Hi,
Here is a couple of pros and cons about selling pc software from our point of view.
pros:
1. You can sell pc software worldwide without having to worry about NTSC/PAL and region encoding like you have to watch out for on console games. Careful with PC MMO games though, as sometimes they will only work with servers in the area of the world where they are produced.
2. From our point of view we have more sources of pc software at low prices than console games. I think PC software is really a better value. As console games gain market share it is harder to find some of the slightly older titles in retail stores so it is a good fit for the mail order business.
cons of PC software:
1. you will see more tech support issues vs console games. That is just going to be the case with the variety of PC operating systems and hardware configurations.
2. PC software is a declining market vs console games. I think it will be good for several years yet, but inevitably console games and digital media distribution in general will continue to cut into pc software sales.
To summarize, our business is 90% pc software. I would like it to be 90% console games but we stock what sells and PC software is what we have the best success with.
Another thing I would offer is where our Resellers make their sales. 95% of our Reseller sales are on Amazon and Ebay. It is interesting that most of the phone calls we get are from people building their own website or buying a prepackaged website (with our product data) from a 3rd party. We see very very few sales from people trying sell only off a website. It is good to have a website to supplement Amazon and Ebay sales but don't expect to make big sales off of it (at least selling our type of product).
And one final thing I would offer is whoever you use as a drop shipper make sure they stock the product they sell, and make sure they have a phone number where you can call and talk to a real person.
Thank you
Rich Moser
Computer Gallery