GW Email Campaign

[Gotthammer]

And you can compare it to sailing, or motorbikes, or fast cars, all you want, but it's not a valid comparrison. Look at how much you earn as an adult working full time, then look at a 14-18 year old kid's income, and how big the price rises seem in relative scale. I do that and wonder what the Australian hobby is going to look like in a few years when all the young players drop off due to it not being worth it money wise.

If you want to say something about independant retailers, forget it - I live in western Sydney, one of the most populous regions in Australia, and one of the fastest growing but choked by our state's lousy infrastructure. There are five GW's within fifteen minutes to an hour of me by car.
By bus I can get to three, taking around half an hour to the closest, over an hour at the longest (which would only take twenty minutes to drive to - thanks NSW Labour!).

If I want to go to an independant stockist of wargames, I know of two, both in the centre of the city, almost an hour away by bus (and I live right near one of the few public transport options to get there), or I could pay ten dollars in toll each way, plus parking, to drive in. Or I could drive around half an hour to take a train.

So most wargamers here play GW games. The local meta is infantryhammer for anyone under 20 because the kids can't afford vehicles. Black Reach, the starter set costs $150 - the starter paint set costs $80.


Now this is me, with a full time job, a car and living right near the M2 for easy transport finding the hobby a hassle. Imagine what a kid on $10-$20 a week in Stanhope or Quakers Hill (public transport? Lol, good one) feels like. Even one earning a hundred bucks a week at Woolies would need to save for a fortnight to buy the basic starter set - no glue, no knife, no snips, no paints, no brushes. You need close to $300 to even start the game (don't forget your $50 codex!), and I hope you like Marines or Orks.


Moral obligation to us? No. Going to hurt them and piss off their customers? Most certainly. Not what a smart business does.
Australian retailers are trying everything to cut prices, the recent Wollies vs Coles price war is a sign of that, as the cost of living here (especially NSW) is skyrocketing. We're looking at a 40-70% increase in electricity prices, grocery prices went up 10% in one month alone, etc.
Like you guys say, GW is not a necessity, and people will drop it in the face of these economics. Without customers stores will close, there won't be anywhere for new gamers to learn the trade or even to play, and the hobby will be crippled in Australia.

That's what we don't want to see happen.

[lattd]

Cite it. And be specific.

Have you read the new contract for EU retailers? I haven't. If you have, and can thusly cite some specifics that none of us seem to be privy to, it could really help to sell your argument.

How is it anti-competetive. If anything, it could be justified as a move by GW to HELP LGSs in the Southern Hemisphere that are surely losing profits due to the present practice.

Section 2 competition Act 1998, states a company will breach this law if it the through abuse of a dominant position by a firm who it uses the following practices, predatory pricing, excessive prices, refusal to supply, vertical restraints and price discrimination to maximise profit, gain competitive advantage or otherwise restrict competition.

I can see two breaches from GW in that one paragraph. So tell me how GW isn't breaking the law?

May I also add that due to GW having its headquarters in the UK it follows UK law so you Australian gamers feel free to complain to the office of fair trading, even if your dealing with the Australian company.

[Gotthammer]

And I'll add that a lot of this could be fixed by GW being more transperant in its dealings. By this I mean if they actually explained the price differential, or there is a rumour I've read that they will be comparing prices in June and adjusting to reflect reality, or the supposed local plant opening might make things cheaper.

If Australian customers actually got some feedback it would go a long way IMO.

[wittdooley]

I just skimmed the first two sections, so I won't claim to have read it all. However, in that skimming, the following phrase occurred quite often:

"within the United Kingdom"

My geography isn't as up to date as it could be, and I admittely can't tell you which former Yugoslavian state is which geographically, but I'm fairly certain none of the Southern Hemisphere is "within the United Kingdom."

Gotthammer-- I really appreciate your positioning, but it boils down to this: Australia's state of affairs isn't GWs problem. If cost of living is increasing as you indicate in your post, why should the price of commodities go down? That doesn't make sense. Hell, in the US, based on the expense of living, the cost of a Big Mac at McDonald's varies greatly.

If people continue to order online in the southern hemisphere, won't that as adversly affect the business of the local shop as well?

I agree that the Aussie prices are out-of-line with the rest of their product based on the value of the dollar, but GW is under no obligation to make their product cheaper as a base line.

TheRise -- Your inane ramblings really aren't adding anything of value to the conversation. Your latest post is ignorant in its premise, as worth is determined by what the consumer is willing to pay. Nothing we consume is "worth" the cost if you base it solely on cost of materials and production. Companies make a profit by increasing the product cost over their production costs. Besides, if every company did that, and people still paid for the product, the company shareholders would be ecstatic.

[Baranowito]

One thing that people might be forgetting here is GW's stance on going to a brick and mortar store to purchase their products. As everything around the world is going up in price, the more expensive it is for final products, including shipping. GW has additional costs to stock their shelves in any country that doesn't have a manufacturing facility. Not to mention import taxes in the country that it is shipped to. I wouldn't be surprised if these have gone up too.

Anyway, if GW needs to raise prices overseas, the cost difference of buying a product in store versus online becomes that much greater. People will not buy as much (or any) in store and purchase online. With nobody going to the stores, the local GW's (and other indy retailers) take a huge hit and could potentially go out of business. Now in this case GW has zero presence in these overseas markets.

So this is a logical move by GW and is not unprecendented. Just look at the video game industry and how much more expensive everything is in Europe versus the US or Japan. I'm sure there are other examples at it all relates to profits in this overseas markets.

I'm not saying I completely agree with GW in this action, but from a business standpoint and GW's stated business plans in the past it makes sense to me. Living in the US this doesn't affect me, but I would be very incensed if this did as I've spent a lot of money at GW and would be forced to give up a hobby that I've had a lot of investment in.

In the end it is all supply and demand and GW will only listen when the money stops rolling in.

[Skragger]

*mumbles* took my models away.. burn the GW down...

[lattd]

I just skimmed the first two sections, so I won't claim to have read it all. However, in that skimming, the following phrase occurred quite often:

"within the United Kingdom"

My geography isn't as up to date as it could be, and I admittely can't tell you which former Yugoslavian state is which geographically, but I'm fairly certain none of the Southern Hemisphere is "within the United Kingdom."

Both maelstrom and wayland HQ's are UK based so restricting where they can and cannot sell does apply. Also UK members should flood OFT with complaints about GW pricing as well.

[wittdooley]

Both maelstrom and wayland HQ's are UK based so restricting where they can and cannot sell does apply. Also UK members should flood OFT with complaints about GW pricing as well.

I understand that, but without knowing the particulars of the import policies and taxes that are being circumvented, it's ignorant of us both to make further comment.

One could argue that, by selling the product to Southern Hemisphere consumers at the UK prices, that Maelstrom and Wayland are the offenders, as GW is being adversely affected due to the difference in pricing. Can Aussies or other internationals buy product from GWs UK website for those prices? I doubt it.

We can agree that the solution is for the Australian product prices to be more in line with their base, but the AUD is at historical highs right now. What happens when/if the AUD falls back to more historically in-line rates? There are so many economic issues here at play that everyone seems to forget.

So lets say GW adjusts the prices to mirror the present state of the AUD. They reduce prices. The peasants rejoice. Then when/if the AUD plunges to it's historically normal value, GW will be forced to raise the prices again, and there will be another uproar.

The only "perfect" solution is for the product to have a fluctuating cost, and that isn't going to happen. It's a logistical impossiblity that doesn't occur with any product.

[lattd]

I would be happy with a fall in price globally, i have not brought direct from GW in years i only buy from maelstrom when they have sales on. If maelstrom and wayland can sell at below GW prices with free shipping, then GW are making a killer profit on their plastic crack, £6 million for a niche luxury company to make during a recession you know they are sitting comfy on those prices.

[wittdooley]

I would be happy with a fall in price globally, i have not brought direct from GW in years i only buy from maelstrom when they have sales on. If maelstrom and wayland can sell at below GW prices with free shipping, then GW are making a killer profit on their plastic crack, £6 million for a niche luxury company to make during a recession you know they are sitting comfy on those prices.

GW sells to independent retailers at around 45% off MSRP. They're still making money, regardless of what an independent retailer sells it at. Once the independent retailer has paid for it, GW has the cash. Anything sold direct from GW is 100% profit (beyond production costs of course). The retailer is under no obligation to have any discount. Retailers like Wayland, Maelstrom, Miniaturemarket, etc., can afford to discount because the lower overhead required by maintaining an online store. No rent. No electric bill. (Likely) less employees to pay. It's the very premise Amazon.com is built upon.

Wayland and Maelstrom have decided that the 10-15% profit they make on GW product (figuring another 10-15% cost of the free shipping) is enough. And that's fine. The issue is that they're charging the UK prices for a product in which GW and Australian retails charge a different cost based on the AUD.