I'm Considering Buying CPC - Advise Me, Roast Me, Counsel Me (3 Viewers)

[dazoki]

In my opinion - eBay is not it. You need an entry level set - you need basic stock designs/sets with storage cases (turnkey) in stock and being sold on Amazon ASAP.

As a new entrant - amazon teaches you about fatcats, slowplays at “i don’t have to think about it” prices shipped within days. Monte Carlos are only slightly more expensive but you can’t tell why via Amazon - throwing up CPC sets with a premium price range will brighten the contrast and at least beg the question to a first-timer of “why the eff are these so much more expensive then the fatcats”.

Why not have cheaper unweighted entry level sets all over Amazon with the CPC brand. “Collectors editions” and “customs” are next steps found through those entry stages and a category that continues to cater to the pcf-ers of the world.

 

[GreatWhiteDope]

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

The semicustom comment strikes me as brilliant. If producing the base chips in bulk without retooling keeps the price down but still allows for the personalization of the inlays, I think that really could tap into a broader market.

 

[FDLmold]

 

[Cratty]

IMO, when it comes to semicustoms.. I think a great way to market custom chips to masses at a relatively low pricepoint would be initialed hotstamps. Just offer solid chips with a hotstamped denomination on one side, and offer custom 3 characters/initials on the other. Would just need to do some typset dies.

Could easily see those marketed across facebook, etc. Hell, do a groom's gift campaign.. nothing like wedding money.

But in the end I agree that largely what is needed is strong marketing/advertising, the market is pretty darn small.. and in order to have a consistent volume of orders (and willing to wait), you're going to need mass traffic to the site to catch the 1% whales.

 

[Gus]

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.

Yep, marketing clearly isn't part of the CPC playbook based on their website and overall web presence. Thankfully extremely good customer service for inbound customers is top notch.

Custom set pricing comes with all the manufacturing costs of custom production. I'm personally the type of customer that wants to see 5 or 10 great looking in-stock sets. I was planning on just getting a Rounders CircleSquare set until they sold out many of the denominations I needed. Even that was a bit of a compromise. Now, having gone deep on their operation, I've been more sold on their custom capabilities and the frankly cool factor of making a unique set (no resale significant value).