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Made in cy
Dakka Veteran





Cyprus and London

Ok everyone over the last few months of being a part of this amazing forum i have read countless times about how people feel unhappy because of the purchase costs of the GW lineup.

My question quite simply is "how much should these items be in your opinion and why?"

use a current example of GW items for base and provide your reasonable cost price along with reasons why......

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Made in us
Ultramarine Librarian with Freaky Familiar





Southern California, USA

Land Raider: $45

It's a large kit admittedly but it is not worth $70. It's a big plastic box with little detail or optional parts.

Space Marine Tactical Squad: $25.

Marines aren't worth $4 a miniature. They aren't that nice.

Stormtalon: $20.

It's a small box.

Stormraven: $40

Another plastic box.

Eldar Dire Avengers:
$12.50

They're small plastic men with chunky details. Why are they $7 a miniature?

Leman Russ Battle Tank:$35

$50 god damn dollars for a small plastic box? Nope.

Cadian Shock Troops:
$15

They're Guardsman. Why are they so damned pricey?

Ogryn:
$10

They're three stupid models.

Single monoposed Captain:
$5

It's a monoposed plastic mini. $5 is a little generous too.

Rhino: $20

Small box is not worth as much as the squad it carries. It's just plastic sheets.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/07/28 06:52:59


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Made in au
Slaanesh Veteran Marine with Tentacles





Malben

Free, because paying money for things is baaaaaaaad.

Failing that, I'd be perfectly happy paying even close to what UK/US pays.

Necrons: 4000+ pts
Tyranids: 1000+ pts
Word Bearers: 1500+ pts
Emperor's Children: 1500+ pts
Minotaurs: 2000+ pts (killed by Primaris, thanks GW)
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Drakhun





 Blackhair Duckshape wrote:
Free, because paying money for things is baaaaaaaad.

Failing that, I'd be perfectly happy paying even close to what UK/US pays.


And I only buy anything which has a 20% discount (Thank you FLGS)

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Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut




I don't think this is a matter of price, its a matter of principle.

They should be pricing items in order to get as many people as possible INTO the hobby. Once they're into it, they will spend the current prices for extra stuff.

I don't think they will be able to go beyond 50 per codex. I think they could charge as much as 100 for the rulebook.

But that doesn't give much room.

Basically, as a matter of principle, in stead of milking the people like me who WILL pay for all we're worth(which is a diminishing quantity of people) they need to find better ways to increase how many people start the hobby.

Troop choices should be 12.50 or maybe 20 dollars most. 5 for 12.5, 10 for 20. I don't think that's unreasonable.

Leman russes at 50 bucks? I think its ok. You don't need them unless you're serious about the hobby. But I of course would prefer to pay less. I just cant say i dont understand what they charge because they should charge whatever people will pay.

The real problem is the diminishing numbers of people who will pay certain prices.

 
   
Made in au
Slaanesh Veteran Marine with Tentacles





Malben

Also, Chaos Spawn are way too fething expensive, their price per model should be on par with a terminator AT THE VERY WORST.

Necrons: 4000+ pts
Tyranids: 1000+ pts
Word Bearers: 1500+ pts
Emperor's Children: 1500+ pts
Minotaurs: 2000+ pts (killed by Primaris, thanks GW)
Custodes: 1000+ pts 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut





Vallejo, CA

Free. Because I want it.

No, wait, I change my answer: they should pay me. That way I could make a living off of buying minis.

On an unrelated note, what does this have to do with 40k in specific?


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VanHallan wrote:

Leman russes at 50 bucks? I think its ok. You don't need them unless you're serious about the hobby. But I of course would prefer to pay less. I just cant say i dont understand what they charge because they should charge whatever people will pay.

The real problem is the diminishing numbers of people who will pay certain prices.


People are driven away by high prices. If I could tell someone "Hey, buy a brand new box of squads for 12.50" they'd be all over it. A MtG theme deck is $10. If I tell the same person "Hey, buy a box of squdas for 40" they're gonna laugh at me and walk away. There's a scale of demand vs. price that GW is waaaaaaaay on the wrong side of. Yeah, you can still make a profit at $80 a Landraider, but you have about 40% of the customers/player base you could have.

Also, I don't think $50 is reasonable for me wanting a single tank. Its price gauging like this that makes side markets flourish where GW could be making real money. I would gladly buy new in box if they weren't robbing people. (Side note: $50 for a good quality tank? Metal or something other than 1/8 inch plastic sheets? sold.)

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[MOD]
Not as Good as a Minion






Brisbane

It seems like it is, according to the OP, about GW in general. Off to Dakka Discussions with you!

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 Ailaros wrote:
Free. Because I want it.

No, wait, I change my answer: they should pay me. That way I could make a living off of buying minis.

On an unrelated note, what does this have to do with 40k in specific?



Because price is very relevant to player base. See DnD, where the rulebooks are $40-$60, but you need three rulebooks (Monster Manual, DM Guide, Player's Handbook) and the amount of games you get in. Even WMH is cheaper than 40k and its similar scale/play.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 TheCustomLime wrote:
Land Raider: $45

It's a large kit admittedly but it is not worth $70. It's a big plastic box with little detail or optional parts.

Space Marine Tactical Squad: $25.

Marines aren't worth $4 a miniature. They aren't that nice.

Stormtalon: $20.

It's a small box.

Stormraven: $40

Another plastic box.

Eldar Dire Avengers:
$12.50

They're small plastic men with chunky details. Why are they $7 a miniature?

Leman Russ Battle Tank:$35

$50 god damn dollars for a small plastic box? Nope.

Cadian Shock Troops:
$15

They're Guardsman. Why are they so damned pricey?

Ogryn:
$10

They're three stupid models.

Single monoposed Captain:
$5

It's a monoposed plastic mini. $5 is a little generous too.

Rhino: $20

Small box is not worth as much as the squad it carries. It's just plastic sheets.



Sold. Something even CLOSE to this and I would easily make four or five armies. It would also stop most of the sidemarkets and people would be willing to buy from GW. Unless the $20 Rhino meant you get a cardboard cutout

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/07/28 07:21:19


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Regular Dakkanaut




 jreilly89 wrote:
VanHallan wrote:

Leman russes at 50 bucks? I think its ok. You don't need them unless you're serious about the hobby. But I of course would prefer to pay less. I just cant say i dont understand what they charge because they should charge whatever people will pay.

The real problem is the diminishing numbers of people who will pay certain prices.


People are driven away by high prices. If I could tell someone "Hey, buy a brand new box of squads for 12.50" they'd be all over it. A MtG theme deck is $10. If I tell the same person "Hey, buy a box of squdas for 40" they're gonna laugh at me and walk away. There's a scale of demand vs. price that GW is waaaaaaaay on the wrong side of. Yeah, you can still make a profit at $80 a Landraider, but you have about 40% of the customers/player base you could have.

Also, I don't think $50 is reasonable for me wanting a single tank. Its price gauging like this that makes side markets flourish where GW could be making real money. I would gladly buy new in box if they weren't robbing people. (Side note: $50 for a good quality tank? Metal or something other than 1/8 inch plastic sheets? sold.)


That's what I'm saying. I'm not saying 50 dollars for a leman russ is a good value, but when I build my guard army, if I want to add some tanks on there, I will pay it for a few tanks. It sucks, but I'll do it. But most people won't I get that.

What I am suggesting is if they would make it more affordable to have BASIC armies, they could get away with charging 50 for a tank or 75 for a land raider. the fact that they price gouge on EVERY box is just not good business.

 
   
Made in gb
Smokin' Skorcha Driver





Whatever the price is per model, around £100-£150 for a full size force including all rules. Particular themed forces (say bikers) could run up to the £200-£250 range.
   
Made in us
Dark Angels Librarian with Book of Secrets






VanHallan wrote:

That's what I'm saying. I'm not saying 50 dollars for a leman russ is a good value, but when I build my guard army, if I want to add some tanks on there, I will pay it for a few tanks. It sucks, but I'll do it. But most people won't I get that.

What I am suggesting is if they would make it more affordable to have BASIC armies, they could get away with charging 50 for a tank or 75 for a land raider. the fact that they price gouge on EVERY box is just not good business.


This kind of comes to a varied discussion. What do you call basic? Most BASIC IG armies are going to have at least 2-3 tanks, so $150 for a basic army is ridiculous. Even $30 or 40 would be reasonable, but $75 seems outright ludicrous for a Landraider. $50 or 60 would be more reasonable.

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Made in cy
Dakka Veteran





Cyprus and London

interesting what your all saying,

as for someone like me who is not really a gamer but a collector (i just pick up a version of blood angels codex just for chapter completion factors) i would not have the problem of spending huge amounts for the rule book which is obvious its a needed item for everyone who plays.

My initial thoughts (being someone with never having loads of money to burn) is to always look for the same items being sold at discount prices elswhere. Now when someone is selling the stuff 20-30% cheaper brand new etc etc it appeals more of course. The problem is that GW do nothing to promote offers, deals or bulk buys. I mean even their save your clicks bundle packs save you a whopping 0 credit. Its not very attractive and even annoying.

Someone needs to re organise their marketing strategy because i think their loss of profits is down to people refusing to buy full stop because of the steep costs. Plus how many customers choose to buy from discount shops?

Next question........

would you buy if there was some kind of offer / promo system in place? For example if you spend over like 50 you would receive a free 10 off voucher for your next purchase. Or even if you pay over 50 or 60 you get a 20% discount for bulk buys. etc etc....something rewarding to the customer which pulls them to save hard and shop again there.

It just seems there is no interest on how to attack the media to get more people into the hobby because prices are reasonable and not specific to hardcore hobbyists.

What do you reckon?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/07/28 07:34:44


Only through chaos can peace be obtained,
Destruction is our future but we shall not fall from it, We will rise up stronger than ever before and stand together united as one, 
   
Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut




 jreilly89 wrote:
VanHallan wrote:

That's what I'm saying. I'm not saying 50 dollars for a leman russ is a good value, but when I build my guard army, if I want to add some tanks on there, I will pay it for a few tanks. It sucks, but I'll do it. But most people won't I get that.

What I am suggesting is if they would make it more affordable to have BASIC armies, they could get away with charging 50 for a tank or 75 for a land raider. the fact that they price gouge on EVERY box is just not good business.


This kind of comes to a varied discussion. What do you call basic? Most BASIC IG armies are going to have at least 2-3 tanks, so $150 for a basic army is ridiculous. Even $30 or 40 would be reasonable, but $75 seems outright ludicrous for a Landraider. $50 or 60 would be more reasonable.


I mean basic troop choices. I'd love to see cheaper prices across the board. My only point is, GW doesn't HAVE to reduce prices if people are willing to pay, but they should cut costs on units that people need to start the army. If you could get an HQ and 2 Troop choices for around 50 bucks, that'll bring more people in. When they get bored of their basic force and want to add in specialty units such as tanks or jetbikes or whatnot, they might get away with charging the current prices.

I'm saying they should address the recruiting aspect of the pricing instead of profitability. And you know as well as I do GW has no interest in "reasonable prices."

 
   
Made in us
Ultramarine Librarian with Freaky Familiar





Southern California, USA

For the amount of vehicles that 40k requires their current prices are ridiculous especially considering that they are mostly flat plastic boxes.

Thought for the day: Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.
30k Ultramarines: 2000 pts
Bolt Action Germans: ~1200 pts
AOS Stormcast: Just starting.
The Empire : ~60-70 models.
1500 pts
: My Salamanders painting blog 16 Infantry and 2 Vehicles done so far!  
   
Made in au
Oberstleutnant






Perth, West Australia

 TheCustomLime wrote:
Land Raider: $45
Space Marine Tactical Squad: $25.
Stormtalon: $20.
Stormraven: $40
Eldar Dire Avengers: $12.50
Leman Russ Battle Tank:$35
Cadian Shock Troops:$15
Ogryn:$10
Single monoposed Captain:$5
Rhino: $20

I agree with some of this. The stormraven and land raider are $50 from a US discounter in the SM SF Ultra box - I thought this was fair enough to buy. I would buy more again if they were a little lower. Tac marines were $24 from the SM SF box again from a US Discounter - again a pretty fair price for a nicely detailed, clean new kit. I bought 3x SM SFs and 3x SM SF Ultras from Discount Games and though I'm going to sell off some the boxes were good value, though one thing that stood out was terminators were still $6 each which I think substantially too high for a single slightly larger than normal model.

Something that would be nice would be a discount for older kits that have long since paid off their tooling cost. Cadians are pretty icky for example imo, with outdated chunky heroic nonsense. Surely they're due for a discount due to having paid for their tooling, being outdated style wise and needing a lot of them.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/07/28 07:53:14


 
   
Made in ie
Calculating Commissar




Frostgrave

I think consistency is just as important; why is that box of 10 plastic rank and file double the cost of that box of 10 rank and file?

To get my to buy again: I think somewhere in the median of the lowest price and highest price for each figure time (core, elite, character, etc), would be fair, or about a 30-50% drop on the price of new releases.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/07/28 07:55:05


 
   
Made in gb
Lieutenant Colonel




IF GW plc was run efficiently , and focused on growing its market share.
They could sell ALL products at 50% of current retail prices and STILL make bigger profits.

But while they focus on maximizing returns on falling sales volumes, prices will continue to climb and players will continue to look elsewhere.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2014/07/28 09:18:18


 
   
Made in gb
Lone Wolf Sentinel Pilot





Nottinghamshire, UK

Lower.

RRPs are getting so high that even with an LGS discount of 20%, I still balk at paying the prices.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/07/28 09:27:46


Driven away from WH40K by rules bloat and the expense of keeping up, now interested in smaller model count games and anything with nifty mechanics. 
   
Made in gb
Dakka Veteran



South East London

Well given that the average margin for retail products on the whole (although not exclusively I should add) are between 48-50% and GW margins are 75% I think they could afford to drop their prices 20% and still make a good profit.

However that's the price I pay at my local Independent Stockist (25% if I spend over a £100) so actually I think their prices are about right.

I know that's controversial and a lot of people won't agree but GW products are luxury items so are going ti be expensive, plus although they are a multi national company they are still relatively small.

However I speak from a UK perspective, or more specifically a London perspective so my view may not match up demographically.

If i go to a London pub and buy a pint of beer and a burger that's the same price as a box of Tactical Marines....

Another example is computer games. The average X-Box or PS4 game is about £60 new.

It will last me no more than 6 hours playing time and then will only get played occasionally.

My man barbies last me a lot longer than that. I enjoy painting them which gives me approx 10 hours of painting per figure, and then I get to play with them too, so for me their longevity is much better than a lot of other luxury retail items.

I appreciate computer games cost a lot more money to make, but that doesn't make them any better value for money in the long run.

However I do think that prices outside of the UK are way too variable, I am amazed anybody still plays any GW games in Australia for example.

So essentially I am happy with the prices I pay now from my independent store, but would prefer GW just dropped their prices to match, but that would then mean my independent couldn't be any cheaper and would go out of business.

There is one thing that a lot of companies do that GW don't though, or at least not really, and that's Loss Leaders.

These are products that get you into a store to spend money that make little to no profit but bring people in.

I think all starter sets and maybe even core troops choices should be loss leaders. So Dark Vengeance for example could be £45 to draw in new players.

But overall I know many won't agree but I don't think the prices as they are in the UK are all that bad.

My massive bugbear though is very limited releases such as Storm Claw coming out in the middle of the month!!!

About 90% of us get paid at the end of the month GW, and I am fed up missing out on all the good stuff because by the time I get paid I can no longer get anything!!

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2014/07/28 10:33:15


"Dig in and wait for Winter" 
   
Made in gb
Witch Hunter in the Shadows





Earth

From a price/quality standpoint I'm fine with where they're at now. But let's face it, even if they were free, people would still find reasons to bitch.

   
Made in de
Decrepit Dakkanaut





15 - 20% off on all miniatures.

Offer 3 versions for each codex:

a) Softcover for 20€

b) Hardcover for 40€

c) Digital for 25€

   
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Posts with Authority






Norn Iron

 Barksdale wrote:
From a price/quality standpoint I'm fine with where they're at now. But let's face it, even if they were free, people would still find reasons to bitch.


Let's reciprocate that wonderful attitude and say you're the problem. GW's like a dog breed: it might have gained a reputation as a dangerous one, mostly just good for shunning until it dwindles out of existence; but the underlying cause that'll delay that is the people out there who perpetuate it or all it's unsavoury traits, seeing nothing wrong with that, prodding and siccing it on 'til it starts taking an arm and a leg.

GW's prices seem even more ludicrous in the last few years, since the hard styrene historicals boom showed how little you can charge for injection moulded figures, at a volume likely quite a bit less than GW, and still make a living. (Bricks & mortar shop expenses are a poor excuse, if they can't drum up foot traffic, build a community, and pay for themselves) As to what they should charge, I'll point at Skaven clanrats, £20 for 20; £1 a mini. Still a lot more than 50p or less per plastic historical, and I'd personally rather pay closer to that, but a quid a mini is more comfortable than what they charge for most of their ranges.

I'm sooo, sooo sorry.

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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/07/28 12:23:25


 
   
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Tail-spinning Tomb Blade Pilot





In a chair, staring at a screen

 Barksdale wrote:
From a price/quality standpoint I'm fine with where they're at now. But let's face it, even if they were free, people would still find reasons to bitch.


I agree. There's an independent wargaming stall 2 streets from my local games workshop, they sell 40k for 20%-40% cheaper than my local gw, but people still continue to go to the gw stall. Ever since GW announced they lost approx 3,000,000 English pounds they've cut down how many days they're open...

1500 pts
2000pts 
   
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Monstrous Master Moulder




Rust belt

Da Stormlord wrote:
 Barksdale wrote:
From a price/quality standpoint I'm fine with where they're at now. But let's face it, even if they were free, people would still find reasons to bitch.


I agree. There's an independent wargaming stall 2 streets from my local games workshop, they sell 40k for 20%-40% cheaper than my local gw, but people still continue to go to the gw stall. Ever since GW announced they lost approx 3,000,000 English pounds they've cut down how many days they're open...


Do they buy their stuff at the lgs and play at the GW store?
   
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Witch Hunter in the Shadows





Earth


text removed.

reds8
n

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2014/07/31 13:34:37


   
Made in us
Sslimey Sslyth




If you want to see what the prices "should" be, then look at companies like Tamiya USA and see what they charge for their models. Tamiya models are, across the board, higher quality products than anything produced by GW. Despite this, similarly scaled models from Tamiya cost about 50%-75% what GW models cost. The Tamiya models have far more pieces and better detail than the GW product.

For comparison, the most expensive 1/48 scale model ground vehicle in the Tamiya line is $42.00 USD. (This doesn't count the motorized or R/C models, of course.)

Edit: I also forgot to add the fact that Tamiya is actually (by revenue) a much smaller company than GW. If Tamiya can make their models profitable at this price point, there's no reason GW couldn't.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/07/28 14:27:32


 
   
Made in gb
Lit By the Flames of Prospero





Rampton, UK

The prices seem fine to me as a regular customer in the UK, its no more expensive than any other hobby or pastime that I partake in.

If anything its the way they go about it that irritates me a tad, its almost like they just don't want any new customers bar little timmys one hit in the brick and mortar store every now and then.
   
 
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