GW takes a hit!!

we're not idiots psyker. few things advance directly in proportion with inflation, consider, since 1987, how much GW has expanded.

The costs GW faces are astronomical. Not just floor space, but warehouse and production costs. Remember they have stores in 4 (i think) continents now and a new central hub in the US that cost them millions. Staff costs go up every year, as do rents, GW has to make a profit, its a business. you see from the business report, the very thing this thread is about, that its not a big profit. if we were evil pirates ransacking you for all you were worth, surely we'd turn a massive profit and laugh evilly about it?

GW is trying to make the hobby the best hobby in the world, and this includes offering you the models at the best possible price so that you can enjoy the hobby to its utmost. basically, the prices are not too high, the staff are not arseholes, enjoy the hobby, thats why youre here, its why we work there, heck its why GW is still going, its why GW still has stores.

*flexes his fingers*

right...

as chimp has said already, the weakness of the dollar (or strength of the sterling) is a factor because the business is UK based. Prices are set in sterling and the movement of currency is reflected in the rising prices. This is not GW's fault.

GW sell at wholesale to franchised stores and makes a profit at wholesale price. This profit is not huge 'per box' and the reason it can do so is because it does not have to pay the staff and rent etc costs for the store. Costs for smaller business are lower and they can thus afford to sell at a discount and still make a profit. This is doubly true for online retailers. GW itself, as explained, has enormous overheads. Thus, the prices are higher. This reflects the specialist treatment and equipment GWs should have. Chimp put it nicely on chat last night, GW is like the full meal deal. You pay extra and you get it all. Now i understand that some of your 'mom and pop' stores are awesome, but GW stores should be that step above. And sure, you can't (or shouldnt be able to) play Magic or Hordes there, but... well... tough. its their shop.

So yes, by buying through online stores or M&P stores, you are supporting the hobby, but not in as direct and measurable way as going to your local store.

Galahad said:

GW stores and Direct Order services get their merch for free. It's sent direct from the factory at no cost to the store. Yes, it costs to manufacture the item, but the cost is literally pennies per sprue. Let's be over-generous and assume it costs them 10% of retail to manufacture the item.

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I'm going to address most of your points, but im going to start with this one. As jigplums says, it makes no sense.

Materials aside (which are cheap, but not so minute as to be ignored) there are vast costs behind the manufacture and supply of GWs goods. Aside from the running of the factory, the payment of the goods company to freight the deliveries to the stores, the staff costs and rents of the stores, the running costs of the stores, the RnD of new models, the purchase and manufacture of new moulds, the development/purchase of new technology to better produce the models, the international shipping costs of the chinese manufactured items, the Head Office staff costs, there are few costs. Youre right.

Remember that GWs sole source of income is the models sold through various outlets. It makes a profit from the items it sells at wholesale. This profit has to take into account all of the above, minus the significant cost of GWs own stores, thus the discount is possible. Indie stores do not have to sell at discounts, but can afford to because their costs are significantly lower than GWs. GW also makes a profit from the items it sells at retail, the prices are higher to reflect the cost of running the retail chain. Were GW an online only business (which i suspect its accountants would prefer) it would save millions and be able to offer cheaper products. But who wants that? I for one want a store where i can go and play my favourite games with knowledgable and well-trained staff.

In conclusion, GW does not make a 90% profit on the items it sells in the stores. The figure is far, far lower. Once again, i refer you to the business report that started this thread. If a 90% profit was made per item, you think we'd be doing this badly? Think.

Torealis, by 'supporting the hobby' I mean the *entire* gaming hobby, not just GW.

GW stores are choking off and killing local private game stores.
Stores that cell and allow people to play *any* game.

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Right, if GW stores wanted to choke off local private gaming stores, why would they supply them with GW goods and allow them to sell them at their own prices.
GW could impose prices on them if it so wished, or withdraw its support entirely. The support network for indie stores is excellent, and if a store owner was dissatisfied, why continue to stock GW stuff?

But I will not support them in their attempts to monopolize the gaming industry by destroying small business.

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Sort of addressed above, but one extra point, if an area does enough GW business that it could support a GW store, why shouldnt GW put them there? Because of the little guy? Thats just shit business sense. GW has to think about itself as a business, or it will die.

I like playing other games, and I support small business.
So I will continue to support the gaming hobby by giving my business to stores owned by real people who need my cash, rather than an overseas corporation that goes out of its way to destroy competition, even when said competition is selling their own product.

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bully for you. but youre making the assumption that GW doesnt need your cash. I'm also stultified by your 'overseas corporation' line, granted its based in the UK, but thats hardly undercutting US business. Fact is, GW does what it does better than anyone else. it doesnt go out of its way to destroy competition, it just runs as a business and tries to do the best it can, just like smaller indie stores. it supports them by letting them have its products in the store (which i assume make your indie friends a tidy profit, otherwise why carry them?) and allows them to sell at their own price.

problem?

Oh dear god. People need to shut the [Censored by order of His Holy Inquisition] up about GWs pricing policy and the future of GW.

GW is not a year away from closing, not even close. Its is not in a downward deathspiral. It is recovering from a post-LotR slump and its recovering damn well. Costs are going down and money is going up, things are going in the right direction.

GW doesnt price things randomly, or based on points, its based on profit margins, which are, per box, very small.

GW is cleverer than you, and cleverer than me, so dont try and give it ideas. They have massive teams of accountants and such, so the whole 'reduce prices, sell more, make more' obviously isnt true.

It is getting easier to buy into the game, just look at skull pass and what it gives you. By next year 40k will be a similarly incredible box deal.

GW does not hate you, nor is it the evil money-hungry mega-corp some people seem to think it is. GW wants people to get the most they can out of their hobby, and that includes taking your money and turning it into more cool stuff and, oddly, more money to keep shareholders happy.

so please... stop.

Its $5 more for a Razorback than a Rhino... Why?? How is that little amount of plastic worth $5 more???

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i hate going over this time and time again, but prices are NOT BASED PURELY ON THE COST OF MATERIAL. I'm going with UK prices here, £2 extra gets you the razorback sprue which is 1/2 the size of a rhino sprue. there are two rhino sprues, so its 1/4 more ontop of the rhino material wise, so if youre going purely on material, youre getting a better deal.
the $5 or £2 more you pay is not for the plastic alone, its for ALL the extra costs involved.

BUT if you buy it with 5 marines you save $10 over the price of the same as seperate choices!!! $10!!! Now you tell me how that isnt trying to get you to buy what they want you to buy.

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of course it isnt, its GW giving you a better deal on what is a good idea to buy. If you want a razorback on its own, get one, but why would you want to? you need men to go in it so why not get them on the cheap?

This is not a hard concept to grasp. For many reasons, GW is able to provide bulk discounts, so the bigger box you buy, the more you save. This goes for armoured fist boxes, battle boxes and army boxes, also for core games.