I'm Considering Buying CPC - Advise Me, Roast Me, Counsel Me (2 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)

 

[dennis63]

Some cautions to offer:

1. Scammers: There are lots of them out there in the wild. (It's the internet, after all.) Rarely, one will sneak in here. (I'm thinking Poppin92 and his other screen name, whatever it was, who took the community for many thousands of dollars and also ordered from Classic a few years ago.) @Tommy may be able to assist you with a list of people who are banned here.

2. "Pirates." These are the folks who will jump on board and try to steer the ship. They'll tell you, "I'll buy if you change what you're making to exactly what I want." Of course, even if you make the changes, they never buy anyway.

3. The chip formula: The ingredients in a Classic Poker Chip and the recipe / process used to make it are a trade secret that has value. You should guard that with your life. Previous owners would not allow photos inside the factory. One factory location was in an unmarked building so people would not know what was being made inside.

And some positives:

Maintaining Classic's integrity: It has always been an unwritten rule that when a customer creates a custom chip, Classic Poker Chips will not make that particular chip (mold + spot combination + inlay) for anyone except the original customer without permission. Doing otherwise could create lots of problems.

Seeking untapped markets for chips:

Big casinos won't likely be a Classic customers without the security features live UV, lenticular printing, microprinting and RFID. But they may be open to making tribute chips for the gift shop or commemorative chips with Classic for specific concerts or events. I have some thoughts on other wider-market ideas for using casino chips. Here are a couple:

A company called "Late for the Sky" is doing a licensed "Las Vegas-opoly" game -- basically Monopoly set in Vegas. It has paper money in the box! (I mean, come on!) This game cries out for casino chips! If the producer won't offer a version of this game with Classic Poker chips, make a deal to put a card inside their box advertising a stock set of casino chips for the game that you design. (Offering to advertise the game on your website might get them to agree.) One of the nicest sets of chips I've ever seen on this site was a tribute to Monopoly.

Casino dealer training schools. The big casinos use old worn-out chips from the floor or Paulson Fun Night chips that they had to buy to get past their gaming commission test run. But Las Vegas is full of dealer schools using crappy plastic chips. Lots of colleges also offer dealer training classes. Being able to cut chips is a key skill in learning to deal. Classic could offer customs chips for each training school or even a stock training chip that could be mass-produced.

Don't forget the movies. Offering to provide or rent chips to movie and television production companies could get Classic chips more exposure. The Rounders chips, made by CPC's predecessor company, ASM, are a classic.

 

[KHarp1]

Colors, or lack of colors, is what has kept me from ordering a CPC set. When questioned about the depth of certain colors, and, if they're was any plans to improve upon them, I was meet with an answer that left me no choice but to look elsewhere. Other chipmakers (Paulson, TRK) have seemingly mastered the color issue, hopefully if you follow through with this purchase you can commit to improvements in this area.

My two cents, adjusting for inflation, I'll probably owe you.

 

[jr8719]

Any chance you could buy Paulson instead, please?

 

[Phoe9x]

One thing you could do is work with Justin to also sell racks with lids. CPC has slightly larger chips than fit in the normal Justin/Tina 40mm racks and Justin is currently getting interest on if it’s worth it to create a new mold to fit CPC chips.

I also just read about someone saying about working with dealer schools. Maybe you can reach out to CEG dealer school. They have a large platform and sponsoring them could help get some advertising.

 

[Cratty]

In addition to other comments (e.g. stock designs, marketing), just a few considerations as you evaluate:

• Tool life/wear - I would assume some of the molds/tools at this point are close to end of life and are either in need of a retool or refurbishment, something that should likely be checked on and accounted for.
• I would recommend you ignore 2020-2022 revenues. Would be good to break-out retail vs non-retail spending if you can audit, you may need to look at both revenue figures separately to draw a best forward-looking view.
  • Retail/Consumer spending has been at an all-time high since COVID, and has finally started slowing back down to normal levels and normal incentives. I think your best go-forward outlook will likely be mid-2023 to mid-2024 to forecast the best "normal" run-rate moving forward, other than looking back at pre-2020 data.
  • Non-retail, COVID may have had the opposite impacts, and some of that demand may just never come back (e.g. casino poker room closures, general migration to virtual during COVID) and past year or so will be very telling vs pre-2020 data. If this reflects a large portion of the historical business, it will be critical to separate out these categories.
• The surge now (due to potential scarcity) will likely create a dip later as well, safe to ignore any near-term increase and assume more risk in the early years once acquired.

 

[Jacks]

The surge now (due to potential scarcity) will likely create a dip later as well, safe to ignore any near-term increase and assume more risk in the early years once acquired.

Yes this is a huge thing to account for. I had a business making mobile apps. During COVID our sales shot up because everyone was indoors. We got to use that as our basis for the multiplier on the sale of the portfolio. After COVID lessened, mobile app usage went down. It will probably take the buyer 2x the time they anticipated to recoup their investment.

 

[Huskerchipper]

Welcome to PCF Gus. I read this post with excitement last weekend and have taken a few days to think about what this might mean for you. I am likely to receive my 3rd ASM/CPC set here by the end of the year, I have a 4th order already submitted and I will likely have 2 more orders if this company survives so I am passionate about this company and this product.

I think you have mentioned the right things to focus on if purchased. First and foremost maintaining the quality and customer service currently in place is critical. Keeping production in the US is also a fantastic selling point for many reasons already mentioned.

The challenges of learning the production process is going to come with a big learning curve as one would expect. However I believe putting in the time and effort to learn from the current owners is a critical but certainly doable task I would think.

What could be improved upon somewhat easily? Marketing obviously sticks out as others have mentioned. People looking for something a step up from dice chips seemingly have a helluva time finding CPC. They seem to find Apache, BR Pro and those god awful pirate chips but don't know anything about CPC. I also believe the website could be improved from a marketing standpoint (presenting yourself as a premium product) and from a ease of use standpoint for beginners who don't know anything about poker chips. Having a cheaper solids line available (as mentioned) for newbies that easily get sticker shock. I also think communication could easily be improved upon. Currently you get replies very fast when initializing an order but once your order is in it is a guessing game of when your order will be produced. I suspect there are reasons for this, such as changing which mold is going to run next as orders roll in to maximize efficiency in production but it could still be easily improved upon i would have to believe.

What people would like to see improved upon but might be extremely difficult or near impossible? Color options get brought up (yellow) often. From what Dave has shared that is an extremely expensive and time consuming endeavor that might not yield any results. How much time and money is one willing to expend on this? I think the current owners could share pretty detailed findings of their experiences. Another hot topic, especially with new customers, is turnaround time from the time you order to receiving delivery of product. Another complex issue i would imagine because of all the different mold options. Does one reduce the available molds to have a faster turnaround time? Some would like that idea and others would lose their minds depending on the molds chosen. Maybe you make the least desirable molds available every other year to keep turnaround times down? Again, not an easy answer. I came from the old ASM days where there was a much smaller mold choice, very few edge spot options and quite fewer color choices so I am completely happy with all of the current options available. I don't need 'more' of anything. Thats just me. Obviously others feel differently.

Lastly, I wish you well. If you do end up making this your passion you will have the full support of me and many others on here to do what we can to help you be successful. Thank you for reaching out and sharing with our community. Best wishes.

 

[Jeff]

Regardless of the eventual path (new owner, simply goes out of business, etc) I hope that the history of the chips made that is locked up in a PC somewhere at the company can somehow be preserved. I think using PCF to archive a database of all of the mockups and data from all the years of custom chips would be cool to look at, a great source of inspiration and awesome for our hobby.

 

[Skagglio]

Hi Gus,

Hope it works out for you. My dream would be that you do the following in order of difficulty from easiest to hardest:

1. Find out how to make a better canary yellow.
2. Find or engineer some type of genetically mutated being who is immune to the harmful effects of working with lead and is willing and able to assist in producing leaded custom poker chips

 

[Gunnar]

Hello Gus!

As a former owner of a pokerstore (Ceramic and china plastic) I have some information on the market in General in Europe. I also have strong connections to marketing

First of the market for full custom is a lot smaller than the market for high end chips. You need to cater to the mass not the crazy people on this site (Me included)

Stock options have been mentioned but you need to expand on that marketing wise. Having multiple stock options is hard many different sets and different molds is simply most likely not worth it. I would rather advise you to get a designer to create a set that has few variations of each denomination. Where you can choose red vs yellow fives and etc. Get a simple site up to mix and match it with warning not to mix certain colours, create a strong brand/name for these line of chips and market that. Give famous poker players and winner sets when they win big and brand it as the top of line home game sets. You need to get the brand out that and you need the landing page not to overwhelm your customers with customs option just mix and match.

There are a lot of people that are ready to spend a grand on a chip set all over the world. A lot.

Selling the chips as a premium is a lot harder than to sell the brand as a premium. Maybe limited edition sets and drops would be a way to go? Get some killer designer and sell in limited quantity for a premium price. it works for swag.golf

There are a lot of passionate members here and some of them want it all, more colours, all the molds. But that is a not the key to success, that is the key to keeping us here happy. But to be honest it is not like we have a lot of other options. I would rather see a new even/not worn mold and retire some of the old ones for a faster production time.

 

[Huskerchipper]

Hello Gus!

As a former owner of a pokerstore (Ceramic and china plastic) I have some information on the market in General in Europe. I also have strong connections to marketing

First of the market for full custom is a lot smaller than the market for high end chips. You need to cater to the mass not the crazy people on this site (Me included)

Stock options have been mentioned but you need to expand on that marketing wise. Having multiple stock options is hard many different sets and different molds is simply most likely not worth it. I would rather advise you to get a designer to create a set that has few variations of each denomination. Where you can choose red vs yellow fives and etc. Get a simple site up to mix and match it with warning not to mix certain colours, create a strong brand/name for these line of chips and market that. Give famous poker players and winner sets when they win big and brand it as the top of line home game sets. You need to get the brand out that and you need the landing page not to overwhelm your customers with customs option just mix and match.

There are a lot of people that are ready to spend a grand on a chip set all over the world. A lot.

Selling the chips as a premium is a lot harder than to sell the brand as a premium. Maybe limited edition sets and drops would be a way to go? Get some killer designer and sell in limited quantity for a premium price. it works for swag.golf

There are a lot of passionate members here and some of them want it all, more colours, all the molds. But that is a not the key to success, that is the key to keeping us here happy. But to be honest it is not like we have a lot of other options. I would rather see a new even/not worn mold and retire some of the old ones for a faster production time.

Well, you have said what none of us here want to say. Less mold options equals faster turnaround time. I touched base on it with my reply as well. However, IF that happens I hope the other molds are NOT permanently retired but only ran every other year or something along those lines. I think we all want to see this business succeed, if it does find a new owner, but likely some concessions will have to be made.

 

[Gus]

Hi @Huskerchipper @Gunnar @Skagglio @Jeff

Not sure why this thread got bumped up again but it's always good to get more advice.

I was able to tour the factory in Maine but won't comment further on my or others' involvement except to say I'm optimistic for CPC's future.

Right now I'm putting together an order for a custom set from CPC, which is what brought me to PCF in the first place after looking up a Twitter comment from 4+ years ago that recommended CPC as a great option.

I'm also considering putting together some educational materials on poker chips for a broader audience, a blend of Hobbyphilic's YouTube channel and a cross-vendor overview of commercially available chips. While I've been happy to spend 10+ hours learning about chips, it's been a rather frustrating experience about half the time because every vendor, no matter how knocked-off of a knock off of a knock off they're selling (which is OK! Cheap chips get people playing!), insist that they're selling casino grade 100% clay pro poker chips... AHHHHHHH. EVEN YOUR LISTING PHOTOS HAVE BAD PRINTING ALIGNMENT ON THE DICE MOLD! My previous career was as a commercial photographer and I'm looking for an excuse to shoot for fun, might turn the camera at chips for the general benefit of the internet.

@Gunnar I completely agree with your assessment that there's a big market for fast-shipping well marketed (good photos, good product story, etc) high(est) quality poker chip set. Anyone who owns a Rolex or drives a BMW who also plays in a poker home game can afford a premium chip set.

@Skagglio I floated the idea of gold-dust-weighted chips and one the experienced workers said it'd be possible since gold is a soft metal. Tungsten would give even more weight, but probably would destroy the machinery. If the metal dust makes up even 10% of the chip weight, and there's 1000 chips at ~10g each, that's 1kg of gold for a set of 1000 chips, or about $83,000 of gold plus processing costs. I bet there's a buyer for a $100k exclusive gold-weighted chipset somewhere! Perhaps a comical mix of lead and gold and we can collaborate

@Jeff getting access to CPC's full archive of designs indeed would be great!

 

[LeGold]

that's 1kg of gold for a set of 1000 chips, or abo...

Did someone mention gold?

 

[Gus]

Did someone mention gold?

Does anyone know how much weight the lead or brass shavings/dust provides in the various weighted chips?

I guessed 10% or about 1g, but it's probably more

I wonder if you could just fling whole sheets of gold foil into initial batch mix of materials and get wild gold patterns. Probably doesn't work for cohesion of the materials though. Maybe shredded first into glitter.

Likewise for simply smooshing gold foil onto the entire face of a chip, would wear off in interesting ways I think

 

[Moxie Mike]

@Gus

I think gauging the actual size of the market is your biggest initiative at this point. I did some research back in '18... the info may be a little dated but I doubt it's deviated a ton:

I looked at 'sold' eBay listings over a 30 day period containing the keyword 'poker chip set' (851 total) (included small quantity purchases):

• 602 were under $50; 356 were 'new' and majority included a case.
• 30 transactions between $200 and $300 in last 30 days
• 100 transactions between $100 and $200 in last 30 days
• 106 transactions between $50 and $100 in last 30 days
• 10 transactions between $300 and $500 in last 30 days
• 17 transactions over $500 in last 30 days

82% of the transactions were under $100. What this tells me is that while poker's popularity is strong, the poker chip market is primarily comprised of consumers who don't want to spend a lot of money on their equipment.

Obviously, eBay isn't the only source of information, but the best selling products on Amazon are also similar in price point.

I don't really have anything else to add other than good luck if you choose to pursue this. And if you need a website or help with any other marketing stuff, that's what my company, MoxieMen Inc offers. I'd be happy to see how we can help!

 

[Kid_Eastwood]

it's been a rather frustrating experience about half the time because every vendor, no matter how knocked-off of a knock off of a knock off they're selling (which is OK! Cheap chips get people playing!), insist that they're selling casino grade 100% clay pro poker chips...

"Casino-grade" chips is really misleading in fact and should be avoided in my humble opinion as most types of chips can be qualified as "casino grade".
Ceramic chips are casino grade chips (ex. ChipCo or SunFly).
But some casino sometimes uses really cheap chips (ACF even used some "suited" chips for the low buyin tournaments if I'm not wrong).


However, not all chips can be qualified as "premium".

 

[Highli99]

"Casino-grade" chips is really misleading in fact and should be avoided in my humble opinion as most types of chips can be qualified as "casino grade".
Ceramic chips are casino grade chips (ex. ChipCo or SunFly).
But some casino sometimes uses really cheap chips (ACF even used some "suited" chips for the low buyin tournaments if I'm not wrong).


However, not all chips can be qualified as "premium".

Kinda like how “military grade” equals cheap, but mall ninjas are still attracted to that stupid term.

 

[LowerBama1714]

Does anyone know how much weight the lead or brass shavings/dust provides in the various weighted chips?

I guessed 10% or about 1g, but it's probably more

I wonder if you could just fling whole sheets of gold foil into initial batch mix of materials and get wild gold patterns. Probably doesn't work for cohesion of the materials though. Maybe shredded first into glitter.

Likewise for simply smooshing gold foil onto the entire face of a chip, would wear off in interesting ways I think

Oh boy. Now you’re talkin…

 

[Gus]

@Gus

I think gauging the actual size of the market is your biggest initiative at this point. I did some research back in '18... the info may be a little dated but I doubt it's deviated a ton:

I looked at 'sold' eBay listings over a 30 day period containing the keyword 'poker chip set' (851 total) (included small quantity purchases):

• 602 were under $50; 356 were 'new' and majority included a case.
• 30 transactions between $200 and $300 in last 30 days
• 100 transactions between $100 and $200 in last 30 days
• 106 transactions between $50 and $100 in last 30 days
• 10 transactions between $300 and $500 in last 30 days
• 17 transactions over $500 in last 30 days

82% of the transactions were under $100. What this tells me is that while poker's popularity is strong, the poker chip market is primarily comprised of consumers who don't want to spend a lot of money on their equipment.

Obviously, eBay isn't the only source of information, but the best selling products on Amazon are also similar in price point.

I don't really have anything else to add other than good luck if you choose to pursue this. And if you need a website or help with any other marketing stuff, that's what my company, MoxieMen Inc offers. I'd be happy to see how we can help!

Good analysis. What I think is missing is super-premium (CPC) sets in stock, ready to ship, with attractive designs. Rounders replicas are lovely, the Key West guy has a nice look, etc. But there's nobody selling stock CPC (or equivalent) new chip sets that are properly marketed online. So the missing ingredient in your otherwise very helpful analysis is the super premium chip set that isn't currently for sale

I think one huge body of evidence for "yes people would spend big $ on great chips" is the high-end poker table market, both custom and stock (e.g. Gorilla). Tons of custom table vendors here, and no shortage of high end tables sold at high end furniture stores and elsewhere. Sure, furniture is in the "this is part of my house, therefore I'm willing to pay good money for it." Anyone can get a normal fabric couch, yet there's millions of dollars spent specifically on couches with standard and fancy leathers, despite being the same overall make the fabric sofa.

That being said, I think the market for Tiger Palace-style $12-per-chip ultra-mega-bonanaza-premium price point is probably limited to Chipper PCF-types who have a deeper knowledge of what exactly they're buying and why it's worth $12 per.

I'm rambling, but think there's opportunity here!

 

[Moxie Mike]

I'm rambling, but think there's opportunity here!

Since you've toured the factory, what in your estimation is the cause of the slow turnaround time for custom sets?

 

[BPTDirector]

If you want to know the weight of CPC chips without brass, get the weight of a day flow colored chip. They do not have the flakes.

 

[ChipEnvy]

I think you are onto something regarding the premium tables, however those guys advertise, kinda heavy. If you advertise, you are gonna have to pay for it, and to do that you are going to either have to drastically upscale production to make up the costs in volume, or increase prices. The price for a custom CPC set is already significant. I think a $3 per chip is pretty accurate for decent spots and an inlay. A 800 chip set is looking at around $2400+. If the prices go much higher, a lot of home game people will look at that and say, I can just go to Vegas, get 2 racks of $1's, 5 racks of $5's and a rack of quarters for $5200 and be able to return them at any time, in any condition for a 100% refund. Custom chips are like new cars, they lose resale value as soon as you own them.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see them continue on, but to me I see this as a 'for the love of the game' type of opportunity.

 

[Gus]

Since you've toured the factory, what in your estimation is the cause of the slow turnaround time for custom sets?

Wish I could speak openly, but I absolutely will not be revealing anything about their biz operation.

That being said, standard analysis of a manufacturing operation applies. 17 molds, ~40 colors, custom inlays, 50+ custom spot patterns, etc... every additional option adds complexity.

If you limited it to literally 1 mold, then orders could be processed roughly in the order received, instead of having to wait for a critical mass of the same mold to pile up

 

[BPTDirector]

I think if you just do one mold out of those available to CPC you would lose significant revenue. ASM CPC has no Top Hat and cane like signature mold, and please no A mold or horsehead. If you discontinue h mold I would be done, but that can be said of a lot of different molds.

 

[Huskerchipper]

I think if you just do one mold out of those available to CPC you would lose significant revenue. ASM CPC has no Top Hat and cane like signature mold, and please no A mold or horsehead. If you discontinue h mold I would be done, but that can be said of a lot of different molds.

I agree with this from my own perspective. I have an eventual Scroll mold order that i will put in if the company survives and it's an option. If it isn't available the order will not be placed. I would be ok with paying an "add on" price for molds that are not in the main rotation though. I think that would be acceptable (within reason) from my understanding of the work involved with changing molds. Probably getting ahead of things but...