Skip to Content
 

Where can I sell a bulk amount of a game?

Does anyone know where I could sell about 10000 games in a bulk sale? I created a game in the 80's. Total production complete. The only issue was we didn't sell them not because of the game. Also, looking for ideas how to try and sell off the rights to the game. Does anyone have some direction more me.

Comments

That depends...

Games have changed a lot since the 80's. The first thing I would ask is, "what is that gameplay like?" I know that a lot of new mechanics have been introduced since the 80's, so I'm thinking that a game like your may not have the same strength as it did back then.

I'm going to take a wild guess and say it's either a basic "roll and move" game or a trivia game.

In addition, you have not even mentioned the game name, which indicates to me that the game itself wasn't a strong game in the first place. Bottom line is that if the game isn't strong, it most likely won't sell.

As far as selling the rights, you'd have to establish that the game has enough strength to BE sold. There are a lot of ideas out there and a lot of bad implementations. If you created the game in the 80's and you haven't been able to get rid of it, then that's a very bad sign.

If you've been trying to sell your copies and, after all this time, haven't found a buyer, then I'd consider your investment a loss and move on.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but to be honest, everything in your post had major red flags.

Need more details

You might try selling your game via Game Salute...

Thanks

Sorry for the poor post. This isn't my day job. I found this site and it appeared helpful. My game name is called Diceball. Yes a simple roll and move baseball game with a dice. I have not tried to sell any games since a ysar after it was produced. I was only 17 years old. After spending the last 24 years In retail management I was looking for some info. I don't believe my idea is out dated as there is the same game on google playstore not made by me. My game was produced with the front cover as the board, the back cover has 4 perforated game cards and game disc all in one. Quick travel game. So my question still is I have about 5000 game I would to know how someone would be able to liquidate them. Then if I did want to sell the rights to a game how would a person do that?

Cut your losses.

diceball wrote:
I don't believe my idea is out dated as there is the same game on google playstore not made by me...

...I would to know how someone would be able to liquidate them. Then if I did want to sell the rights to a game how would a person do that?

Just because there's a similar product on the market doesn't mean your game is viable or is able to be sold today...or is even good. Again, this will have to depend on gameplay. If it wasn't good enough to sell, it probably wasn't a great game to begin with.

Your best bet would be to send a copy to a game reviewer to see if it's even worth making the effort to try and sell. But, knowing that you were 17 when you made it just screams that it probably wasn't the best game from an experienced game designer.

Again, if you wanted to sell the rights, you'd have to show value for your game. As it is, you'd be hard pressed to find someone to want to buy the rights to your game if you're desperately trying to get it of your hands. Yes, companies do look for new game ideas, but if you're just getting rid of it (which is obvious), they won't give you a second glance.

Gamers these days are looking for the next big thing. I'm sorry, but roll and move isn't as popular as it was back then.

But I can understand where you're coming from. When you make a game, it's like creating a baby. You're so invested in it that you don't want it to fail. But let's be completely honest..if you couldn't sell it then, what makes you think you can sell it now? I've created my own game and I've been working my a$$ off trying to push it...but even me with (what I think is) a good game, I need to wade through the increasingly saturated board game market just to get people to play. If you were really convinced of the value of your game, you'd have to invest a lot time into marketing a game you made a long time ago. If you're just trying to squeeze whatever money you lost by trying to sell it, then people will see right through you.

You're better off creating a whole new game from scratch.

But sometimes you have to cut your losses and move on. Being retail management, you should know that most products don't appreciate over time. Just because the production is complete, doesn't mean it holds value.

Sorry bud, but my advice would be to scrap the idea, destroy your stock, and move on. Your boat sailed a long time ago.

Possible options

These are more "brainstorming" ideas rather than full paths to success...

If one doesn't exist, a short video that shows the components and game play would go a long way to showing what your game is all about.

An established publisher MIGHT consider a bulk purchase if your game fills a gap in their product offerings. I would expect the publisher would also want the rights to publish additional copies of the game along with any original art, layouts, etc. so that they don't need to re-create everything if they want to publish more copies.

A new publisher may also consider it if the bulk purchase price is low enough that it is worth the risk to take possesion of the games and they are looking to rapidly expand their product offerings.

It is more effort on your part, but you could try selling via local game stores and/or stand up your own website to sell the games. Local game stores might be willing to buy a few copies outright or they may be willing to stock a few in their store in exchange for a percentage of the sale. Keep in mind, most brick in mortar stores do not want to deal with lots of independent sellers so they may be hesitant.

Going directly to a distributor may also be an option as they have the contacts and warehousing available to take possession of the games and move them out to brick and mortar stores. Again, the risk is all on the distributor so the total price for purchase would need to be quite low.

A distributor would likely not be interested in the rights to publish; from their point of view, you are the publisher.

It's a long shot, but you might be able to use Kickstarter to re-launch your publishing company, and or set up the distribution you need.

Ebay/Craigslist etc. may also be an option.

Depending on your fiancial situation, you might be able to donate them to Toys for Tots, active deployed military, or sell them at charity events and take the tax deduction.

In reality, companies are bought and sold all the time and inventory, IP and employees are transitioned without issue so although this is kind of an odd question on this forum, there is nothing particularly strange here from a business perspective.

If you are successful, I would love to hear how you did it - good luck!

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Syndicate content


blog | by Dr. Radut