Warhammer 40k Forum and Wargaming Forums banner
Cancel

Games Workshop Monopoly?

9326 Views 63 Replies 21 Participants Last post by  the-ad-man, 
turel2
I was thinking about the pricing of Games Workshop mini's and was trying to figure out why it was so high.

Is this because GW has virtual monopoly with WH and WH40k?

Or is there another reason for this? :unsure:
Reply
Save
Like
41 - 60 of 64 Posts
turel2
El Mariachi said:
Sorry but I take exception to this. I have to live on an extremely tight budget as it is and with the price of GW these days, I rarely buy anything (I've abandoned the 'I spend the same but just get less' attidude as the perceived value of their models has dropped for me. Yes, the quality is better, but not to the extent their prices demand). However, when I do buy something, I will do it from an online store. Why? Because GW stores don't offer anything other than high prices- I don't game at GW stores (much prefer doing it at home with mates and a beer) so I have no reason to not buy online and as such, I'm not being "rude" as you put it. :angry:
Click to expand...
I'm in the same boat as you. GW has priced me out a long time ago.
Reply
Save
Like
the-ad-man
El Mariachi said:
Don't games workshop specifically say that it's the responsibility of third party stores that sell GW products to set their prices? Following that logic, GW would be free to hold sales as they're under no obligation to change the wholesale price as well as the retail price, however temporary.

I agree with what bits and kits says about the seasonal produce argument, it would mean that its very unlikely GW will do a meaningful sale in the future, at least with the current way of thinking.




Sorry but I take exception to this. I have to live on an extremely tight budget as it is and with the price of GW these days, I rarely buy anything (I've abandoned the 'I spend the same but just get less' attidude as the perceived value of their models has dropped for me. Yes, the quality is better, but not to the extent their prices demand). However, when I do buy something, I will do it from an online store. Why? Because GW stores don't offer anything other than high prices- I don't game at GW stores (much prefer doing it at home with mates and a beer) so I have no reason to not buy online and as such, I'm not being "rude" as you put it. :angry:
Click to expand...

i dont know the ins and outs of their contracts to independant retailers, but this just seems to be the case.


on the second point, im not saying buy everything from gw (even i'm not THAT crazy! :wacko:), like you im on a tight buget. but if i go in to a gw store to play a couple of games i usually make sure to buy something like a blister or 2.

i diddnt mean to cause offence, and if i did i apologise. but i meant if you game at a place, buy from them, support them (if they are gw or not)
its just i'd be using their shop as a free club to hang out at if i diddnt buy anything and, at the end of the day, thats not what gw stores are.
but this is completely how i feel, i mean the staff in gw cheltenham are a nice bunch of guys so i like to give a little back since they give me the time of day to make sure im fine and dont need anything
Reply
Save
Like
Tzeen Qhayshek
I like to spend equally from my LGS and discount online sites (even though shipping time takes forever). I like having a place to play (even though it isn't close), and supporting the store is the only option.

However, I never knew there was an investigation in GW before. Does anyone have any information on that?
Reply
Save
Like
El Mariachi
the-ad-man said:
i diddnt mean to cause offence, and if i did i apologise. but i meant if you game at a place, buy from them, support them (if they are gw or not)
its just i'd be using their shop as a free club to hang out at if i diddnt buy anything and, at the end of the day, thats not what gw stores are.
but this is completely how i feel, i mean the staff in gw cheltenham are a nice bunch of guys so i like to give a little back since they give me the time of day to make sure im fine and dont need anything
Click to expand...

No worries, on the media that is the internet it can be hard to interpret tone and your original post sounded to me more brash than perhaps you intended, so thanks for clarifying. What you're suggesting there is fine, it would be a bit rude to play at a store all the time and not buy from there. However, as I said in my last post, in my case that doesn't apply as I don't enjoy the games to be found in stores:victory:
Reply
Save
Like
the-ad-man
El Mariachi said:
No worries, on the media that is the internet it can be hard to interpret tone and your original post sounded to me more brash than perhaps you intended, so thanks for clarifying. What you're suggesting there is fine, it would be a bit rude to play at a store all the time and not buy from there. However, as I said in my last post, in my case that doesn't apply as I don't enjoy the games to be found in stores:victory:
Click to expand...
haha good good, i know waht you mean, tone is impossable to imply on teh intarwebz

yeah, i understand, if its not a location you enjoy you shouldnt be obligated to support it, unless they get their act together :laugh:
Reply
Save
Like
C
Games Workshop doesn't run sales, but they periodically run bulk deals. Most recently you could buy an entire armored company. It was cheaper to buy the Company than it was to buy just the tanks that were included in it. Before that they had the $200 boxed armies. Now granted these are expensive in their own right, but they're cheaper than buying the individual pieces. That's about the only discounting I've seen GW run.

CS

edit: and as a sad side note. I'm looking at building two rifleman dreads. It's cheaper to buy all the individual dreadnaught parts from Bits and Kits, and getting the autocannon arms from Forgeworld, than it is to just buy two dreadnaughts here in the states. Even after the conversion from pounds to dollars.
Reply
Save
Like
the-ad-man
Crimson Shadow said:
edit: and as a sad side note. I'm looking at building two rifleman dreads. It's cheaper to buy all the individual dreadnaught parts from Bits and Kits, and getting the autocannon arms from Forgeworld, than it is to just buy two dreadnaughts here in the states. Even after the conversion from pounds to dollars.
Click to expand...
that is incredibly shit for you :(

but lucky for me, i was looking into doing the same thing more or less :p

thanks for the heads up!
Reply
Save
Like
Tzeen Qhayshek
Wow. Just wow.

I can hardly believe it.
Reply
Save
Like
Cyklown
Honestly, man, converting dollars to pounds isn't as painful as you'd think when looking at the actual conversion rate.

The dollar and the pound have a remarkably similar amount of purchasing power.

It works out really well for buying stuff and then having it leave England. I'd generally just import all of your stuff from the UK, if you have any choice in the matter. There's a webcomic artist whose stuff is arguably more affordable for Americans than it is for Brits for that very reason.
Reply
Save
Like
the-ad-man
Cyklown said:
Honestly, man, converting dollars to pounds isn't as painful as you'd think when looking at the actual conversion rate.

The dollar and the pound have a remarkably similar amount of purchasing power.

It works out really well for buying stuff and then having it leave England. I'd generally just import all of your stuff from the UK, if you have any choice in the matter. There's a webcomic artist whose stuff is arguably more affordable for Americans than it is for Brits for that very reason.
Click to expand...
god dam credit crunch!!!

our money used to be way better than your money!! ( i joke, i wish we had the £1 note, like you guys have with $1)
Reply
Save
Like
Cyklown
the-ad-man said:
god dam credit crunch!!!

our money used to be way better than your money!! ( i joke, i wish we had the £1 note, like you guys have with $1)
Click to expand...
Your money is better than ours. It just buys the same number of candy bars that ours does. :p
Reply
Save
Like
R
Tzeen Qhayshek said:
I like to spend equally from my LGS and discount online sites (even though shipping time takes forever). I like having a place to play (even though it isn't close), and supporting the store is the only option.

However, I never knew there was an investigation in GW before. Does anyone have any information on that?
Click to expand...
Happily for me, my FLGS sells GW minis at 15% off RRP as well as stocking matic, perry, and other miniature ranges, and has several gaming tables. They also have an in-house cafe, and AFAIK make as much (if not more) profit on table fees and drinks as they do on the actual minis.

As far as GWs pricing strategy is concerned, it comes down to the simple economic fact of supply and demand: GW (the supplier) can raise its prices as high as it likes, while we as customers have a maximum price we are willing to pay for the product/service. An equilibrium is reached when the number of units the supplier wishes to sell matches the number of units customers are willing to buy (using Unit in an economic sense, not a military one!). When the recession struck, GW looked at their position as a luxury retailer and decided to maintain turnover by selling a smaller volume of units with a higher profit margin, and therefore raised prices to find a new equilibrium. If they did not have such a large market share this would not have been a viable tactic, but they do and it was - from a purely economic perspective - the right decision.

It has, however allowed other companies to enter the market at a lower level. Mantic, being a smaller operation and lacking the massive overheads of maintaining stores, have been able to price their own products much lower without compromising quality, deliberately targetting the market share that is no longer willing to pay GW prices. What impact this will have long-term is impossible to determine, but it is reasonable to assume that the higher GW push their prices the more people will be unwilling to pay them, therefore increasing other companies' share of the market. Five years ago this would not have been an issue, but in five years time GW may have to seriously rethink their business strategy.
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
the-ad-man
Cyklown said:
Your money is better than ours. It just buys the same number of candy bars that ours does. :p
Click to expand...
in all honesty, its overall cheaper to live in the u.s. than it is in the uk

mainly due to tax :( which is why i'm headed state-side as soon as i finnish uni

i think your general goods such as groceries are cheaper than ours, but your luxurey goods, such as gw merch, is more expensive
Reply
Save
Like
T
oke question what the hell is PP?
further more GW makes a profit of about 90%+!!! the monopoly law i am not awear off i dont think we have that in the Holland. but even so they still have FW too counter the monopoly law as i read it. the reason behind closing stores is simpel why wast money into a store that doesnt sell a lot? you wouldnt spend points in your army list on a unit that does nothing in vafour of a more productiefe unit right?
Reply
Save
Like
the-ad-man
ThaPinkPownerFatty said:
oke question what the hell is PP?
further more GW makes a profit of about 90%+!!! the monopoly law i am not awear off i dont think we have that in the Holland. but even so they still have FW too counter the monopoly law as i read it. the reason behind closing stores is simpel why wast money into a store that doesnt sell a lot? you wouldnt spend points in your army list on a unit that does nothing in vafour of a more productiefe unit right?
Click to expand...
pp is priveteer press, another mini wargaming system/company/producer

if you can prove that gw have a 90% markup on their products, please show some evidence. because the way i see it, they have fairly high overheads what with: artists, writers, sculptors, painters, model moulds, paints, plasic, metal, shop rent, shopstaff wages, website upkeep, the list is never ending.

forgeworld isnt a competitor, they are more of a partner. they dont work for gw, but they dont work against them. which is why all the models they make are for gw game systems

also, having a dedicated store where people can wander in, play some games, buy their merchendise does wonders for sales. if anything its the reason they will always be the top dog in little plastic men.
Reply
Save
Like
Aramoro
the-ad-man said:
in all honesty, its overall cheaper to live in the u.s. than it is in the uk

mainly due to tax :( which is why i'm headed state-side as soon as i finnish uni

i think your general goods such as groceries are cheaper than ours, but your luxurey goods, such as gw merch, is more expensive
Click to expand...
Depends where you live and what you do, and if you want health care or not.

Aramoro
Reply
Save
Like
humakt
There are now more competitors to GW in general (Mantic and PP for starters), so I see a different approach being taken by GW towards pricing in the coming years. I dont see a drop in prices, but I suspect there will be fewer price rises.

Stores are what bring in new customers for the company and GW has them for 4 or 5 years I'd guess before they leave the hobby or think of doign another game.

The thing that 40k offers that Warmachines does not is scale. How many modesl in a typical WM game compared to a normal 40k game. Then there is the hughmunganoid game that is appocalipse with the supper heavy tanks and flyers and Titans and bio titans and so on. The scale is the thing that I love and one of the things thats keeps me from going else where (currently).
Reply
Save
Like
Tzeen Qhayshek
the-ad-man said:
forgeworld isnt a competitor, they are more of a partner. they dont work for gw, but they dont work against them. which is why all the models they make are for gw game systems
Click to expand...
ForgeWorld is actually a subsidiary of Games Workshop.
Reply
Save
Like
darklove
Tzeen Qhayshek said:
ForgeWorld is actually a subsidiary of Games Workshop.
Click to expand...
Yes and no. Both Games Workshop and Forge World are part of Games Workshop Group PLC.
Reply
Save
Like
N
I think another factor in GW high prices are the change over in sculpting methods.
While using a computer to design models is probably faster and on the face of it a more efficient method it's also really expensive.
I remember reading GW'S article about how CAD was the way ahead and seeing the pictures of the eldar bits along with GW saying plastic was the future just before they released the overpriced greatswords and in general put plastics on a par pricewise with the metals they were phasing out.
Reply
Save
Like
41 - 60 of 64 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Warhammer 40k Forum and Wargaming Forums
A forum community dedicated to Warhammer, Warhammer 40K enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about Warhammer and Wargaming collections, miniatures, tactics, terrain, reviews, accessories, history, displays, models, styles, scales, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
General 40k Modelling and Painting Wargaming News and 40k Rumors 40k Fluff Project Logs
Top