I'm Considering Buying CPC - Advise Me, Roast Me, Counsel Me (22 Viewers)

[BPTDirector]

Hello Gus! Welcome!! One suggestion I would love would be to make solid color chips more affordable. Since there is no punching needed for spots or spot colors to mess with there may possibly be a way to do this. And have solids in stock for selected molds people could buy to have hotstamped.

 

[mdt11]

Welcome! I love this thread, both for what it could mean for the chipping world, and also as a business case study.

Since you asked… here’s one man’s thoughts on the opportunity and path to success for someone acquiring CPC.

About me: I’m newer here and just bought my first “real” set of poker chips. I ended up buying a set of Paulsons from a member here after considering several options, including CPC. I’ve worked in B2C product management (albeit digital not physical) for almost a decade.

Product

CPC’s business comes from selling stock chips and custom chips so I’ll separate out my thoughts on each.

Stock

As others have mentioned, more stock designs should be available for folks who want casino-quality chips ASAP. There is an amazing network of designers here who appear to be willing to help make this happen. Stock designs should be available in both cash and tournament denominations. Speaking of denoms…

The default breakdowns for each set amounts could be cleaned up and made more efficient. Going a step further, you could implement a version of the chip calculator where users can select cash or tournament, stakes or base amount, number of players, bank size, etc to get them to their perfect breakdown.

To branch out, accompanying plastic cards, table toppers, cut cards and dealer buttons could be offered with these designs as well. Everything you need for an elevated poker night.

Custom

The chip design tool should be updated with a modern UI that makes the design process easier for newcomers.

You should be able to easily build chip designs, upload labels, select set size and breakdown, and place your order right from the tool. Time estimates should be as accurate as possible to build trust and good will.

That last part is obviously easier said than done. But I’m just speaking from the customer’s point of view.

Semicustom

Users who want custom inlays but don’t want to fully build out their own chip colors and patterns should be able to upload their own labels to be used on top of existing stock chip designs.

Marketing

With these product improvements. Growing CPC’s business will require an aggressive marketing strategy to grow two key customer segments.

Casual

Customer education is crucial here. CPC should go all in on a) branding itself as the only manufacturer of casino-grade clay chips b) clearly communicating why those are preferable over dice chips or mass market sluggos.

There’s a type of consumer who decides to buy something and then enjoys spending their time learning everything they can about that product (I’m in this camp and how I ended up here) so they can find the highest quality, “buy it for life” option. These people need to know CPC and should be the target for this customer segment.

Hardcore/hobbyist

The people on this forum and other chip/casino/Vegas enthusiasts. Have a noticeable presence at trade shows and conferences. Encourage and accommodate large orders and group buys. Expand and promote new customization options.

Above all else, continue to show respect to this group and provide top notch customer service.

Best of luck with this process!
Cheers

 

[chippitydoodah]

We all know the progression of home based poker chip aquisitions. New members join here by the dozens weekly and they're all looking to upgrade from slugged dice clay chips. Most of them have already visited Apache or BRPROPOKER and are looking to get DDLM or Monaco or Royals so they've visited those sites. They come to PCF and are told to buy samples but those are mostly Tina chips, Chipco, Nextgen & RHC Paulsons either live or secondaries from TheChipRoom. Perhaps creating an in stock design for one of those competitors to carry with an option to completely customize a personal set is the way to generate the sustainable business necessary if growth is what is needed. Either way, getting buyers aware of home game custom chips before they spend hundreds and thousands on all the other lower level chips might be a key resource. Unfortunately I think most buyers need to go through that progression of spending before they land at CPC for truly custom chips. If you've read your share of posts you'll notice that in a typical full table of poker players, only the host and maybe one other player actually gives a shit about the chips in play. They could handle the finest chips ever made at a hosts house and still run out $20 Walmart dice clay chips at their own game. It's no wonder that high end custom items continue to raise their prices because they know they're catering to such a niche market that would most likely pay 10x what's typically available. Buyers with passion and imagination to create something personal to themselves regardless of price. The meet-ups hosted throughout the year are filled with custom creations that we all long to play with, but we are a minority of the home game poker playing world. Only we could name sets like SpeakEC, Beachcomber, Chessie and Knollwoods to name a few I've personally had the pleasures of playing with. If maintaining the machinery to continue production continues a profitable business model without changes, then I feel the custom poker chip purchasers worldwide will be enough to sustain the company. I'll wrap it up there because I said way more than I intended when I started. For the record, I'm one of those newer chippers that has gone through the progression where I'm at the stage where a CPC set is next for me. Best of luck Gus...there are thousands of us out there rooting for you!

 

[TheRealTeddyKGB]

The current CPC "yellow" options are horrible. @Minus mentions that CPC "doesn't need brighter flashier colors" to which I strongly disagree with in the case of it's yellow.

Yellow is a primary color & is a base color in art.

Yellow should POP! It's the happiest of all colors & compliments so many other chip colors making them look better.

Do I need every chip color in a set to be neon? No. But I don't want 'em all to be earthy either. Balance.

I'm currently in the process of making a CPC set right now. I'm happy with all of my color decisions except 1. Guess which one?

Hello Gus! Welcome!! One suggestion I would love would be to make solid color chips more affordable. Since there is no punching needed for spots or spot colors to mess with there may possibly be a way to do this. And have solids in stock for selected molds people could buy to have hotstamped.

This.

 

[acezag]

A lot of the great advice so far is (understandably) from the passionate and invested CPC fanbase. A perspective from someone in the business world, and also who isnt' invested in the CPC brand -

If this business is going to last and thrive, it must pivot radically to draw in a much, much bigger, and before now undiscovered customer base, and do so by leaning into a luxury status - customers whose identity is bolstered by either the creative process of creating and/or the expensive outcome of buying high quality poker chips. (And yes, at the prices these sell for, they are firmly luxury items).

• Define a new customer base, and invest to attract them. The loyal forum user base is clearly not enough to sustain a business. How do you scale beyond word of mouth among niche enthusiasts? At this pricepoint, you are logically looking at a luxury / lifestyle item, branding and marketing, which is completely absent currently from the business model.
• The answer isn't just about selling poker chips - for GenZ, it's about selling a lifestyle (see brands like Stanley, and how they pivoted from pedestrian construction worker coffee containers to 15 year old fan girls and their travel lifestyles, and a price premium to match). Do you have people in your corner who know how to do this?
• Very first foundational item: the abysmal 80's website must be rebuilt and heavily invested in, following the wants and desires of this new, untapped market. As a luxury business, it must show (not tell) the 120+ year history of the company - people want a piece of history, and the confidence of generations of experts. This website must show the people living the life that this product enables - sell the dream. Think Rolex, luxury clothing brands, etc.
• The company's business model must account for the exponentially growing Chinese competition, and figure out how to stop it from eating its lunch continually. Do you beat the hybrid approach, or join them? (A well-delivered luxury approach will do this; a competition based on price will not)