Reaper Price REDUCTION

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**razormage**

I know that this is a forum for (primarily) Games Workshop stuff, but as the Reaper Greens guy from a few years back, I thought it my duty to pass this along when I didn't see it posted on the News section:

On 11 March, Reaper announced that as of 30 March, they would be implementing a price REDUCTION. That's right, they're going to move their prices DOWN. This is such an unprecedented thing, that I've had to put it in caps twice now. It also represents, to me, what could be the start of a massive shift in our hobby.
Enough of my blathering, I'm just going to copy and paste the text they have up on their homepage now (http://www.reapermini.com/):

Reaper will begin reducing prices on all new releases starting with the street date release of 03.30.2009.

Q - How much will the reduction be?
A - Pretty substantial, a complete listing of the 03.30.2009 release is below.

Q - Why a price decrease?
A – With each price increase over the last two years we have seen a balancing reduction in volume. Simply put, we produce less and sell it for more. Sounds good at first, but what it really means is that we have been pricing people out of their hobby and people leaving our hobby is a bad thing at any level.

Q – Why did you wait till now to reduce the price?
A – The main component of our models is tin. The tin market has been in general decline since May of last year when it reached a record high of $25,150 per ton.
Even though the price of tin has been falling, the tin market remains extremely volatile. As an example on October 24th 2008 tin closed at $11,250 per ton, yet three days later on October 27th it closed at $14,995 per ton.
In the last 8 weeks we have seen a very stable pattern with tin closing between $10,800 and $12,000. We believe that this pattern will settle in for a while and believe we can pass this new price and market stability on to you!

Q – Why not a general price reduction? I mean you raised prices across the board.
A – While we would love to do that, it's not really as easy as it sounds. A distributor or retail store doesn't worry about you raising the value of their inventory with a price increase. Decreasing their inventory value and throwing their margins and percentages out the window is not something they generally take lightly.
I will say we are currently talking with distributors directly and retail stores across the country via an industry internet board to discuss a general price reduction procedure and strategy. I can't promise anything, but if we can do a general price reduction we will.

Q - What makes one miniature have little to no change in pricing, while others decrease by $3.00?
A – Currently tin is still the largest cost factor when it comes to determining the cost of most miniatures. As you can see in the release below this is especially true when it comes to larger models.
There are other very important factors as well, such as mold size, labor, and packaging requirements. We can't simply decrease the price by, say, 20% across the board but conversely we have never raised our price in that manner either.

Q – What can I do to persuade my store to go along with a general price reduction?
A – First tell them about this price reduction stating with the March 30th release. Discuss your feelings about this new price.
Simply because they stock and sell your hobby doesn't mean they understand your hobby. Explain to them that you don't buy miniatures to paint, rather you buy miniatures to daydream about painting and that you like to daydream a lot!
Lastly, preorder something off of the new release and jump back into your hobby! Excitement and commitment by you will do more than anything to convince them than we could ever hope to do on an internet board.

Q – What product lines will use this new pricing formula?
A – All future new releases into product lines currently in production as well as all cancelled numbers and parts in our online store.

Q – Will you reduce the price again in the future?
A – We hope we can. We will need to again see both a reduction in the price of tin and world market stability.

Thank you for reading this and best wishes to all,
Ed Pugh
Reaper Miniatures

I'd imagine it may take a little while to filter down through the ranks (as local stores try to unload the inventory they purchased at the higher price in the past year or two), but it's definitely not something you see every day!
Your thoughts?

**H.B.M.C.**

razormage wrote:It also represents, to me, what could be the start of a massive shift in our hobby.

It'll be a cold day in hell before GW puts their prices down - and I mean really put their prices down, not re-classify a few B level things to A level prices, but put everything in the D range to the E range at the same time all the while claiming that their latest price adjustment makes things go down just as much as they went up (which is always bull-gak).

**Redbeard**

$25k/ton means that tin was selling at more than $1000/pound! Even at the lower $10k, that's still $500/pound of tin.

That seems somehow extreme. I've got GW models that weigh a pound (or more). Tin cannot cost that much.

**NO_SUCH_LUCK**

Good on them, its nice to see a manufacturer take a hit to save the hobby.

**Polonius**

There are 2000lbs to a ton, so it's $15-$5 a pound.

**NO_SUCH_LUCK**

They are only part tin.

**Asmodai**

Redbeard wrote:$25k/ton means that tin was selling at more than $1000/pound! Even at the lower $10k, that's still $500/pound of tin.

That seems somehow extreme. I've got GW models that weigh a pound (or more). Tin cannot cost that much.

Uh, a ton is greater than 25 pounds. A ton is around 2000 pounds, so $25K/ton = $12.50 a pound.

No need to run to the scrap metal dealer with your GW collection in your arms.

**Redbeard**

Oh, heh, don't mind me, apparently I can't do basic math anymore. Duh.

**Ghaz**

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/233028.page

**Neil**

This is a Bad Thing

It means Reaper is probably on the brink to do something this desperate.

Hopefully they pull through OK! They're a great source of minis for D&D. I might have to do a new order soon!

**razormage**

Ghaz wrote:http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/233028.page

Bah, that's what I get for searching for "Reduction" instead of "reduce". Thanks, Ghaz, for pointing it out.
Close this one, talk on the other!

**Ghaz**

No problem. It wouldn't be the first time we've had multiple posts on a topic open and I'm sure it won't be the last either.

**Sidstyler**

Sounds good at first, but what it really means is that we have been pricing people out of their hobby and people leaving our hobby is a bad thing at any level.

Hey, some common sense!