GW's price structure HAS cost them my money I accept that my hobby spend makes no odds to them. I'm not quitting the hobby, Im not going to another game system but GW and their retailers are seeing a far lower percentage of my spend on the hobby. Ive spent £483.20 on Ebay in the last 60 days (we have 6 armies in the family), I have money to spend, BUT I'm buying secondhand stuff instead of new stuff. I'm handy with the stripper, green stuff and files. 5 years ago I wouldn't touch second hand figures with a barge pole. Today I look around the gw stores and there's relatively little I would consider worth the price. £14.50 for a single inch high plastic space man - Jog on...
GW in the same time period have seen me buy some plastic glue and a few pots of paint (and are just about to see me place a waylands order for a few more of the new paints)
The management are of course completely entitled to price their product however they see fit, Ive got no issues with their doing so, but not every business decision made turns out for the best, far bigger companies than GW have gone under due to bad decisions.
Companies can arrogantly decide that people wont vote with their feet \ wallet in significant numbers dismissing internet grumbles (SOE and star wars galaxies comes to mind). Some companies end up increasing prices with their backs against the wall due to unavoidable cost increases and eventually reach the point where the business is unviable. Take Tin Mining in Cornwall, 4000 years it lasted! None happens today, not because theres no tin, not because nobody uses tin anymore, but production costs outstripped what the market would bear for the finished product.
Some companies end up out innovated or out competed by cheaper \ better alternatives. Take Dinky Toys, they were the number one by a large margin on toy cars, but eventually they were out competed first by domestic production and then by foreign imports. Today there's still plenty of market for Toy cars, but Dinky ceased to exist.
I do not know how much of GWs price structure is forced upon them, what sort of restructuring could be done to reduce costs without impacting customers. What I am sure of though is that endlessly increasing prices and thus reducing customer base is not a sustainable path. Eventually the company will have to significantly cull infrastructure, reduce size and overheads as they become more and more niche. There IS a Market place out there for £5000 watches, and its a profitable market, its just not a large market and doesn't by itself support large chains of high street shops.
Critical mass is the biggest issue they currently face. There comes a point where increasing prices not only reduces the customer base by those who no longer find the product worthwhile value for money, but also start losing those who give up due to a reduced playerbase affecting how many fun games they can find and people to talk to about their hobby etc. Once you start losing players on that basis it becomes more of an avalanche.
As I see it regardless of the reasons for the price increases or how necessary they are, GW's price structure is leaving them well and truly vulnerable to competition.
A well priced, Foreign made, high detail product range with solid fluff and rules could blitz them in the end. Particularly if its something that grew out of an established IP something from a series of highly popular films or video games. Starter sets \ board games sold in regular toy stores, and everything else sold online or through independent local game stores.
I don't bear GW any ill will, Ive enjoyed their products since 1989, but bit by bit things are going beyond what I consider to be worthwhile buying. Waylands and the like have given them a stay of execution but that's only a timelag thing, as is ebay, as new model prices rise so to will ebay prices. Looking back at my history it appears it was 2009 that I last bought a significant amount of new models from waylands even. if a GW landraider goes up to £50. it becomes a £40 waylands land raider which becomes a £30 Ebay pile of junk in need of several hours of hard work fixing. At that point I'm out for good :grin: at least on that model. I really do work on a case by case basis, there's still some products which I wouldn't have any issue buying at GW store prices even, but they are getting fewer and further between.