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Lets hear some reasons to why we are all tolerating the price!

How do you justify the GW's pricing to them? or... even to yourself?
( lets leave the discount shop out of this one , because MSRP as it is, is still expensive )

I will not justify my purchases. They will continue to be at a discount of 20% or more off of standard prices.

Buy second hand, this is the best option.

Or buy from online sites that offer good discounts because they can actually gain the momentum to take advantage of GW's pricing structure.

GW will not get a single dime more of my money than I think they deserve.

Everyone (well, that I know) has a hobby. Some people buy tons of electronic gadgets, some buy a top of the line computer every year or two, some people buy hundreds of dollars on a bow/gun/golf club. Some people buy fancy toy soldiers.

Ha, I don't, I rant about it to my mildly sympathetic gf who smiles and reminds me it's my money and I do as I please with it. She does boggle at the prices though.

Well I have to justify my purchases to my parents, not because they're paying for them - I don't even live with them - but because I do send the deliveries to their place and that's where I pick them up from.

I can't justify the price (that's impossible), so I just justify that I can afford it and also about how much I saved.

MeanGreenStompa wrote:Ha, I don't, I rant about it to my mildly sympathetic gf who smiles and reminds me it's my money and I do as I please with it. She does boggle at the prices though.

And what did you reply to that?

H.B.M.C. wrote:I can't justify the price (that's impossible), so I just justify that I can afford it.

Why is it impossible? because it makes no sense right? yet we make up reasons to buy it ( your reason is you can afford it )

Easy really, while not everybody has an actual hobby, everybody has some thing(s) they spend a lot of money on.

I've had friends question the price of my hobby and I pointed out that they smoke (while I do not). Somethings that's very expensive and once a sigarette is gone it's all up in smoke! While my minis last.

I point out to people that they like going out in the weekend to pubs or clubs and spend a good amount of money there. (while I only go out occasionally).

There's people who spend lots of money on their car/pets/fancy dinners/amusement parks/expensive vacations.

In the end my hobby is completely justifiable while many who first criticized its cost are left looking at their own spending patterns where they spend money on stuff that (very often) doesn't last.

I justify it by just telling my parents that I enjoy it.

When argued with that it is too expensive, I bring up the fact that many people have much more costly hobbies- like motorbiking.

Why should we have to justify how much something costs when we enjoy doing it anyway?

Anyways Luna, how do you justify the GW prices to your folks? (Thought it would be good to ask the OP their own question )

Cheers,

Jack.

I can't justify GW's prices. Period. Their stuff is stupidly overpriced. So I find discounts, and then when someone says "They cost so much!" I can say "Yes, but I got it for this much", and they feel better about it or ask "How", in which case I do what I usually do.

LunaHound wrote:

MeanGreenStompa wrote:Ha, I don't, I rant about it to my mildly sympathetic gf who smiles and reminds me it's my money and I do as I please with it. She does boggle at the prices though.

And what did you reply to that?

She knows I am going to do a complete and comfortable sized ork army then call it quits with GW minis unless I obtain them second hand. I still intend to build a full fantasy army for WHFB using models from other companies. I also intend to use the walkers from AT-43 to stand in as killa kans and deff dreads, I actually prefer the models and with some rivets and ork glyph plates and close combat weapons, they will look better than the original overpriced lumps of tin.

It's a shame, she was going to collect an eldar army and learn to play, she refuses point blank now, once we discussed the price it would involve, and I entirely agree with her. She also thinks GW are exploiting the younger players rather than old and bitter gits like me.

My gf is very supportive of my hobby though, it is rewarding to be dating a fellow geek.

K this is sort of interesting , people seem to compare it with the price for other "hobbies" along with their "budget".
all at the same time throwing the the common sense of "WTH? its stupidly over priced out of the window"

Hmm, is there no technical reasons to justify it at all?

Blightdron wrote:
Anyways Luna, how do you justify the GW prices to your folks? (Thought it would be good to ask the OP their own question )

Aslong as i dont lose money from it , my mom cant really do anything about it. I guess she sees it as ( getting to know how to take responsibilities , how trades work and stuff )
on the most basic lvl... so ... educational i guess?
Yes she is pretty confused to what i do with it . Reminding you i dont always paint , nor do i play. It just sits there to collect dust
so im sure anyone would be confused to why i have it ( including myself ) But recently i decided to challenge myself alittle to see how fast i can paint , and how they turn out.

I buy at a mahoosive discount and/or 2nd hand.
Although I don't really need to buy that much anymore. My last purchases for 5th ed are two valkyries and a skyshield platform (both for 35% off local rrp).

I don't envisage getting anything else before 6th ed - I have three armies all in excess of 3000pts (two of them are in excess of 10,000 pts).

She just rolls her eyes, calls me a bloody git and says it's okay just as long as other fun stuff is bought as well. Stuff like plastic guitars with bright buttons, movies or sexy heels. In the end, it all balances out.

Why the need to justify anything to anyone if your a responsable adult that keeps its responsabilities?

One to the important rules of being married is not to let your wife know how much you spend on hobbies.

If I actually had to justify the cash on a comparative value basis, I would point out that the money I spend on wargames is much less than what I spend on daily commuting and lunch, and the figures can be used for years and even resold if necessary.

well i have been in the model building hobby since i was 7. so initially my parents funded small buys so i was fine there, the justification there was @gives him something to build concentration on.

With warhammer buying. I dont justify it. if i want the stuff i'll buy it through work or go to Maelstrom. And i'll only pay full price on a release day at GW just to get into the spirit of the day and chat to equally mad people.

BoW- John

Look at that! Even the Beasts of War guys use Maelstrom.

Firstly, I don't have to justify the prices to anyone except myself. Me and my other half have our own hobby budgets and what we spend it on is our own business.

Secondly, wargaming is not an expensive hobby. It's quite possible to build a 2000pt army for less than £300. That's the same as a set of tyres for a day's motorsport. The 7500pt marine army I built this year cost less than some of my airsoft rifles.

Thirdly, I find GWs miniatures compare fairly well in terms of price and quality to the competition. Yes, they are at the upper end of pricing but they are also at the upper end of quality. Few other manufacturers have such extensive ranges of multi-part plastics and these are much better to work with in my opinion.

First of all, I can’t justify GW’s prices to myself, let alone my Partner. Having said that, my GW hobby costs me £0.00! That’s right, £0.00, and here’s how……………………….

I’ve just bought nearly £800’s worth of Orks in order to paint up my own Ork army. Prior to doing that I bought a load of Character models, painted them up, and sold them on Ebay. Once my profits were enough to buy all my Orks, I stopped doing that and bought my Orks to paint up. A lot of the models I painted and sold were shown on the modelling and painting forums. It took about 4 months worth of painting, but to me, I enjoy painting different models.

I have a large Mortgage and all the bills associated with running a house and a car (£1.10 a ltr for petrol in the UK!) so I can’t afford to go and spend money on GW’s stupid prices, everything from paints, brushes, models are all bought off Ebay or from a discount online shop. GW aren’t getting a penny more out of me than I have to and I’m old enough now that if I had any rich parents, which I don’t, they wouldn’t buy it for me anyway. When I started I had a paper round in order to fund the hobby, although back then it was reasonably priced. I’ve cringed when some spoilt brats have come in the shop with ‘mummy or daddy’ who just forks out a couple of 100 for an army set and paints for their little angels.

My Girlfriend (soon to be Wife) with my friends and brothers Wives / Girlfriends have formed the WAG’s Association. This is the Wives & girlfriends Against Gamesworkshop Association who have to put up with the swearing, bitching and moaning from us about how our latest Forgeworld model simply just does not fit together, or how stupidly priced that latest release is.

When we meet up and play at GW HQ in Nottingham as a group, the WAGs association normally comes along with us, to ensure that they receive equal spending money as to what we intend on spending at GW, and then bugger off in my car (s) to Nottingham Town Centre shopping Arcade. I don’t have to justify the hobby to my girlfriend, who is also Chairperson of the WAG’s Association, as a trip to GW, is seen a trip to the shops for her!

I don't, there's no point because however you look at it they are hideously expensive in themselves and don't compare well to other manufacturers. Basically, I buy very little GW stuff now because I can't afford it, my wages are low and I have to support myself and my wife leaving very little disposable income. What we buy tend to be one-off treats, not whole armies.

I'm sure this is why GW target teenagers living at home who have generous pocket money or small jobs but who have no overheads because their parents feed them and put a roof over their head. The rest of us have jobs and bills which consume all our time and money.

I have a fair stockpile from over the years and I buy things in sales and second hand particularly at wargames shows. I very very rarely walk into a GW store and buy things off the shelf, I much prefer to buy the odd thing from my independent store though.

The thing to remember is, although the hobby in general is expensive it's often no more so than many others. Any idea how much a season ticket for your favourite football team costs? It's cheaper than smoking at about £40 a week (puffing a pack day) and it keeps you in the house doing something constructive rather than going out drinking every night.

As the "main breadwinner" in the house I don't justify spending to anyone other than myself. I am much stricter with my personal spending than my wife would be and only allow myself a certain amount of "self indulgance" money, as in a very real sense every penny I spend on myself is a penny that I have taken away from my wife and children.

So, with that background, I get the best value I can find for indulging in my hobby. By definition therefore, any GW goods I buy must pass this value test. So its got to be fun to paint and also be likely to see the tabletop regularly when it is painted. Occasionally I buy stuff and then go off it, or find I don't want to use it after all. In which case it goes straight back on eBay and the funds are recycled.

Given that it is a value test, and anyone who has followed any of my posts will know how little value I feel GW generally offer for the money they ask, then you will not be surprised to find I buy very, very little GW stuff. Even second hand or at discount. I am (slowly, because I don't see any point in buying stuff before I will get a chance to paint it up) building up a Space Marine army from deep discounts and second hand stuff I see (Last week I even repainted my RTB001 beakie marines from 1989 which never ever saw action in 5 editions of the game!) And I have bought occasionaly terrain pieces, as compared to resin alternatives and commisioned items the plastic stuff is often relatively good value and will see a lot of use in various games, and compared to totally scratch building stuff it is much easier and quicker to get on the table.

So in summary, I justify any gaming purchase on the basis that I need a hobby to keep myself sane (believe me, I spent 8 years with no time allocated for a hobby, and that lack of outlet and safety valve contributed to a nervous breakdown and almost the breakdown of my marriage when the stress of a bad job got too much). The key is that provided the total amount of money I spend is not excessive compared to what goes on the family and other responsibilities (I give more to charity every month than I spend on toy soldiers) and I don't waste what I do spend on stuff that will just sit around gathering dust, then I don't feel guilty at all and enjoy it!

A note on this preponderancy we all have to accumulate a pile of unassembled, unpainted boxes and blisters and baggies of models.

It is actually a mild psychological disorder I believe. Its simply "shopaholicism". We buy stuff because we believe buying stuff will make us feel better. The advertising hype convinces us that if we buy X our lives will improve immesurably. We also equate buying toys for ourselves with giving ourselves a little present, and we all like getting presents! A hobbyist accumulating a lead pile is just the same as his wife filling her closet with handbags and shoes. No difference at all.

The sad truth is that all we are doing is spending money on stuff we will never use. And that is clearly an irrational act.

As I said, we all suffer from the syndrome. It is part of normal human nature. The problem comes when a) irresponsible corporations use the hype on vulnerable individuals and when we don't use our common sense to spot when something has got out of control.

For me, that tends to mean I only buy any volume of stuff for my birthday and for Christmas. The rest of the year I paint up and assemble what I got at those times. Very, very occasionally I will buy a new unit for a game, if it is not very expensive (£10 - £15 or so) and I know for definite I am going to use it in a game imminently. But those occasions are rare. That way I find it relatively easy to control the "urge to splurge" for most of the year.

Of course paint, glue, brushes etc., need to be bought, but those amounts are truly trivial and can always be justified in that they are essential to do the hobby.

Meh.
Even if I spent 100 a week on gaming, it would be still cheaper than many people's vices. Much, much cheaper.
You only rent vodka (beer for that matter). Heroin & coke rents you.
The minis you get to keep, without hangover or hook.
It's all win, and the silver lining is around golden clouds.
Thus, no explanation is necessary.

I still hold that gaming is an inexpensive hobby, especially compared how much entertainment time and networking you get for the dollar.

I spend less on 40k than the people i know spend on stuff like Navmans, MP4 players, fuel etc. I don't justify the prices, i just buy second hand.

Osbad wrote:It is actually a mild psychological disorder I believe. Its simply "shopaholicism". We buy stuff because we believe buying stuff will make us feel better. The advertising hype convinces us that if we buy X our lives will improve immesurably. We also equate buying toys for ourselves with giving ourselves a little present, and we all like getting presents! A hobbyist accumulating a lead pile is just the same as his wife filling her closet with handbags and shoes. No difference at all.

Yes it is most definitely a real disorder and while I cannot say GW is any worse than a shoe company, the fact that they employ these tactics and possibly influence children into worsening a possible disorder, and I actually feel sick because of it.

Find support here if you need it, people care, and you can find better ways to cope with what you feel.
http://www.shopaholicsanonymous.org/

Errrr my mum knows that it stops me from playing computer games so shes happy that i get down the local GW store to play...

As for prices... yes ouch. I collect Vostroyans... and at the same time am trying to save up for a new vespa so i can ride it when im 16 this october.. IM DOOMED!

I don't justify how much I spend on it, I just have to justify re selling or trading armies/minis that I have no use for anymore.

I don't justify the price. If I like the model, and I can afford it, I buy it. There's no justification required.

I don't feel the need to justify anything to anyone. It's my money. The bills are paid, we have no CC debt, and I'm paying for my wife to go to college. If I drop a grand or two on toy soldiers after these responsibilities have been met, that's my choice.

After all, I could be hitting the bars and strip-clubs, buying $6 drinks, $5 packs of smokes, and $20 lap dances instead.

Simple, very few other companies have shops that they sell only their own products in
and provide advice and lessons on how to useand make the most of their products
That's what we pay for

How can you justify it? GW's prices are unjustifiable. Though for me personally I do what a lot of others on here do and buy second hand.

My friends all mock my cheapness but I've got twice the number of models they do plus I haven't got a job like them either.

Even second hand prices are exorbitant. 4 GK's for NZ$40 (US$25ish?) is pretty rich even for GW. AND that's second hand.