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since Games Workshop makes more than 40k models, i think this belongs in this forum. My question is, since the "great recession" "officially" ended this year in the US, will model prices fall? or has GW always been charging prices that would discourage a 16 year old who no longer has a job (like, say, me) to stop buying models?

Ppl always prefer to spend their money on their "happy things"

Thus i imagine warhammer players to rather spend the same amount on minis and say go to restaurant less.

Then we have the crowd that says we'll buy MORE warhammer instead of a vacation.

Thats why GW doesnt lower price during recession.

Prices won't go down. They're doing rather well for a leisure company in a crappy economy. I would hardly say the recession is over, but it's at least slowing down. GW is doing fine and I don't see them changing anything.

While you, a 16 year old who no longer has a job has stop buying models, there is another 16 year old boy out there that still buys.

They could probably in fact charge more, lose volume in sales, and still maximize profit.

All about economics.

And they seem unshaped by whats happening, well besides the fact that they are min/maxing stores.

GW cares very much about the recession. That's why they've been focusing on releasing stuff that they're very sure will sell in good volumes, rather than gambling on stuff which might not sell as strongly. Not to mention hedging their bets with Wave releases.

Do they care? Only in how they can leverage it into more cash for thier bottom line.

grizgrin wrote:Do they care? Only in how they can leverage it into more cash for thier bottom line.

Truth. They're a business, not our best friends. They exist to take my money.

Ecurb The Mighty wrote:

grizgrin wrote:Do they care? Only in how they can leverage it into more cash for thier bottom line.

Truth. They're a business, not our best friends. They exist to take my money.

And they're doing one hell of a job with that...

For the most part, I'd say no. Starting an army is actually more expensive than buying drugs. (Yes you can actually google this to find out. Not a user myself and never have been) At least in the short term if you buy everything you need at once (batalliion, champion, and magician).

Hm let's see...comparison between 40k and drugs:

Addiction : checked for both
High prices : checked for both
Status with family / friends / wife / work : 40k winner
Healthy : 40k winner
Fun : hm, debatable. Still, considering the above, i still vote 40k winner
Social relationships : well, between the drug-friends and 40k friends, i'd always vote for 40k
Many many many other reasons : 40k winner

That's why me and many others would choose 40k in a heartbeat

Do you get the shakes when you don't buy GW?

I don't. Not anymore.

Ok, sometimes I do. But then I go get help.

My husband and I just got started and we bought the battalions, champions, sorcerers, a couple of extra things each, and a lot of paint. We spent $441, and every time i go online there is something else i think i'd like to have. now mind you i've got a mostly unassembled batallion and a whole bunch of other stuff to construct and paint.

welcome to the madness...

Actually, GW has done very well during the recession, as have a variety of other 'niche' hobbies and board game manufacturers too.

The reason is that in all this doom and gloom people want to treat themselves but are wary of spending money on 'events' (cinema/theatre/restaurant/holiday/etc) because these happen and then are gone with nothing tangible to show for it. Games are a purchase you can keep and use again - exactly the same thing happened during the great depression of the '30s. Game companies did very well then and some products invented in that period have gone on to become perrenial best-sellers (monopoly being the best example).

Has there ever been a precedent for GW lowering their prices, regardless of the external economic situation? Don't think so....

Why would they lower prices if their profits are still up?

GW doesn't care about you. They're not interested in making sure jobless teenagers can buy a couple kits over the summer with their savings. They're interested in either getting new players to drop dough on the startup costs, or players with the income necessary to continue buying product.

Interestingly if you are in full time secure employment [assuming such a thing exists?] you will find that costs are being driven down [or have been] for common goods during the recession.

So my supermarket is charging less and my mortgage is reducing with lower rates. The end result being that I have more disposable income than before the recession.

I imagine that this will be true for the majority of GWs target market [the parents of] 11-16 year olds. Yes some will no longer be able to spend what they did but the majority of GWs customers will keeping their inome more or less steady.

Gw have reacted to the recession by cutting costs as evidenced by the changes in the way the run their shops, restructuring at HQ and in regional HQs [US]. The end result is that GWs balance sheet is looking healthier now than it did before the recession [especially with 3rd party deals - DoW, WAR etc].

GW will not lower their prices because the customers are still buying at the current price and they have no significant competition to warrant it either, which is a shame really.

GW are a solid business model who make money, as others have said, during recession 'cheap' hobbies get more prolific and turn higher profits.

But GW are not your friend, they are there to make profit.... Which if that keeps them in business making shiny toys I want to have and play with into perpetuity, good on them! Have too many games on my shelves which are no longer supported cause the company which made them went bust!

GDW, FASA, ICE, TSR, ringing any bells?

khornebrzrkr wrote:since Games Workshop makes more than 40k models, i think this belongs in this forum. My question is, since the "great recession" "officially" ended this year in the US, will model prices fall? or has GW always been charging prices that would discourage a 16 year old who no longer has a job (like, say, me) to stop buying models?

I'd encourage any one without a job to stop buying models. Even if they are a penny... you can't afford them. There are a couple dudes at our LGS that still buy figs even though they are unemployed, I think the same thing.

When you get a job again, then this debate can have meaning. At the end of the day, GW still needs to cover its expenses. They can try and cut them but it won't make the figs anymore affordable to the unemployed.

During a recession, costs on a lot of goods lower with demand (think food, some restaurant prices..etc) b/c they are more commodity driven. A manufacturing can cut shifts but they are only "depleting inventory" to keep pace with demand. Soon prices move back up when the demand curve stabilize.

GW is a luxury item. They can hold their price during a recession. In fact, it reasonable to believe that you can charge more b/c the entertainment value for GW is quite high.

A 1 time investment of $800 can build an 1850 army of 60 figures (est.)

I can assemble paint them meticulously at 5 hours a fig or crappy at 1 hour a fig = 300 to 60 hours
I can play a 2 hour game with them 1 to 3 times a week for the year. 104 to 312 hours
I can ready my codex several times to create the lists .5 hour a week = 26 hours
Minimum= 190hours or $4.21 per entertainment hour
High end = 638 = $1.25 per hour

Any use in the following year only diminishes this entertainment per hour expense. At the worst you get the same entertainment at a movie in prime time ($8/2 hours = $4.00/hour) but most likely a lot more.

My husband and I were talking about the cost of gaming, and how rare it is for someone to just pick up Warhammer as a random hobby because of the cost.

While I'm sorry that you've got no job and not a lot of money to spend on your hobby at the moment, OP, I do know of a lot of people who because of the economy are in a lot worse shape. And things do not seem to be getting better anytime soon.

There are other retailers online that sell minis a lot cheaper. We got batallions for $75 that games workshop sells for $90 from a retailer on amazon. And I've seen lots of ways to get paint cheaper, thought I admit that I think the quality of citadel paint is amazing from what I've used so far. Save your birthday money for what you want, and focus on making the ones you've already got spectacular by giving them stellar paint jobs.

jgemrich wrote:I'd encourage any one without a job to stop buying models. Even if they are a penny... you can't afford them.

I'll second that.

Unless you've got a couple *years* living expenses (at your current spend rate) socked away, yeah, if you don't have a job, you'll need to cut back on spending, big time.

Or, if you're planning to sell for pennies on the dollar, when you need to make rent / buy gas / get groceries, go for it!

Of course GW cares about the recession and IIRC their stock has faired well in this horrible economic climate.

Its a shame most of us have had our budgets tightened up more than ever before especially since this is the best era of GW models and rules imo.

Plastic crack is going to be the death of me.