GW - The good, the bad, and the ugly of the last year or so

[wittdooley]

I used to be able to buy at an online shop and have an item landed here at my front door for just over half the price of the local shop.

People that don't see how this statement is a problem, are the problem. This kind of activity KILLS the independent stockists.

The problem lies in the disparity in the Aussie pricing vs. everyone else; if GW adjusts the pricing accordingly, as per the strength of the Australian dollar, then you won't have to order from overseas anymore. But GW has to protect their investment in the Australian Independent stockist.

I don't look at the embargo in itself as the problem; rather the pricing structure is the problem.

[Grimnar42]

How is that statement a problem its was a fact pure and simple if the prices were fair here I would buy here. Why should I spend twice as much as overseas for what is basically a luxury item. Very few of the local stockists carry GW exclusively and I spend plenty on paints and tools and stuff with them and I am not going to GW here to pay premium price. GW trying to force me to buy local is not going to work and be real people who buy online have access to credit cards or paypal and they are not your usual 12 to14 yr old who would be the main local shop customer spending his (or her) allowance.

Don't insinuate I am a problem because I want a price in line with the rest of the world.

[daboarder]

People that don't see how this statement is a problem, are the problem. This kind of activity KILLS the independent stockists.

The problem lies in the disparity in the Aussie pricing vs. everyone else; if GW adjusts the pricing accordingly, as per the strength of the Australian dollar, then you won't have to order from overseas anymore. But GW has to protect their investment in the Australian Independent stockist.

I don't look at the embargo in itself as the problem; rather the pricing structure is the problem.

I'll say this, I understand the need to buy local to keep stores alive but there are problems with that parable that are unique to OZ.

Firstly we are a largely spread out population and niche market items such as model stores don't really do well unless there in the city not because of international competition but simply because there is not that many people to use as a source of sales. For example take cooma (medium sized Australian town) if you were to open a store there your clients would have to travel up 1-2 hours and even then you still wouldn't have the population numbers.

Secondly the price difference is so much that I literally CAN get double for my money buying internationally, that means taht I'd rather only spend approx 500-600 for a new army instead of the 1000 that I need to actually eat for a month.

All this being said I've always bought hobby supplies and small impulse order at my local store in order to do my bit for the free services they supply but for many Australians it can be a case between warhammer or no warhammer when deciding to buy internationally of locally. The fact that GW is enforcing trade practice that are not only unethical (inflated shipping costs) but also questionably legal (the embargo itself) has really killed my interest in buying more.

EDIT: as to the higher income in australia, that may be true but the cost of living is insanely higher, Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne are in the top 10 most expensive cities in the world and every other city in OZ makes it into the top 50.

[eldargal]

I managed to bully an Australian friend into getting back into GW products after many years not collecting. A few months later the new trade terms were announced. Buy he says the mark up is quite reasonable by Australian standards, he pays 2-300% for clothes, 300% for various English gentlemans accoutrement (that shaving razors and such, not smutty magazine) and he pays eighteen pounds for a caddy of Fortnum & Masons tea that I can buy from the store for under two pounds. And England is supposed to be expensive.

The Good:
The models, the beginnings of the re-invigoration of White Dwarf, Storm of Magic. The Dark Elf sorceress, the greatest plastic female sculpt on the market.

The Bad:
Punitive trade terms and price rise announced at the same time, a price rise on Finecast models when good PR could have been had dropping prices, the quality control debacle, the SoB codex being uninspiring, no SoB models, Path of the Seer not coming out until September.

On the whole I think the good and bad are fairly balanced, unless you are in Australia perhaps.

[Grimnar42]

Here is a comparison all prices taken from GW websites all currency displayed in OZ dollars

Your basic no frills Land Raider

Australian Online store $110 in Australian dollars
US online store $60.04 in Australian dollars
UK online store $61.24 in Australian dollars

If you try to order online from either US or UK the shipping cost are 60 % to 70 % of the purchase price
Is there any wonder about the sales drop here and with an embargo is that really going to increase local sales or lead to no sales at all with a drop in sales world wide as a result of Australia not being able to buy online.

If it comes to a choice of buying a land raider or eating for a week well ?

[Denzark]

The purpose of any business is to make money for its owners. Morale obligations are low down the list.

In the same way I have no problem with aussies getting their stuff cheap online as opposed to bricks and mortar, I have no problem with GW gouging us.

Its all just business.

[Jive Tyrant]

Why aren't there any online retailers based in Australia who can supply stock to Australians at 20% off?

If there are LGSs in Australia getting 30% off retail, surely there can be online ones that pass on the "not having bricks-and-mortar" saving?

[Grimnar42]

Why aren't there any online retailers based in Australia who can supply stock to Australians at 20% off?

If there are LGSs in Australia getting 30% off retail, surely there can be online ones that pass on the "not having bricks-and-mortar" saving?

I don't know about that one I had a long talk to the owner of a LGS I was frequenting and he stated the price Maelstrom was selling for was below his buying price from GW and he couldn't even match Maelstrom's price without taking a loss. Something really needs to be done here to address the disparity in world prices and putting an embargo in place is not the solution. If GW was losing trade here before the embargo trying to force people into buying local is not going to work its just not in our nature (Aussies) to be told what we can and cant do. Be interesting to see how much more sales go down next year.

And to add to that price comparison

Maelstrom Games $55.13 landed here and even cheaper during a sale but alas no longer allowed

[Gotthammer]

Morale obligations are low down the list.

I would like to think that a deliberate mis-spelling, Mr D

[Denzark]

I would like to think that a deliberate mis-spelling, Mr D

Of course, of course ... mumbles brr harrumph...