Hi,
I am a new member of USCF and am wondering if USCF is really manufacturing chess pieces, chess boards, and bags. I see them in Amazon and wonder how a non-profit can also be a manufacturer. Do tyou own a plant in the USA or is it based in China?
Visited my first tournament recently and it was very exciting!
The US Chess Federation does not manufacture anything. Most chess sets are made in other countries and imported.
USCF Sales is a separate company that has a contract with US Chess to serve as its book and equipment partner.
Ok, Then why does this say:
Manufactured Exclusively by the United States Chess Federation (USCF)
Last bullet point:
amazon.com/Quiver-Chess-Set … federation
Quiver Chess Set Combination - Triple Weighted - Black Bag / Board - by US Chess Federation
That is a good question, but I’m sure there are many errors on Amazon.
Alex Relyea
No error. You said:
The US Chess Federation does not manufacture anything. Most chess sets are made in other countries and imported.
USCF Sales is a separate company that has a contract with US Chess to serve as its book and equipment partner.
Well here it is on Us Chess Federation Sales site:
uscfsales.com/catalog/produ … gory/1125/\
Under product details / Additional Information
Says US Chess Federation is the manufacturer. I think if this is an error, someone should immediately contact Amazon about fraudulent use of your organization’s name.
It’s not so much fraudulent as it is confusing. U.S. Chess and U.S.Chess Sales are two different organizations, albeit with some strong ties to each other.
Bill Smythe
I’m fairly sure that’s a set that is custom made for USCF Sales. If you change ‘manufactured by’ to ‘manufactured for’, it’s still inaccurate but probably closer to correct.
That is an incorrect listing.
US Chess does not manufacture anything. US Chess does not contract with anyone else to manufacture anything on our behalf. US Chess does not sell any books or equipment. US Chess Sales has an endorsement contract with US Chess under which US Chess receives around $140,000 in exchange for the use of the name and advertising to US Chess members. That is not a secret - it is in our financial statements which are posted on this website.
btw - I’m on the Executive Board and have some experience with US Chess finance.
Hi Allen,
Thank you for the explanation. I am glad that a board member has seen this. The reason I asked about this was that I bought this set from The House of Staunton at Amazon. The pieces were bad and the lead balls came out of the pieces. This set is no warning choking hazard. I am glad to know that you did not manufacture it!
At Amazon US Chess Federation has a whole store:
amazon.com/stores/node/3049 … 3049464011
I see many sets at Amazon with your logo printed on them:
amazon.com/US-Chess-Federat … chess+sets
So I think that US Chess Federation may have a problem here. If US Chess Sales has an endorsement contract with US Chess is that the same as a licensing/manufacturing agreement? For only $140,000? With 85,000 members?
I just wanted to draw this to your attention as a new and concerned member. I am sure someone on the board will contact Amazon and get this straightened out.
USCF Sales is contracted with US Chess and you are seeing US Chess Sales store. It can be confusing.
With Amazon’s impact the sale of chess books and equipment ahs seen a squeeze in profit margins. And chess is a niche market. We think the amount we receive under the contract is decent for the amount of sales.
Sales at bookstores at US Chess tournaments (and there are only 5-6 direct tournaments we do) are a separate contract.
I suspect that the Amazon storefront is not one that has been set up by US Chess. It appears that the storefront is “owned” by House of Staunton. House of Staunton is contracted with US Chess to sell all of its inventory, including US Chess branded goods, under their own HoS business and as US Chess Sales. The functionality of the HoS and US Chess Sales web sites are virtually identical.
Everything that I sampled on the Amazon storefront is marketed as either sold by House of Staunton fulfilled by Amazon or directly from HoS as a third party seller.
As another poster pointed out, it would be more accurate to substitute the word “for” for the word “by.”
I’M surprised that you had a problem with the quality of the plastic pieces. I suppose if you chew on them you could find that there’s a choking risk. Every product on the Wholesale Chess web site carries a small parts/choking warning–even roll up chess boards. A bit of overkill prudence wise, IMO.
Note to Allen–Presumably US Chess is getting a percentage of the proceeds from US Chess logo goods sold on Amazon by House of Staunton as opposed to US Chess Sales.
There are tons of manufacturers out there that never open up a factory to produce goods. They just have the stuff made overseas to their specifications.
Now, clearly USCF isn’t an OEM or Original Equipment Manufacturers, but lots of people with the entrepreneurial spirit do stuff like open a clothing line, or some other good that can be done cheaper overseas and just order everything from overseas to their specifications.
Why invest actual cash in plant and material when there is plenty of under used manufacturers overseas that are more than capable of producing goods for foreign companies at a reduced cost. I’m not trying to say there isn’t a need for manufacturing in the good old USA, but for a lot of products, it wouldn’t be cost effective to even think about having it make in the United States. Certainly toys and clothing would be top on the list of items that don’t need a factory in the USA.
For decades, the United States military ordered all their footwear from overseas because there wasn’t any company in the USA that had factories in the United States that could actually make footwear.
There is a whole storefront dedicated to US Chess Federation at Amazon:
amazon.com/stores/node/3049 … 3049464011
All the products are only sold by House of Staunton not USCFSales.
Why is this? I know House of Staunton runs USCFSales but do they have permission to do this? Do they pay a licensing fee to offer these? Most of the items are just generic junk that look like it is being off loaded using US Chess Federation as the brand:
amazon.com/stores/node/3049 … 3049464011
Some are definitely other brands that are not even ours but are being misrepresented as ours:
amazon.com/DGT-3000-Digital … 3049464011
I am not a lawyer, but I bet there are some here. Is this legal? Are we being misrepresented at Amazon?
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. US Chess is not behind the referenced site. USCF Sales has contract rights to sell US Chess logo merchandise. But I think there may be a problem with the presentation.
This news is roughly ten months old. What has the EB done since one of the EB members, Mr. Priest, was made aware of the situation back in January, 2018?
No it is not 10 months old. the amazon site was refenced today. The previous references were to sites for USCF Sales, which certainly is within its contract rights.
And I don’t know what the Executive Director or US Chess President Hoffpauir did on it then. Probably nothing since the post references USCF Sales.
You really have little better to do than to be a troll here?
Wrong again, Mr. Priest. Post #323334 dated January 20, 2018 references this page at Amazon.
amazon.com/stores/node/3049 … 3049464011
I suggest that you stop making excuses and stop name calling people who catch you out making inaccurate statements and/or asking reasoned questions.
Posting a reply thanking a poster for making you aware of an issue which you were aware of some ten months earlier appears disingenuous at best. Again, kindly tell us what you have, as a board member, done regarding the issue raised to which you told the OP on January 20th, “btw - I’m on the Executive Board and have some experience with US Chess finance.”
I used to be a retail market analyst (probably why this interested me) before I became a parent. If someone would tell me when the next two board meetings are I will prepare an evaluation of this situation (pro bono) and send it to Mr. Priest (or whoever you deem responsible on the board).
I have looked at the financials that are available and only see $100,800 in contributions from the B&E. Can you tell me what other line item that this could refer to to get the $140,000 Mr. Priest says the House of Staunton is paying?
After that I can pretty much research on my own. If I do have any non-confidential questions, who would I contact?
I overstated the USCF Sales contract. The amount has changed over the life of the contract and we have a couple of different sources of BE income.
The USCF Sales contract revenue is hard to see on the audited financial statements because the auditors lump it together with several other things. It is far clearer on our internal statements. You will find those on this website here. uschess.org/component/option … temid,413/
The revenue line for the USCF Sales contract is the line called commissions right below the membership revenue total. The only thing on that line is supposed to be the USCF Sales contract. Sometimes the office accidently puts something else in there - when we catch it we get it moved.
This contract has been on place for a while and has been renegotiated at least once. The contract amount right now per year is around $121000. There is a fixed monthly payment with a larger payment in December. It is not a percentage of sale - it is a flat amount.
The contract has several years left to run.
We get other B&E related income from the bookstores at our national events. These are let as one contract which covers, in a regular year, the four national scholastic tournaments and the US Open. When we have a SuperNational year the contract covers the US Open, K-12 and SuperNationals. That vendor may be USCF Sales or may be someone else.
When the original USCF Sales contract was let (some 15 years ago - before I was in governance) it was unclear if the contract guaranteed that USCF Sales would be the event vendor. Part of the renegotiation was making it clear US Chess could select a different event vendor.
The review and recommendation of contracts is a staff function. Contracts that cover multiple years or are more than $10,000 require EB approval.
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