Daniel Urazandi of Bizarro World in Davis, California saw the news about Days of Wonder going exclusive with Diamond-Alliance  (see “Days of Wonder Goes Exclusive”) and says retailers should speak out against exclusive distribution agrements:

I have not spoken to a retailer who is happy with Days of Wonder's exclusive with Diamond/Alliance.  Anyone knows that monopolistic practices favor only the monopoly holder to the detriment of everyone else in the market; this is an economic truism.  As mine is a comics store that has expanded into games over its 15-year existence, I know what Diamond's monopoly has done to the comics market and to my profits.  When there was competition, certainly I had better access to products, I could pick up my weekly shipments and reorders at a distribution center.  I dealt with knowledgeable and helpful sales reps, and I could shop for the best price. 

So the status quo in the comics industry today is that Diamond is the only avenue to publish or sell.  We are all at their mercy, and the stranglehold they have on the industry can do and has done nothing but stifle it.  They will certainly do the same thing in the game industry if Alliance becomes the only game in that town. 

This is not a diatribe against Diamond; they are only following a selfish and effective business model.  The point is that they can be expected to do the same things in the game industry that they did in comics, that is, gradually build a monopoly by wooing producers into exclusive contracts until the remaining share of the market is too small for other distributors to remain.  This will stifle the market and cause problems for everyone involved except, of course, Diamond/Alliance. 

The difference is that in comics, Diamond started out with an exclusive with DC, one of the "big two" publishers.  In games, they are going to have to work slower, unless WOTC is about to sign an exclusive with them, which I highly doubt.  So this is a call to all retailers and publishers--they will only have us by the short hairs if we hand them over to them.  Every retailer should tell the producers (especially Mayfair, FFG, Rio Grande, SJG and other mid-size game companies) via phone, Web and at trade shows that we are opposed to exclusives and will be prejudiced against their product if they sign one.  Make it clear to them how much we all stand to lose from monopoly distribution.  Those of us with multiple distributors should make an extra effort to place orders through ACD and others to keep them alive during this crisis period.  Every producer should be made aware of the short-sightedness of exclusives, and that Diamond's terms with them will not remain as favorable as they are in the wooing period.  After there is no other distributor, we retailers will have to adjust to poorer service, longer shipping times, restock shortages, and other problems that will reduce our profitability and our sales.  This will cause the entire industry to contract, or not expand as fast as it could.  Nobody wants that, except Alliance, who sees that 100% of a smaller pie as still more than the 60 or 70% they have now of a healthy industry. 

These are not Chicken Little predictions; this has already happened in comics.  Let's do everything we can to preserve the integrity of the game market by fighting exclusive distribution contracts.  Monopoly is a lousy game anyway. 

The opinions expressed in this Talk Back article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.