Online retailer DVD Empire stops selling games and vocally addresses the industry.
Online movie, music and games retailer DVD Empire announced that they will be shutting down their games division due to the videogame industry’s lack of support for small retailers.
While publicly voicing its opinions about the industry, DVD Empire listed seven specific reasons as to why it can not continue its games business. The gross margins on selling new game titles is 8.3 percent, less than $5 of profit per title. Publishers do not support the independent retailers and offers no price protection from falling game prices. Unlike big chains that are able to return unsold products back to the manufacturer, small stores must eat the cost of carrying extra games whether they sell or not. DVD Empire is not able to even receive new releases until three days after it has already hit the brick-and-mortar stores.
Due to these problems, DVD Empire is clearing out all of its game inventory for 20 percent off.
