About
About GMS Hobby Games Logistics: Overview
GMS Hobby Game Logistics is simply this; Distribution, sales, fulfilment, and manufacturing for games companies, by games people.
The business was established in 2019 by game publishers who wanted a simple, clear, and cost effective route for the fulfilment of their crowd funded titles. This grew into the online sale and distribution of those titles into global markets, and pretty quickly, other publishers wanted to join in.
Now in its sixth year, GMS Hobby Game Logistics has become the go-to distributor for a host of international publishers, and the fulfilment partner of choice for some of the industry’s leading creators.
The company thrives on these clear and specific goals:
- Provide warehousing, proactive promotion, and distribution to publishers who want to see their products on the shelves of game stores.
- Give retailers a new supplier at the wholesale level where they can source in demand tabletop gaming products for their stores, which may not be readily available through other providers.
- Represent publishers at trade shows they may not be able to attend themselves to increase brand visibility and sales.
- Deliver a personal, tailored, and cost effective route to the fulfilment of crowd funded game projects. This includes a partnership network which makes global shipping cheaper for backers, thus increasing the reach of crowd funding campaigns.
- Provide creators of all levels with high quality and cost effective options for manufacturing books and board games through our partner network.
More detail
Let’s take a look at those goals in more detail
Distribution & Warehousing
GMS operates a secure warehouse in Warwickshire, central England, close to the motorway network, and within easy reach of most major towns and cities. Publishers can rest assured that their stock is safe, secure, properly handled, and able to be sent to customers quickly.
Wholesale
GMS works with publishers to ensure retailers can get the tabletop gaming products they want, when they want them. Our wholesale portal means retailers can see products at wholesale prices, check stock levels and special offers, and place their orders quickly and efficiently.
We don’t believe in the ‘back order’ system where retailers might wait months for titles they and their customers want. We work in partnership with publishers and hold stock of their most recent and relevant titles so they’re ready to ship out when the retailer wants them. If we don’t have a particular title, we’ll be honest about it and do our very best to get it as quickly as we can.
Trade shows
Through its parent publishing companies, GMS has enjoyed a significant presence at the UKs biggest trade shows for several years. 2024 saw GMS have its most successful year ever at UK Games Expo and for 2025 there will be a large, consolidated GMS Tabletop Games stand. We’re also attending Airecon West and Dragonmeet in 2024, with more to announce for 2025.
GMS is happy to represent any publisher we distribute for at an event. We can provide logistics, trade show collateral for marketing, and stand staff if required. Contact us to discuss your needs and how we can help you.
Crowd funded project fulfilment
GMS is experienced and capable in the delivery of crowd funded projects. Not only are we experienced, but we routinely source the most cost effective routes to delivery for our clients.
Because of our logistics contacts, we can bulk ship to key global markets for crowd funded games projects. This means international customers can back your projects in the confidence that their shipping rates will be closer to domestic rates. For example, GMS recently demonstrated how we can save around 70% of costs for a UK backer supporting a US publisher’s project against direct parcel shipping from the US.
Our aim with fulfilment is to work with the publisher from the beginning of the campaign to help them understand shipping rates and how we can help. This way, when the crowd funding campaign launches, the shipping rates are known, and backers can be attracted from all over the world.
Sales & Marketing
We actively market the products of the publishers we work with. As far as we’re concerned, we want our hobby to be accessible and loved by as many people as possible. That’s why we want to stay in touch with publishers, understand what’s new with them, and make sure our retail customers have a solid and reliable point of information as well as a source of stock.
We love to work with publishers to make sure we’re putting their stories out and promoting the right items at the right time.
Getting it done
While GMS itself is not a manufacturer, we have an impressive list of professional partners who are. This ranges from the cost effective printing of a handful of books, to the full scale production of a board game and its accessories. We’d love to talk to you about your project and how to get it from your imagination onto the tables of players!
Get in touch
To discuss any of the above in more detail, please reach out to our Sales Manager, Allan Wroe by following the button below.