Tau - SOLD OUT

[Black1705f]

My LGS made it a point to order early. In fact he called his sales rep before he normally would and basically badgered him into placing the order early. Everything appeared fine and rumors started floating around that other stores were turned down on orders as no longer available. Then shortly after that they got the news. Sorry but your basically getting just the codex on the release date.

This could mean a few different things, but they all revolve around a lack of concern for retailers. I’ll bet they used their stock to cover their own pre-orders which gets them more money per unit selling at retail to consumers as opposed to selling to LGS’s at a wholesale cost. They clearly are not using a first come first serve system of allocating their products. I don’t know if they pick and choose certain orders over others to fulfill or what. I would hope they would use some sort of computerized inventory system so I find it hard to believe they oversold themselves. Something is definitely wrong if my LGS goes from getting everything they ordered on Monday to sorry you’re only getting the codex on Thursday.

I do not doubt that they’ve run out because this particular release which includes a lot of new figures for an army that hasn’t seen anything new for a long time. I am questioning how they chose to allocate the resources in an unfair manner to either make money or appease larger accounts.

My LGS said his rep was going to throw in a bunch of dice cubes I guess as a consolation for not getting what they had ordered. I imagine it will simply act as a reminder of the slap to the face we just got.

[Brakkart]

My LGS ordered early and it all arrived today, they had loads of stock in, enough to cover all the customer advance orders and plenty to go out on the shelves too. Whether they still have all of it left by Monday is another thing entirely but right now they have the entire range of new releases plus a good amount of the older figures and vehicles in too. And the codex of course.

[Rift Knight]

I was at my LGS yesterday to pay for my Tau Codex and make sure I got one. I don't think they ordered heavy but they did not get any of the new Broadsides at all and they had ordered 3. Invoice said "Out of Stock". This was there initial store order to go on sale today(Sat 6 Apr 13). Seemed kinda lame to do that to them.

[Mr Mystery]

Local GW had low stock. Just 4 Riptides, one of each character, and handful of the other boxes.

[TheBitzBarn]

GW issue is they are running Manufacturing to over capacity and not wanting to spend Money to expand. Local GW had ok stock but not enough to satisfy the conspiracy Theory of Stocking their stores first. And the BIGGEST issues is Manufacturing decides levels they do not consult with Sales and that has been that way since 2005. They say sell Said Product and Sales does then they say we are only making y quantity of said Product. They do not Work as a Company they are Dysfunctional.

[Brass Scorpion]

GW stores were understocked just like everyone else. My local GW store had a fraction of the usual stock for a new release. Instead of getting a case of Codex books to sell they had only about a dozen. The store lost thousands of dollars in sales this weekend from being understocked. All the new models were gone shortly after opening on Saturday and even some of the older existing models sold out too. Advance Orders were so big they ate up a huge chunk of what would have been shelf stock for stores on release day and with only a week between advance orders and release day GW had little time to make up the difference. The guy in Nottingham HQ who did the sales projections for this release may find himself sacked, he or she messed up big time.

This demonstrates really clearly why a one week period between advance orders and release day can be a terribly bad thing for GW, their stores and their independent sellers.

[gcsmith]

GW stores were understocked just like everyone else. My local GW store had a fraction of the usual stock for a new release. Instead of getting a case of Codex books to sell they had only about a dozen. The store lost thousands of dollars in sales this weekend from being understocked. All the new models were gone shortly after opening on Saturday and even some of the older existing models sold out too. Advance Orders were so big they ate up a huge chunk of what would have been shelf stock for stores on release day and with only a week between advance orders and release day GW had little time to make up the difference. The guy in Nottingham HQ who did the sales projections for this release may find himself sacked, he or she messed up big time.

This demonstrates really clearly why a one week period between advance orders and release day can be a terribly bad thing for GW, their stores and their independent sellers.

either sales predictionist gets fired, or jeremy gets promoted for doing such a good job

[Psychosplodge]

I went to have a neb at a Riptide on Sunday, and stock is apparently that short that they aren't allowed to open one as a display piece yet...had four on the shelf and plenty of codices.
Surely having a viewable model would sell them even quicker?

[magickbk]

This was the most difficulty I've had picking up a Codex. I find that I can pretty much walk into any store in my area and grab one within a few days of release, but I made two convenient stops and then had to call around to find one. Out of the three places I was in, most of the coveted releases had sold out already. Luckily, I wasn't prepared to pick up a Riptide, or I might've been cranky. The only time I remember something similar happening was for Grey Kinghts, but there were plenty of the Codex available then, just a shortage of units.