Innova Declares War on Retailers

[Broken Shoulder]

The only place we could buy discs in the 90s was the gas station.

 

[ejvogie]

The profit innova can make selling discs at a premium via their e-retail is probably double that of their retail partners. Sad really.

"Can" being the operative word. But if they're charging more for the disc (and shipping, but that's another story), they're still going to lose sales, and by proxy, (no pun intended) profits.

 

[dehaas]

Maybe I'm the only one looking at it this way, but i see the addition of the stock stuff as having all the candy/chapstick/last minute grab stuff right at the check out.

I've got a couple discs in my cart, then oh hey i lost a disc last week, I'll tack one more on since I'm already above the $75 mark. Sure my star destroyer is $18 but I've already got free shipping and am getting reward points.

It's abput snagging a couple more bucks of incremental sales at an extremely high (competitive) margin. Nobody will be ordering nothing but stock discs at MSRP from them.

At least ordering stock stuff direct from the Discmania store gets you a description of the run and they run discount codes. You can get the new run stuff there before it trickles elsewhere, AKA there's some extra value there aside from just paying out the nose for no reason.

 

[cjman]

There will be full orders of stock discs.
One of the first dg websites I ever visited when my dg fever was high was Innova's website. If they had the factory store back then and directed me there, I would have loaded up the cart. Innova Factory Store! Official!
Sure, there are cheaper prices all over the web and world, but MSRP is still cheap relative to other sports equipment. Plus MSRP is less than all the LE products on the site.
My two predictions for IFS Star MSRP prey: Moms new to the sport buying discs for the kids and uninformed friends of dgers buying presents.

 

[bhadella]

The profit innova can make selling discs at a premium via their e-retail is probably double that of their retail partners. Sad really.

:doh:

Sad really? Of course a manufacturer selling direct to customers at MSRP is more profitable than selling to distributors/retailers (at lower price than MSRP). It works that way is virtually every industry that exists. Do you want them to reduce their direct prices to wholesale prices and kill the distributor/retailer market?

 

[lyleoross]

I can't believe this is happening. On line retail is going to drive other on line retailers out of business!

In the 1990s, before online sales, Innova moved all its discs through regional centers. The one here, in Texas, was out in Austin. Really nice guy, John Houck, ran it. I think he did well, I don't really know but he invested the proceeds back into land and built an awesome disc golf venue. When online retail came along innova went direct and viola, John was out of business. No one whined, pointed out that John grew the sport from the ground up in Texas and delivered discs to events all over, they just went, "ooohhh, cheap discs."

Eventually, your brick and mortar will get small, not go away, some perverts insist on fondling their plastic before they'll buy. And your online competitors will mostly go away. Its reality. Why pay a middle man if you can capture that revenue yourself?

 

[F. Howl]

7-Ele... wha... what? You're telling me I can go in a gas station and buy discs? (admittedly, I've been in a tackle store that sold discs before... and frankly, I see non-dedicated retailers like that doing plenty for the DGing community...)

When I first started, the liquor stores next to the course were the only place I knew to buy discs.

 

[Aim For The Chains]

:doh:

Sad really? Of course a manufacturer selling direct to customers at MSRP is more profitable than selling to distributors/retailers (at lower price than MSRP). It works that way is virtually every industry that exists. Do you want them to reduce their direct prices to wholesale prices and kill the distributor/retailer market?

No i want the biggest maker in the game to support the people who ****ing made their business successful for the past 30 years. Disc golf is not a healthy business for most trying to make it.

 

[lyleoross]

No i want the biggest maker in the game to support the people who ****ing made their business successful for the past 30 years. Disc golf is not a healthy business for most trying to make it.

Ah capitalism, support us but don't expect anything in return. What's 30 years compared to the money were gonna make?

 

[lyleoross]

When I first started, the liquor stores next to the course were the only place I knew to buy discs.

Admit it, you drank a pint and after that the frozen pizzas looked like discs.

 

[F. Howl]

Admit it, you drank a pint and after that the frozen pizzas looked like discs.

Ha...I was drinking 40's of Old English and Mickeys back then, so I might as well have been throwing frozen pizzas. My drives were coming out from anywhere between 10 and 2 o'clock, straight into the ground to stupid-high up in the air.

 

[dysmike]

Ha...I was drinking 40's of Old English and Mickeys back then, so I might as well have been throwing frozen pizzas. My drives were coming out from anywhere between 10 and 2 o'clock, straight into the ground to stupid-high up in the air.

So, you're blaming the 40's.

 

[lyleoross]

Ha...I was drinking 40's of Old English and Mickeys back then, so I might as well have been throwing frozen pizzas. My drives were coming out from anywhere between 10 and 2 o'clock, straight into the ground to stupid-high up in the air.

So, you're blaming the 40's.

I blame my 50s... oh wait.

 

[kerplunk]

Their prices are terrible. $17.99 for Star? http://www.discgolfcenter.com/ has Star for $13.99 and you get free shipping. It shouldn't hurt the disc sellers with decent prices and free shipping.

The only reason to buy from the Innova store is if you want something that is limited production or a special run.

Another way to look at it is that customers feel they are getting a better deal from other retailers than Innova, so they will actually buy more discs.

Johnny Disc Golfer's thought process: "well, if I buy these four Star discs at DGC instead of from Innova I save $16, so might as well get another."

 

[art_vandelay]

I blame my 420s.

 

[Aim For The Chains]

Another way to look at it is that customers feel they are getting a better deal from other retailers than Innova, so they will actually buy more discs.

Johnny Disc Golfer's thought process: "well, if I buy these four Star discs at DGC instead of from Innova I save $16, so might as well get another."

There is definitely truth to this and has been proved in some bigger industries where the customers have found a better value within retailers but disc golf just isnt big enough IMO for the needed greed factor of innova reagrdless of the pricing structure. Focus on manufacturing quality products and leave the disc selling to those who have done it for years or want to build a small biz. The fact DC was selling below dealer cost at one point on the xout BS is just terrible. Ill give innova props here.

 

[lyleoross]

Wait, so the idea is that innova is marking up their product so that people will buy more of their product from other vendors? It ain't F. Howl drinkin' the malt liquor.

 

[Three Putt]

The only place we could buy discs in the 90s was the gas station.

There was a head shop by my apartment that sold Lightning discs.

I mean, somebody told me they sold discs is why I went in there. I totally wasn't in the head shop and noticed golf discs. Not me. I heard Nancy Reagan. :|

 

[Casey 1988]

I looked at the Innova site, because I recently received a small cache of reward points redeemable at that shop to spend as a reward for doing a thing. In addition to the regular run discs being priced at MSRP (as has been mentioned several times already), the Innova site is not very granular when it comes to selecting disc weight, breaking the choices out into clumps of 3-5 grams at a whack, with break points that may not align well with the ranges that a customer desires.

For example, I'll throw pretty much any driver that's 162-168, or so, with 165 being my sweet spot. The pull-down menu options for selecting a weight break at 160-164 grams, and 165-169 grams. That's a bit awkward and inconvenient, for sure, when other online shops are much more specific about the weight, and I have three nearby retail shops where I can examine each disc in person.

If this is "war," it's a tepid and mild one. The thread title is click bait.

I understand with Discraft selling directly on Amazon, you can now select with the exception of Misprints the exact weight you want. Basically I thought the online store with the exception of the Backpacks was less convenient then retailers with regular production items.

 

[Casey 1988]

There was a head shop by my apartment that sold Lightning discs.

I mean, somebody told me they sold discs is why I went in there. I totally wasn't in the head shop and noticed golf discs. Not me. I heard Nancy Reagan. :|

Only place in the early to mid 2000's we could buy discs besides the store was online though the retailers none of the brands would sell directly to you unless you were a dealer in disc golf stuff. Got To Go Got To Throw In Minnesota was closest to South Dakota where I live. You did not have the brands selling direct. Odd since most other sports in 2002 and onward you could buy from the brand direct and even save money.