Atari Price Sheets circa 1983 or so?

[Dolt]

Digging through some of the paperwork I got with the TV Repairman stash that I wrote about a few months ago, I came across the price lists below. Page 2 is the more interesting of the two, taking orders for "Donald Duck's Speed Boat" and something I've never heard of, a Voice Controller. Anyone have any info on that one?

Clive

[+Nathan Strum]

I've never heard of it either, but those are some nice mark-ups there.

[SS]

Jeez. Trak-balls were $50?!? No wonder I never got one for Christmas back in the day! :wink:

[Velvis]

Im surprised the markups are so low. $35 on selling a $130 item? Seems to me the store should have gotten more $ since they have to order, stock it, sell it, provide a store with heat/ac, lights, and employees.

 

 

Perhaps regular retail stores got better deals? (I am assuming this is from a small TV sales/repair shop).

[NovaXpress]

The markups for toys aren't as generous as the markups for other items. Games have always been a high-value items.

[Ralph3]

Im surprised the markups are so low. $35 on selling a $130 item?  

 

Actually, it's $95.00/$97.00 for the system, not $35.00. Look a little closer.

[ussexplorer]

Actually those markups look on par with me. It is common for some items now to be marked up 100% and I'm not talking diamond rings. Plus if you look at the new suguested retail prices they are through the roof. I remeber back in the day when I started working on computers. My boss said it was normal to mark it up 100% so the computer would run around 2,300 when it cost 1,150 to purchase and assemble. I'm talking those old XT clones. WHen I left comptuers in 97 a 28% markup was nice. But mostly we saw 23% or even 18%. Heck once in a while when we sold computers to schools it was 12-13% ouch. Now you have to remeber the store I worked for delivered, setup, installed any additional programs, answered any questions, and took phone calls among other things all for free out of being kind to the customer. Now you think well that ins't bad but lets say a item dies in the computer or a person wants you to keep going to their house. Yea their is a limit but still that 23% markup could be gone in like three visits or less to a house.

 

laters,

 

ussexplorer

[rolenta]

I've never heard of, a Voice Controller. Anyone have any info on that one?

 

FROM Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Videogames

 

"In May (1983), Milton Bradley entered an agreement with Atari to produce the Voice Commander, the most sophisticated controller to ever grace a videogame or computer console. Designed for both the 2600 and 5200, the fifty dollar controller was actually a plug in peripheral that was both a voice synthesis and voice recognition unit. Attached to the module was a headset and microphone that allowed players to control on-screen

movement strictly by speaking. In a game like Asteroids for example, all the player had to do to send his ship into hyperspace was say the word "hyperspace" into the microphone. Any word would do since the player had to first program the unit before playing. This was easily accomplished by pressing the joystick in the appropriate direction and saying the word that corresponded with that joystick movement into the

microphone. Milton Bradley agreed to manufacture the unit and eighteen cartridges over the following three years.

 

Although the controller was highly anticipated, in early August Atari sent out a press release that stated that the Voice Commander was on "hold" without stating any reasons. By the end of that month, Milton Bradley filed a $43 million dollar lawsuit against Atari, charging the videogame company with breach of contract."

 

I believe that Texas Instruments eventually licensed the technology from Milton Bradley.

[Velvis]

"Actually, it's $95.00/$97.00 for the system, not $35.00. Look a little closer. "

 

What I was pointing out was that the retailer pays $95 and sells for $130, thus a $35 profit. Which seems low to me.

[rolenta]

There has always been a relatively low mark-up in videogames and I believe that the markup is even lower today. The big stores make they're money on volume while the smaller stores make it on rental and used games.

[Dolt]

I was surprised by the requirement of buying four systems--for a little mom n pop shop like the one I got this list from, that would be a backbreaking cost, especially when you stop to think-would you buy a big, expensive item like that from a TV repair guy or a discounting retail outlet. I also thought the difference in cost between buying in and out of a 4-pack of systems was a mere $2 per system. What nickel and diming!

[Tempest]

I believe that Texas Instruments eventually licensed the technology from Milton Bradley.

 

Could be. That sounds suspiciously like the MBX unit for the TI-99.

 

Tempest

[Bruce Tomlin]

I was surprised by the requirement of buying four systems--for a little mom n pop shop like the one I got this list from, that would be a backbreaking cost, especially when you stop to think-would you buy a big, expensive item like that from a TV repair guy or a discounting retail outlet. I also thought the difference in cost between buying in and out of a 4-pack of systems was a mere $2 per system. What nickel and diming!

I don't see any such requirement. It just says if you buy in packs of four, you save 8 bucks. Sounds like that's how they had them cased, and they'd have to break a case to ship fewer than four.