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Was bouncing around the usual mini sites I like to peruse recently and realized that the Foundry actually sells Games workshop minis through their website using an online shopping cart process that is pretty normal. Didn't GW attack other online retailers specifically to stop those methods to make it only easy to buy GW minis online direct from GW?

Yes Foundry was created by ex-GW people, but that was a long time ago. How come they can get away with it while others are threatened with lawsuits?

Skriker

Maybe they get their models from a distributor, that way they don't have to agree to Games Workshops rules.

Also, the online shopping cart thing applies to America *only*, because that's the only country where they can legally enforce it.

scarletsquig wrote:Also, the online shopping cart thing applies to America *only*, because that's the only country where they can legally enforce it.

This.

While in some other countries GW have rules against Independants only having webstores, GW US is the only branch the prevents websales entirely.

If we are going to knock on Foundry, maybe we should go for something a bit more substantial, like say their shipping and currency exchange policies.

As mentioned, companies not in the US can sell GW online.

Foundry is not owned by "ex-GW people" but Bryan Ansell the former owner of GW and founder of Citadel Miniatures. GW might cut him some slack, or he might have had some residual rights from the management buyout.

scarletsquig wrote:Also, the online shopping cart thing applies to America *only*, because that's the only country where they can legally enforce it.

This is true...

Completely spaced on the fact that the US legal system lets this kind of stupidity happen legally. Most other places that don't want direct competition selling their products just don't let others sell their products in the first place. GW let's others sell its products and then tells them *how* they can and must sell them and the US legal system *lets* them do it.

Oh and for the person who said maybe they order from a distributor instead of GW directly, I don't think that matters in the GW mindset. All that ordering from a distributor instead of directly from GW gets you is the ability to order only want you want to stock instead of having to order a specific amount of GW product that you don't necessarily need/want.

Skriker

GW and Foundry have had a business relationship for years so it isn't very surprising. I don't know how formal this relationship is / was but foundry was very important in supporting warhammer ancients for a long time.

Skriker wrote:

scarletsquig wrote:Also, the online shopping cart thing applies to America *only*, because that's the only country where they can legally enforce it.

This is true...

Completely spaced on the fact that the US legal system lets this kind of stupidity happen legally. Most other places that don't want direct competition selling their products just don't let others sell their products in the first place. GW let's others sell its products and then tells them *how* they can and must sell them and the US legal system *lets* them do it.

Yes, a system that allows companies to dictate the contract terms for distribution of luxury goods is clearly deeply flawed.

Skriker wrote:

scarletsquig wrote:Also, the online shopping cart thing applies to America *only*, because that's the only country where they can legally enforce it.

This is true...

Completely spaced on the fact that the US legal system lets this kind of stupidity happen legally. Most other places that don't want direct competition selling their products just don't let others sell their products in the first place. GW let's others sell its products and then tells them *how* they can and must sell them and the US legal system *lets* them do it.

Oh and for the person who said maybe they order from a distributor instead of GW directly, I don't think that matters in the GW mindset. All that ordering from a distributor instead of directly from GW gets you is the ability to order only want you want to stock instead of having to order a specific amount of GW product that you don't necessarily need/want.

Skriker

Not true on several points.

First, the GW no selling online policy has to do with the competition between brick and mortar stores and online retailers. Brick and Mortar stores can't afford to sell at a discount because they have to pay more overhead than an online retailer who can store his product in the basement. If brick and mortar stores go out of business, this hurts GW and other game stores because people no longer have ways to be recruited into the hobby, or have nice places to game at.

Battlefront doesn't go to the same extremes as GW, but they do verify whether an account holder has a store, for the same reason.

Trade accounts do require you to have an initial order of stock, but whether you reorder the product or not is up to you. I know that you can always cut a deal on that initial order.

You're joking right? BF stipulate what price you can and can not sell at. Just look at last years maelstrom fiasco. BF are setting the no more than 10% discount rule and being as Dickish as GW have ever been in enforcing it.

notprop wrote:You're joking right? BF stipulate what price you can and can not sell at. Just look at last years maelstrom fiasco. BF are setting the no more than 10% discount rule and being as Dickish as GW have ever been in enforcing it.

That is a new policy then, and again, it is about helping and keeping the FLGS's open.

I dont think that its new, could have been in place befOre or after they realigned prices a couple of years ago.

While I'm not certain why BF does this but then it would follow that GWs world embargo helps Australian FLGs compete as well.

Well that's that blue touch paper lite, bye.

notprop wrote:I dont think that its new, could have been in place befOre or after they realigned prices a couple of years ago.
While I'm not certain why BF does this but then it would follow that GWs world embargo helps Australian FLGs compete as well.
Well that's that blue touch paper lite, bye.

It does help Australian FLGS. I never bought from my FLGS when they were easily twice as much as buying online.
It helped the Aussie scene by driving everyone so far away from GW that they picked up other fantastic games like Malifaux, Dystopian Wars, Warmachine, Dust Tactics, Infinity, Hell Dorado... which all retail for roughly the same amount as overseas

KGatch113 wrote:[Not true on several points.

First, the GW no selling online policy has to do with the competition between brick and mortar stores and online retailers. Brick and Mortar stores can't afford to sell at a discount because they have to pay more overhead than an online retailer who can store his product in the basement. If brick and mortar stores go out of business, this hurts GW and other game stores because people no longer have ways to be recruited into the hobby, or have nice places to game at.

Battlefront doesn't go to the same extremes as GW, but they do verify whether an account holder has a store, for the same reason.

Trade accounts do require you to have an initial order of stock, but whether you reorder the product or not is up to you. I know that you can always cut a deal on that initial order.

GW doesn't do this out of any reason to support Brick and Mortar stores. None of the big name game companies will sell products to *only* online retailers to protect brick and mortar stores. GW does that as well to protect Brick and mortar stores. Try and open a seller account with GW without a brick and mortar store and you cannot do so. They won't even talk to you. GW's no online shopping cart rules are specifically geared towards driving more online traffic to GW's website by making it less easy to order through other online vendors. It is that simple. There is no protection for brick and mortar stores here, because the rule specifically hampers those brick and mortar stores trying to expand and improve their sales figures by *also* selling online.

Yes Battlefront also will not sell products to retailers who only sell on-line. Battlefront also doesn't require that you *only* use their figures for their games in their official events or at all. They made recent changes to some of their newer books for Early War and provided free sticker sets to overlay into your books to bring them up to date. Battlefront is definitely different from GW.

Trade accounts direct with GW also have minimum order requirements after your initial order of stock too. My FLGS owner laments about this all the time as GW has the most outrageous requirement terms of all of the companies he deals with directly.

Skriker

I know of a popular retailer in the US that has a GW online shopping cart and I've always wondered how they are able to pull that off.

amazon is big enough to scare GW away from being a bully

I wasn't thinking of amazon, but I guess my description was off. That is a great example though! I should have said a popular wargaming miniature retailer.

Edit: this is the type of place that would probably be mentioned if someone asked where to buy cheap mini's online. I just don't want to name drop in case they found some loophole that they don't want people to know about.

The 'loophole' is to buy through a distributor rather than direct from GW.

Skriker wrote:

KGatch113 wrote:[Not true on several points.

First, the GW no selling online policy has to do with the competition between brick and mortar stores and online retailers. Brick and Mortar stores can't afford to sell at a discount because they have to pay more overhead than an online retailer who can store his product in the basement. If brick and mortar stores go out of business, this hurts GW and other game stores because people no longer have ways to be recruited into the hobby, or have nice places to game at.

Battlefront doesn't go to the same extremes as GW, but they do verify whether an account holder has a store, for the same reason.

Trade accounts do require you to have an initial order of stock, but whether you reorder the product or not is up to you. I know that you can always cut a deal on that initial order.

GW doesn't do this out of any reason to support Brick and Mortar stores. None of the big name game companies will sell products to *only* online retailers to protect brick and mortar stores. GW does that as well to protect Brick and mortar stores. Try and open a seller account with GW without a brick and mortar store and you cannot do so. They won't even talk to you. GW's no online shopping cart rules are specifically geared towards driving more online traffic to GW's website by making it less easy to order through other online vendors. It is that simple. There is no protection for brick and mortar stores here, because the rule specifically hampers those brick and mortar stores trying to expand and improve their sales figures by *also* selling online.

Yes Battlefront also will not sell products to retailers who only sell on-line. Battlefront also doesn't require that you *only* use their figures for their games in their official events or at all. They made recent changes to some of their newer books for Early War and provided free sticker sets to overlay into your books to bring them up to date. Battlefront is definitely different from GW.

Trade accounts direct with GW also have minimum order requirements after your initial order of stock too. My FLGS owner laments about this all the time as GW has the most outrageous requirement terms of all of the companies he deals with directly.

Skriker

You're offering opinion, and I posted fact. Sorry.

KGatch113 wrote:You're offering opinion, and I posted fact. Sorry.

Except your post was no less opinion.

Brick and Mortar stores can compete with online discounters, because they can offer things that the online discounter can't. Many choose not to, however.

The most charitable explanation of GW US's online sales policy is that it is at best a knee-jerk reaction to a non-existant problem due to many game store owners not moving with the times, and GW being completely ignorant of the actual nature of the internet.

KGatch113 wrote:[You're offering opinion, and I posted fact. Sorry.

Actually that is *your* opinion.

Skriker