I'm planning to expand my services to Penang by using an agent/representative there. Based on your comments in this thread, it looks like the shops may not be the right guys for me to tie up with.

Presently I have a couple of members there that I mail games to but I'm planning to have someone based there to do distribution and collection of games. Helps to improve the waiting time between games.

Are there enough PS3 gamers there to support this? What do you guys think? Would appreciate your feedback on this.

Thanks for the feedback, Alex13. The situation in Penang is very similar to Kuching (where I come from). We all very kiam siap.
PS3 is also slow to get off the ground there because everyone's used to pirated games. And I feel that it's precisely because of the pricey games that rental could work in Penang. It's doing fine in KL even though most people buy games.

With regard to "permanent rental", no problems there. Refundable deposits are taken for members so that is avoided.

And I won't tie up with a game shop cos they will rather sell games then rent. Anyway, I'm still looking for a partner so if you guys know anyone interested, ask them to contact me. Zero startup cost!

Here's a special promo for Penangites!

I'm offering a 40% discount on membership fees for anyone in Penang who signs up with me! This applies to the 1-game option hardcore membership meaning that you pay RM30 per month instead of RM50.

For the 2-game membership, the discount is 25% so the monthly fee is RM60 instead of RM80.

Terms and conditions:

1. This offer is valid until 31st July 2008.
2. The offer is valid for a 3-month period. For example, if you sign up on 1st July, the RM30 per month offer will last until 30 Sept.
3. Refundable deposits are still payable.
4. Mailing costs are not included. Using Pos Ekspres, it's RM3 each way.

Why rent from me?
1. Because it's the cheapest source of games and blu-ray movies available.
2. You minimise your risk of being stuck with a crap game that costs way too much.
3. Games today are very short. Very few of them clocking in at more than 10 hours of gameplay. Most do not have much replay value.
4. Sign up by 30 June and stand to win a PSP!
5. Because we're giving you a discount while everything around you is going up in price! Petrol price up 40%, Blackmango Games fees down 40%. Just doing our part to ease your financial burden with the current economic climate.

Check out my website or thread for my list of titles.

I haven't had any problems posting games so far. Pos Ekspres can track so minimal chance of losing the games. I've got members in Penang, Miri, Ipoh and Johor and so far I haven't lost any titles.

Not financially feasible dude, even in KL. Not enough members to cover the costs of shop rental. I know a lot of you are concerned that there is no concrete presence but for rental business it doesn't work. If I rent a shop, my rental costs will be at least RM2k including hiring staff, utilities etc. If members pay me RM50 per month, that means I must have at LEAST 50 members to cover the cost of that rental. That's not including the cost of stocking up on new games. So I will need at least 100 to 150 members just to break even if I set up a shop. And that's just 1 shop!

I adapted the Gamefly business model and modified it a bit for our market. It works fine in the US where everyone buys and rents stuff online. It's working fine here too so far though Malaysians still seem to be wary of online businesses and mailing. Blackmango Games has been around for 7 months and I have not lost a single game through mailing so far! So give Pos Malaysia some credit. They're actually quite reliable nowadays. If you guys were more open to the idea of mailing, you'd be able to source your games a lot more cheaply. The shops there take advantage of this to mark up the prices to exorbitant levels. I know some of you are quite used to buying used games and getting them mailed over to Penang and this is no different.

Having said that, I've decided to amend the previous offer since no one from Penang is interested. So from today on, no more 3 months at 40% discount. I'm now offering a 1 month free trial instead!

Terms and conditions:
Refundable deposit RM200
Mailing charges - via pos ekpres. This is paid on a per game basis.

This post has been edited by ooj: Jun 30 2008, 12:20 PM

PS3 is RM1350 in KL and around RM170 for DS3 controller so the price you were quoted is quite reasonable actually.

I've expanded into PS3 game retail so contact me if you want any games. I'm focusing mainly on mailing. All my prices are inclusive of mailing.

You'll also get discount coupons for your purchases.

Take a look here.

http://blackmangogames.googlepages.com/store