Wasn't such a bad deal - when the shop was broke into it did not cost us anything to replace any stock or to make any insurance claims as far as I know.

10% of what should be one of the biggest income streams for a Club is not remotely good.
There are plenty of other companies that help run shops and provide stock on demand etc which will give a larger percent of the sales per unit to the Club.

If a Club sells 800 shirts at £40 (average price), 300 polo/leisure tops (£10) and 200 coats (£20) to the fans then that mean fans are shelling out £39,000 yet the Club they do it for is only getting £3,900. There’s no way that can be considered a good deal in anyone’s books.

All Clubs of similar stature should, as Matt points out, be aiming for around 40-50% of the sales from merchandise but that should still be with production cost, online shops, help with stock etc.

I’m not trying act OUTRAGED at the Club or anyone for the sake of it ‘cause normally I stick up for the Club over stuff but in my opinion that deal left us short changed (I presume Chris brought it up because he felt it was bad also and that the Club were seeking a re-negotiation for next year or moving to a different company completely).

10% does sound very low. I remember when I was the Commercial Manager at HTAFC we bought replica shirts from the supplier for £12.50 and sold them on for £34.99 so there is a good mark up and consequently good profit to be made. Polo shirts were £7.50 and sold on for £24.99.

I never thought this 'sounded' a good deal as that is all we know what we hear but what I don't like is the fact that the club 'own' the crest and the Halifax RLFC brand yet all the things sold online or in the club shop have to go through XBlades so no chance of getting some quick wins like for something like the NRC Final with extra stuff, despite XBlades not even supllying it! When fans bought those £40 one off Final shirts the club got a measly £4, even though XBlades commit to a set amount with the club for the deal, sounds like a bum deal to me.
I want most of my £1 spent in the shop to go to the club not XBlades!

Part of the deal with X Blades will probably be that they supply all your playing kit and squad training wear requirements free of charge , therefore they take the initial risk

However that then essentially turns your ' income stream ' into a cost , ultimately there are too many clubs at our level in this position , having to give up potential profit to remove the problems associated with selling merchandise , ie cash flow ,

I understand that but come on clubs have to kit out their players and fans buy shirts and other stuff that is guaranteed, when you have a chance to make extra money you lose out like we did last year, XBlades made the killing not Fax. I think there are enough suppliers out there to get a better deal and XBlades gave us poor service.

Put yourself in the position of the kit supplier ? , a club places an order for 5 grands worth of playing kit and training gear , how often have clubs not paid for it ? , then a club has to take the risk on getting the right amount of replica kit in the correct sizes , and once again getting paid for it

There is only one answer to this , it has been posted on here before , and hopefully it will eventually happen , it needs collaboration between clubs and some common sense