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Hi
I've recently opened a store, and I'm looking at stocking Warhmmer 40k products. I've been told about this website by a friend (Warlordgaz) and I would appreciate any input into what would be the best products to stock. I'm quite happy to order in stock for customers, but I would like to have the best variety of stock on-shelf. Your suggestions and input are appreciated!

I might suggest contacting Games Workshop Trade Sales and speaking directly with them about packages to carry. While it won't all sell at the same rate, they have a pretty good starting package which allows you to stock the most commonly purchased items from each army.

If it's possible and necessary due to space/costs to do piecemeal purchases, I suggest (in order of priority) Space Marines, Chaos Marines, Space Wolves, Tyranids, Orks, Imperial Guard, Eldar, Tau, and Demons based on recent army popularity/success as well as new codex/incoming codex releases.

Need to be careful with Trade Sales - their job is to sell to you, not to sell you what you need.

Stock up on Space Marines and what ever is new for the month. Space Marines will take care of most new players & new releases will take care of everyone else. After 6 months of this, you'll have a good idea of what (and how much) your customers are buying and a can fill in the gaps.

If your not familiar with 40K - the first thing you need to learn is which product codes are for characters and which codes are blisters for rank and file. Interested customers are going to buy 1 copy of a character, but will buy multiple blisters for unit building.

yeah definately take space puppies!I don't know why people like these loyalist pricks but apparently they do a pretty good job on the battlefield.Orks and ig are also very popular, alongside with chaos space marines(finally some real marines!)the new 'nid codex is out feb so start buying tyranid stuff.Try to specialise on lots of common infantry(troop choices)as there is always a big demand for 'em.Don't take many metal models for the start, as well as non-transport tanks(except for leman russes).

this is about all the advice i can give you bro, may the money gods be with you!forever!

Take space marines and tau without a doubt they are the most popular race.

I don't know about tau being more popular, I have seen every race here, but the ones that sell, in no particular order (but close)

space marines (all chapters and codex's)
chaos marines
orcs
ig
tau
eldar
inquisition

It would be safe to say buy a little of everything and a lot of space marines, imp gaurd, orks and of course space wolves because they got a make over.

Just don't stock any Dark Eldar, Necrons, Daemons, and Inquisition, Emperor's Bitches (Sisters of Battle).

They will not sell. Hell I've never seen Dark Eldar army EVER in my 2 years of gaming. I heard last new release for them were 10 years ago.

Go with the popular factions only which is: Space Wolves/Space Marines, Chaos Space Marines, Imperial Guard, and Orcs. I hate Space Marines, and how every fething punk 14 year old kid plays space marines with their crappy ass paint jobs but its what sells.

Plan to promote Tyranids in January when they come out with the new codex. Whenever a new codex comes out be sure to stock those, so keep up with GW's releases.

otakuzoku wrote:Hi
I've recently opened a store, and I'm looking at stocking Warhmmer 40k products. I've been told about this website by a friend (Warlordgaz) and I would appreciate any input into what would be the best products to stock. I'm quite happy to order in stock for customers, but I would like to have the best variety of stock on-shelf. Your suggestions and input are appreciated!

You need to find out what the local players play first . There is no way online vote can determine what factions ( or even what wargame company ) your local player do.

What you should do is, provide table + free snacks + free drinks + free terrains to play on by hosting a weekend instore game event
Get to know who plays what and what their friends play. Establish some sort of gamming club if there isnt one .

Take your time , get to a little " 2 mins interview" with the players to find out important info , provide some discount voucher
as a token of appreciation + get them to come back in the future for more purchase.
Provide some store opening discount for 2 weeks , this will allow the people that missed the event , or the people that caught interest to your store via hearing news of your store opening.

What online vote can suggest you however , is offer the following info:

what armies are due soon with new line if miniatures ( Skaven , Tyranids , Blood Angels ) thus better to hold back on stocking fully on those atm.
and , which armies are really struggling ( Dark Eldar )

I've been gaming for some five years and never seen or played Dark Eldar. Guard and Marines are good sellers, Eldar should sell moderately, 'nids and orks are relatively common, and Chaos is always good to have around.

Personal advice: Don't ever give away snacks or drinks. For most game stores, those two items right there are your biggest money-makers (seriously). Keep a selection of drinks in a fridge and some munchies up front ranging from 50 cents to $1.50 or so. People will go through them like crazy.

Aside from that, if you're looking to make money off of GW products, your best bet is to keep paint, brushes, etc. on hand at all times. These are the only items that customers purchase continually. Space Marines are always a good bet, and you'd be wise to keep a few boxes of Tactical Marines and Terminators in at all times. You need less boxes of the rest of the line, as they tend to sell less, but I'd keep more transports than other vehicles.

The other army I'd keep in stock, were I you, is Orks. Since they're the second army in the starter box, this is a good fit, and they are pretty darn popular right now. Here, I'd focus more on just keeping boxes of Boyz around, since that seems to be the biggest part of an Ork army. A few boxes of Lootas, Trukks, Bikes, and maybe a Battlewagon or two wouldn't be bad, either. Just don't overdo it.

For the rest, at least starting out, I'd order a handful of boxes, but that's about it. And when something new comes out, I'd get a fair amount, but not a lot. Offer a 10% discount or so on "Special Orders" and most players won't mind waiting a week or two for something to come in.

I'd be very careful with blisters and single-model boxes, however. They tend to sit up on a shelf taking up space and hardly ever sell. And I would never, ever order any of GW's scenery to stock, unless it's new. Even then, I'd only order one or two boxes of each. If people are playing at your store, then they're expecting you to provide the terrain, and anyone who would have bought the CityStrike sets has already done so.

Oh, and always keep two boxes of the starter set on display. It won't move all that often, but you'll be glad to have it from time to time. Plus, it looks good.

40k is a decent moneymaker for a game store, but you're looking for new players or die-hard grognards who expect something in return (face it, most of us know we can get 20% off online). As a gaming store, your best moneymakers in general are Magic (and whatever other CCG is popular in your area), vending services, and anything that is just coming out.

The big problems with Games Workshop products in general are as follows:

1. They take up a lot of space on the walls.
2. They take up a ton of floor space for gaming.
3. The games have a high initial cost for both players and retailers.
4. There's not much in the way of repeat business.

Hmmm... Orks, more Orks and even moew orks, yep, all you need is Orks!

No, seriously I'd go for a balance, but stock slightly higher amounts of new releases and popular armies such as Spehss Marines.

Space marines, Imperial guards and orks! Those are most populare.

You need to find a way to make money while giving people a good price. The problem is, people can get 20% off online through large retail websites or get stuff at retail price with free shipping through GW. The only reason i even buy anything from my local store besides impuse buys and paint supplies is just to support their game room.