Topps is doing, but the simple fact is that box prices continue the progression upwards and continue to price people out of the card market. If an internet dealer who is buying from Topps at the same price levels as a 1 case per week "brick and mortar," who cares? Topps is still getting their money, and some hometown stores might hurt, but is that not the way our society functions? Survival of the fittest?

I still get to my hobby shop once a week to buy packs and supplies, but I also use the internet for boxes sometimes...

If I wasn't in such a busting crave today, I would have saved myself $40 by buying a box of 07 Donruss Classics from Blowout (79.99), rather than my local ($119)....

Personally, if Topps wants to correct the problem that they are creating along with UD, set a top price that your product can be sold at and enforce it...

If you put a SRP of $7 on a pack, make sure that is what the dealers sell it at, don't let them charge 10-12 for it...