GW prices.

[Wolfshade]

Gaming Coffee Shops sounds awesome, or GW hobby stores start selling "Imperial Recaf"
Whenever my mates and I are playing we are always drinking tea. Its also nice to get an outsiders persective of the pricing (I say outside, I think Holdfast is now definately an insider). One of the big things is that the more you use it the so the cost per use decreases

[o0HoldFast0o]

Thanks guys!

I think the most game stores would benefit from having a different "hook" than just gaming. It sounds a little counter intuitive, but I can't tell you how many new customers I've gotten by people (mostly men) seeing a bunch of us slinging dice and asking "what is this?". They came in for coffee/tea/smoothie whatever, and end up spending 2 hours trying to figure out what the game is all about.

Most males, and certainly all gamers (from cards to consoles), love this game if they will just try it out. So what has to be removed are the entry barriers: Price, Complex rules, and gaming group of non-douchbags that will teach without getting testy! For all my beginning players when we started I sold them armies at my cost- that way we could all get into the hobby cheap, I also bought army builder, and all the rule books to help people start to get a handle on rules. As far as gamer attitude I think its top down- I am very competitive, but laugh and joke around whether I am winning or losing. For us the big difference is that the core business was healthy- so gaming wasn't something that needed to make money, just not lose too much! At this point I'm getting ready to start advertising in all the towns within ~60 miles, and add on to our building so that I can add more tables.

I see war-gaming in general as a growth industry, at some point a company may supplant GW as the leader, but that is likely far off. Almost every game store I have gone to has GW AND something else popular. Ihave yet to find one that is a different games system with GW brands as the secondary game system.

[UltraBlood]

For me I have accepted that any hobby is going to have some cost to do it. So it boils down to do I feel I get that amount of enjoyment out of the hobby.

I think for me the rub if you will on the GW pricing is most times you can find it online at a 10% to 20% disount which makes it a little more bearable if you will. That however does not allow me to keep my money local if you will at the closest GW store. I am very fortunate in the fact the person running the closest GW store is very cool and has excelent customer service skills.

[Mr_E]

I think one of the first posts said it best. It's not that I disagree with OP's argument that GW can justify their ridiculous prices (We're raising metal prices because the price of metal is up, but cheap-as-hell resin has a higher MSRP!) but all that means is I'll never buy from GW retail. Living in the us means that if I really want something in the box, shrink wrapped and shipped to my door, I can get it at 20% off GW list price. If I want to go a step further, places like bartertown and eBay mean I can get almost anything I need -stupid- cheap. Sometimes, if buying in high amounts, 50% off. A gentlemen on Bartertown offered me 3 predators and several razorbacks for just about 50% off list price, all of them new-in-box.

GW can justify whatever they like and refer to themselves as a 'prestige' game but the truth is, those of us who aren't playing flavor of the month armies (Looking at you, everyone who switched to GK!) and who are just fine with out 2nd edition 2-piece space marines aren't going to be clearing shelves with the cost of a tac squad being what it is.

Privateer Press may have a lot more options being a smaller company, but one thing they do is try to keep prices fair, and they pay VERY close attention to their playerbase. There are a ton of forums for 40k, but the best Warmachine forum is PP's own. It really makes you wonder when GW decided to shut it's doors and ascend the ivory tower instead of hanging out with it's playerbase.

I've gotten way off topic here, but my point stands.

[gendoikari87]

they jacked up prices and we all complain then still buy it anyways

well more and more are simply quitting. But I'd like to see hard figures on new players. Not sales data, not profits, actual hard data on new people, not armies being brought in.

[o0HoldFast0o]

well more and more are simply quitting. But I'd like to see hard figures on new players. Not sales data, not profits, actual hard data on new people, not armies being brought in.

For us it went from 0 to 20 in 9 months


Really you will know quickly if they are making mistakes because their core stores will start closing. You saw the same thing with Starbucks a few years ago. They made some bad choices on how they treated employee tips, and over expanded (there is a street in Houston with a Starbucks on 3 of the 4 corners), and as soon as coffee prices and shipping went up they folded- well closed about 1/3 of their stores. If their doors stay open they are probably doing the right things, if not well there ya go! It is possible they are anticipating massive increases in shipping costs, mandatory employee health care, property taxes, and general cost of doing business increases and are padding things now accordingly.

[Brother Glacius]

I can't say I'm a fan of GW prices any more than the next guy, but they do put out amazing stuff. I've got more than enough armies and models to keep my painting and playing for years, but I still pick up those shiny new boxes and head to the counter. There should be a GW Anonymous group to help us out...with a 10 step program and all.

[xxvaderxx]

They are pricing themselves out of the market, i just hope they realize before its too late.

[wittdooley]

They are pricing themselves out of the market, i just hope they realize before its too late.

Oh really? Example? Their bottom line would seem to differ.

[gendoikari87]

Oh really? Example? Their bottom line would seem to differ.

Bottom line is only total revenue, and really only a good measure of short term profitability. With their price increases they can do the same while selling less, or better while selling at a flat rate. But even the models sold aren't a true indicator of their performance for the long term. for that you need data on people, how many people are leaving/starting, the game. number of models sold while not perfect is a better representation of this than the bottom line. But since you're so damn smart you know this already.

BTW does anyone have any sales figures on the number of models sold? or just bottom line?