I think if Stern or anyone wants to sell more pinballs to the HUO market, they need to get the machines in front of people and let them know they can exist in the home. A distributor would probably do well to get with a Home builder, and put a boatload of games in their model homes with a brochure and business card rack sitting on each one.

These things get sold into homes when people see them in a home... so home shows, model homes, and luxury supplier channels need to be explored. A showroom is one thing, but does it look like a home or just a line of pins against a wall?

Maybe I should try and sell these things, because nobody is looking in all the right places right now to move these machines and I just gave you guys two places to haul a machine to that would probably generate a sale or two.

Think outside the existing box, but dont throw the box out... FFS...

Stern holds some machines temporarily... but most are on the truck the day they are built... international orders are held to make up larger shipments. I didnt see a lot of machines just stacked up and waiting to be purchased and shipped, mostly Stern collects orders until they meet a minimum run lot size, then run those machines through the line... All machines are built satisfying an order... they are not building anything on speculation that I know of, every box has a purchase order/customer ticket on it and are waiting to be shipped out.

I think in the old days, distributors played the warehousing role, keeping machines NIB, waiting for Operator demands for games. They provided uncrating, initial setup and delivery to the customer location or shop. They had a parts department and usually one old cranky fart technician who worked on the machines... the customers (Ops) generally never delt with the manufacturer, and the manufacturers never delt with the general public (or operators directly, except to maybe push their latest games.)

I think the old model would work if the customer wasn’t the general public like it is more so today than in the past. HUO has really changed the sales model and customer expectations... it used to be the question was, does it take money and spit balls? Now the fru fru owners are asking if the latest dimple is a crater, why coke isn't pepsi... ad nauseam.

If manufacturers thought facing just operators was hard enough, along comes Mr. Disposable Income to really fuck with them... if a distributor is worth having and paying the markup, it’s worth it to reduce the hassle to a manufacturer.

What is confusing things today is the sales channels are fluid, you can get a machine from anyone. Before, it was location, location, location... if you were located in city x in state y, you were buying your machines from distributor z, no other way around it. This forced sales into very distinct and rigid channels which let the distributor have some peace of mind that his teritory was his.

Without those types of arrangements, you might as well start selling direct, because I am not sure what a distributor in Pennsylvania is offering a customer who is buying a machine and having it delivered to Arizona except the gaurantee of having it “in stock” (which is probably just a letter of intent to purchase between manufacturer and distributor in the first place)

What?!? Ops don’t want a paper trail in a cash only business?!? You would think they were trying to dodge the tax man or something... nudge-nudge, wink-wink, say no more, say no more...

Good point.

@phat_jay, don't jump to any conclusions...