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Made in us
Fixture of Dakka




NE Ohio, USA

 Gert wrote:
 JohnnyHell wrote:
It’s not a change yet. They say they’ll review it as their supply goes back to normal. Sky has notfallen.

Ssshhhh let the people be angry over something that hasn't happened yet/might not happen.


We really need to figure out how to hook them up in pods Matrix style & harvest all the energy they expend.
I mean, talk about renewable energy.... Wind, Solar, etc? Drops in the bucket compared to Internet Rage.
   
Made in us
Shadowy Grot Kommittee Memba




The Great State of New Jersey

 Kanluwen wrote:
chaos0xomega wrote:
 Kanluwen wrote:


Holiday Battleforces weren't a Preorder Promise item. Dominion, the Black Templar box, the upcoming Eldritch Omens, both of the Kill-Team big boxes so far have all been "Preorder Promise" items.


And incidentally I can still find multiple copies of the above (sans the unreleased Eldritch Omens) on the shelves of basically all the local stores (especially that black templars box, all the local stores seem to have between 3-6 copies each on the shelf, one store in particular was giving them away free on black friday to anyone who bought more than $250 of GW product in a single purchase to try to get rid of all the extra boxes they had). Theres one store in particular that also happens to have 8 copies of Chalnath sitting on its shelves - and its not the online retailer).

Cool, so how much of it was their initial allocation vs what was preordered?



Do you really expect me to be able to answer that?? How am I supposed to know that? I only knew about the Dominion situation because all the retailers in the area were bitching hard about it, probably because edition launch boxes tend to move in much greater volume and thus the impact was much more severe than it would be for something like the Black Templars box which had a more niche appeal and was probably ordered in niche quantities. The most I can say in response to your question is that I have, on several occasions, noticed more copies of some of these items pop up in local stores several weeks after release, but whether that was because they were sitting in boxes "in back" and were being sorted onto shelves, or stuff I hadn't noticed previously, or newly delivered product I cannot say.

Are you sure you're not confusing this with the lil' hole in the wall shop in TN that complained about having ordered $32k worth of Indomitus and not received them?


Positive, haven't heard that story. One of the locals was shorted their shipment of Octarius though. I.E. They paid for something like 16 copies and received 0, they did eventually show up a couple months later though.

CoALabaer wrote:
Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
 
   
Made in us
Ollanius Pius - Savior of the Emperor






Gathering the Informations.

chaos0xomega wrote:

Do you really expect me to be able to answer that?? How am I supposed to know that? I only knew about the Dominion situation because all the retailers in the area were bitching hard about it, probably because edition launch boxes tend to move in much greater volume and thus the impact was much more severe than it would be for something like the Black Templars box which had a more niche appeal and was probably ordered in niche quantities. The most I can say in response to your question is that I have, on several occasions, noticed more copies of some of these items pop up in local stores several weeks after release, but whether that was because they were sitting in boxes "in back" and were being sorted onto shelves, or stuff I hadn't noticed previously, or newly delivered product I cannot say.

I don't expect you to be able to answer it. Because I doubt the shops themselves really could.

But here's the rub about it all:
Until you can answer "Did the shops require payment up front or did they just have a list?", it's a moot point. Because if they just had a list...I'd fully expect that to have been part of the issue.

To use an anecdote:
One of my local indies got super burnt on the Chalnath box because of some locals "preordering" them by getting onto a list...and those people still buying them elsewhere, because they got a bigger discount. They just wanted to make sure they got the Novitiates.

When people have to pay the amount up front, they're less likely to shop around.

Are you sure you're not confusing this with the lil' hole in the wall shop in TN that complained about having ordered $32k worth of Indomitus and not received them?


Positive, haven't heard that story. One of the locals was shorted their shipment of Octarius though. I.E. They paid for something like 16 copies and received 0, they did eventually show up a couple months later though.

Octarius had a preorder promise, so that's not really a surprise?
   
Made in us
Heroic Senior Officer





Western Kentucky

I think is a result of the killteam box not selling as much as they thought it would. I see them all over the place, many stores have multiple copies. All I can figure is GW expected plastic Krieg to carry the box and sell like gangbusters. I ended up getting 3 and only paid full price for the first one. Im sure they sold a bunch, but between all the extra sitting around and the supply issues, they have an easy out to say "whelp, didnt work, guess we go back to the old way".

Whether that was a mistake or they wanted it to go that way so they could pretend they gave it a shot is anyones guess. Shame too, other than the rules the killteam box was a really good one, the models are great and the terrain was solid too.

'I've played Guard for years, and the best piece of advice is to always utilize the Guard's best special rule: "we roll more dice than you" ' - stormleader

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Made in ca
Librarian with Freaky Familiar






 MrMoustaffa wrote:
I think is a result of the killteam box not selling as much as they thought it would. I see them all over the place, many stores have multiple copies. All I can figure is GW expected plastic Krieg to carry the box and sell like gangbusters. I ended up getting 3 and only paid full price for the first one. Im sure they sold a bunch, but between all the extra sitting around and the supply issues, they have an easy out to say "whelp, didnt work, guess we go back to the old way".

Whether that was a mistake or they wanted it to go that way so they could pretend they gave it a shot is anyones guess. Shame too, other than the rules the killteam box was a really good one, the models are great and the terrain was solid too.


This actually seems pretty reasonable, i think GW banked on those selling better just like you said, but seem to have forgotten that those that wanted plastic krieg have waiting this long, they are willing to wait a few more months for them to be sold separately.

To many unpainted models to count. 
   
Made in us
Ollanius Pius - Savior of the Emperor






Gathering the Informations.

Or people forget that there was a preorder promise for Octarius...meaning that "everyone who wanted one would get one".

This crap isn't hard people.
   
Made in us
Resolute Ultramarine Honor Guard





 Backspacehacker wrote:


This actually seems pretty reasonable, i think GW banked on those selling better just like you said, but seem to have forgotten that those that wanted plastic krieg have waiting this long, they are willing to wait a few more months for them to be sold separately.


Even moreso WOULD wait until they were sold separately and in greater variety/quantities. If I wanted to play Krieg, I wouldn't touch that box unless and until the rest of the line was fleshed out and available to make a full army. I'll get a big box like that, if it folds into a "full size" army. The stand alone Death Watch, the Calth box, Pariah, Indomitus, Shadowspear, Wake the Dead, and on and on. Some of those were basically 40K starter sets - but the point is you knew you had potential for more than a Kill Team. It would feel too much like a "waste" of money to not be able to get double duty out of the models. I only did it once with Warbands years and years ago - I made an Empire Warband with a Steam Tank. Totally ineffective, but totally fun. And I still COULD have made an Empire army. If GW changes their minds on Krieg (and GW screwing people who dive into the new line fast isn't exactly unheard of) I'd feel pretty burned.


My WHFB armies were Bretonians and Tomb Kings. 
   
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 Gert wrote:
 JohnnyHell wrote:
It’s not a change yet. They say they’ll review it as their supply goes back to normal. Sky has notfallen.

Ssshhhh let the people be angry over something that hasn't happened yet/might not happen.


I'd keep those words there short and sweet, as you may just have to eat them.


Games Workshop Delenda Est.

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GW wrote:This is especially important for a hobby where collectability lies at the heart of the experience.

If they're really viewing their miniatures as collectibles, that certainly explains a lot about the way their releases have gone over the last couple of years.

 
   
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 insaniak wrote:
GW wrote:This is especially important for a hobby where collectability lies at the heart of the experience.

If they're really viewing their miniatures as collectibles, that certainly explains a lot about the way their releases have gone over the last couple of years.


Are they not?

I know more than a few people who've glass cased their knights, greater daemons, Super Heavy Tanks, or other major characters. Simply because they are beautiful hand painted statues. I'm not trying to sound like Lazlo in the garden here, but some of the sculpts are really worth collecting if painted well.
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

I'd suspect it's mainly going to depend on how many orders actually come in via this pre-order promise (perhaps not as many as many will think)

and how many of those that do come in are subsequently cancelled or returned (in the UK/EU at least consumers can do so for free and without any consequences). Having longer to think about an order may well mean buyers remorse kicks in, or even gw rules may have changed meaning a 'great' unit is now not worth fielding also meaning increased chance of returns

and returns means unwanted stock clogging up warehouses

 
   
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The Great State of New Jersey

 Kanluwen wrote:


Positive, haven't heard that story. One of the locals was shorted their shipment of Octarius though. I.E. They paid for something like 16 copies and received 0, they did eventually show up a couple months later though.

Octarius had a preorder promise, so that's not really a surprise?


Allow me to clarify further - when they were shorted, their invoice indicated that the 16 copies were shipped and delivered, etc. but they weren't included amongst the delivered product, so yeah it was a surprise. If this was a case of "the item is backordered under the pre-order promise, they will be delivered when available" then the way GWs invoices/packing slips work would not have indicated them as having been shipped/delivered in the first place and would have indicated the quantity of items as being backordered, which is not what happened.

 Kanluwen wrote:
Or people forget that there was a preorder promise for Octarius...meaning that "everyone who wanted one would get one".
This crap isn't hard people.


Which is exactly the point and crux of my argument. You know, the one which you seem intent to argue against? PreOrder promise = product doesn't sell out. Product not selling out creates a problem for GW and independent retailers, thats bad, hence impetus to change/eliminate the preorder promise to prevent issue from continuing to occur.

Are they not?
I know more than a few people who've glass cased their knights, greater daemons, Super Heavy Tanks, or other major characters. Simply because they are beautiful hand painted statues. I'm not trying to sound like Lazlo in the garden here, but some of the sculpts are really worth collecting if painted well.


Putting items on display is not really an indicator of collectability though. By definition the collectability of an item/object/product line is based on its value in relation to its rarity and popularity as a factor of its condition, with the major criteria being that an item can be sold for a sum greater than its purchase price based on the demand (popularity) for that product outstripping its availability (rarity), with the final price being determined by the condition the item is in (sealed/unopened generally being worth more than assembled/painted, unless you happen to be an award winning painter and the item in question has been featured in publications, etc.).

In that sense, no 40k/GW products in general aren't really collectable, at least not until they are discontinued (i.e. Bretonnian and Tomb Kings minis for WHFB weren't collectable until the setting got End Times'd and the product lines were discontinued).

CoALabaer wrote:
Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
 
   
Made in us
Ollanius Pius - Savior of the Emperor






Gathering the Informations.

chaos0xomega wrote:

Allow me to clarify further - when they were shorted, their invoice indicated that the 16 copies were shipped and delivered, etc. but they weren't included amongst the delivered product, so yeah it was a surprise. If this was a case of "the item is backordered under the pre-order promise, they will be delivered when available" then the way GWs invoices/packing slips work would not have indicated them as having been shipped/delivered in the first place and would have indicated the quantity of items as being backordered, which is not what happened.

Without knowing the exact circumstances of how that store gets their deliveries? It's entirely possible that the carrier either lost/delayed part of a bulk shipment.

 Kanluwen wrote:
Or people forget that there was a preorder promise for Octarius...meaning that "everyone who wanted one would get one".
This crap isn't hard people.


Which is exactly the point and crux of my argument. You know, the one which you seem intent to argue against? PreOrder promise = product doesn't sell out. Product not selling out creates a problem for GW and independent retailers, thats bad, hence impetus to change/eliminate the preorder promise to prevent issue from continuing to occur.

It only creates a problem for independent retailers that don't actually do preorders well or who do weird forecasting of sales.


I legitimately cannot think of the "GOTTA HAVE IT!" hype around Dominion having been that big online or in meatspace. I don't know why anyone would have ordered 500 or so of them, outside of thinking "Haha I'll corner the market on them!".

Anecdote time!
My FLGS? They take payment at time of sale on bigger sets like Indomitus. For Dominion, they had three pools of preorders going:
Initial Allocation Guarantee(pay at time of sale)
Made to Order(pay at time of delivery)
Reserve List(pay upon collection; could be from either bit)

Their reserve list? Not a single person showed up. They just put their names onto it to maybe get one if they didn't get it from their online retailer of choice at a discount.

Incidentally, something that I'm curious about is whether or not this whole thing is just GW no longer making "preorder promise" available to independents.

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2022/01/24 15:38:54


 
   
Made in us
Shadowy Grot Kommittee Memba




The Great State of New Jersey

 Kanluwen wrote:

I legitimately cannot think of the "GOTTA HAVE IT!" hype around Dominion having been that big online or in meatspace. I don't know why anyone would have ordered 500 or so of them, outside of thinking "Haha I'll corner the market on them!".

I mean, they apparently sold about 2-3x that number of copies of Indomitus based on what they told me at the time, so 500 copies of Dominion seems like a conservative order quantity and was apparently based roughly on the stores sales performance of AoS relative to 40k. And as an e-retailer, 500 copies of Dominion isn't really farfetched, especially since they *did* happen to sell a few hundred copies of them.


Their reserve list? Not a single person showed up. They just put their names onto it to maybe get one if they didn't get it from their online retailer of choice at a discount.


I think it bares mentioning that the store in question (or in contention as the case may be), *IS* an online retailer of choice and sells at a discount. Theres legitimately nowhere else to go to get a better price locally unless you happen to be a long-time "regular"/"loyal customer" at certain stores and get the unspoken and unadvertised 20-25% discounts that they offer (and even then, if you're local and know the right people you can get those kinds of discounts at the e-retailer too). I know you're hung up on the whole "people put their name on the reserve list to make sure they can get a copy and then don't show up when they can get it from somewhere else for less" bit, but in this case the store we are talking about *IS* the store that people are getting it "for less" at, rather than the store getting screwed by no-shows. I certainly don't know of any online retailer in the US that would have offered Dominion at a lower price on release. Post-release where some stores have been selling them half off or more to try to clear out inventory is a different story - on that note, the fact that has happened, even at major discount retailers, is a pretty clear indicator that its a widespread problem and not limited to one online retailer that over-ordered product. Even miniature market is currently sitting on over 120 copies of the box, and they seem to be the first go-to for US online retail in the states.

CoALabaer wrote:
Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
 
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut




If a box sells out it means GW failed because they didn't properly anticipate customer demand. It's FOMO exploitation raargh!

If a box doesn't sell out it means GW failed because clearly no-one wants it or can afford it or approves of some recent unrelated decision. It's a customer boycott raargh!
   
Made in us
Insect-Infested Nurgle Chaos Lord






soviet13 wrote:
If a box sells out it means GW failed because they didn't properly anticipate customer demand. It's FOMO exploitation raargh!

If a box doesn't sell out it means GW failed because clearly no-one wants it or can afford it or approves of some recent unrelated decision. It's a customer boycott raargh!


Have fun getting your (even moreso) overpriced boxes of tat from scalpers!


Games Workshop Delenda Est.

Users on ignore- 53.

If you break apart my or anyone else's posts line by line I will not read them. 
   
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Under the couch

FezzikDaBullgryn wrote:
Are they not?

I know more than a few people who've glass cased their knights, greater daemons, Super Heavy Tanks, or other major characters. Simply because they are beautiful hand painted statues. I'm not trying to sound like Lazlo in the garden here, but some of the sculpts are really worth collecting if painted well.

Being pretty doesn't inherently make something a collectible. In this context, it's referring to the act of buying the miniature (ie: owning it) being more important than its purpose. They could have said that having enough of a new release to ensure that everyone who wants to include those models in their armies could actually buy one... but instead, they focused on the collectibility.

It's ultimately exactly the same philosophy as we saw during the Kirby era with the preview blackout so that we would all be super excited on release day to see the new models for the first time, and Kirby's statements about the hobby being 'buying citadel miniatures'... just dressed up in a new skin.

People have been speculating over the last couple of years as to whether most releases selling out in minutes was due to GW deliberately under-producing to cash in on FOMO, or the result of Covid and Brexit impacting production... this statement would seem to confirm that it was indeed the former.

 
   
Made in us
Ollanius Pius - Savior of the Emperor






Gathering the Informations.

I still want to know whether or not this is specific to dealing with independents or if it's an "in general".

AFAIK, they have only done Octarius and Dominion with the specific "Made to Order" SKU being a thing. Everything else has just been a "preorder promise" bit. Even Shadow Throne had one...but, again, it was just a note that anyone who preordered before Monday would get one.

I've been genuinely curious as to if they are using the preorder promise for these items as a forecasting metric on their end.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/01/24 22:46:44


 
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

Oh they'd certainly be looking at it as a forecasting metric. It's a smart move too as their market has gone through insane change over the last 2 years and without GW actually doing anything to cause it. As a result their metrics are likely WAY off.

OF course their metrics might be in flux this next year too as things "settle" a bit.

That said its a good move to see where things are settling and if they need to change some of their metrics and studies on how much things are selling, esp for short term one-shot products.

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Biloxi, MS USA

chaos0xomega wrote:
By definition the collectability of an item/object/product line is based on its value in relation to its rarity and popularity as a factor of its condition, with the major criteria being that an item can be sold for a sum greater than its purchase price based on the demand (popularity) for that product outstripping its availability (rarity), with the final price being determined by the condition the item is in (sealed/unopened generally being worth more than assembled/painted, unless you happen to be an award winning painter and the item in question has been featured in publications, etc.).


Not by any definition not by Investopedia. "A collectable is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms to denote those types." One of those types is a "manufactured collectable" defined as "something designed and marketed to be collectable". GW models fit this definition, just the same way Transformers and more traditional models are.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2022/01/24 23:04:34


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Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut




Also checking eBay, the market is so awash with the Dominion and Octarius spruces/units for dirt cheap prices. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was having an impact on GW’s bottom line on the multipart kits, plus infuriating most brick and mortar stores. The style of release was a win for the consumer and people who bought the boxes to break them up, but not for actual stores and GW themselves. Actually I think it shot the scalpers in the foot too with just how saturated the second hand market is now.
   
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ccs wrote:
FezzikDaBullgryn wrote:
Does anyone have any insight as to how, if at all, this may affect the bottom line consumer? The local hobbyist?


I imagine it'll affect me the exact same way it did before any of this pre-order/made-to-order promise stuff.
I've never had a problem getting a copy of whatever's releasing through my FLGS.


That must be nice. I still remember trying to get Piety & Pain from my FLGS. They ordered a dozen copies, 8 from pre-orders and 4 for stock. They never received a single one, and I wasn't able to get it anywhere else by that point.

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 insaniak wrote:
If they're really viewing their miniatures as collectibles, that certainly explains a lot about the way their releases have gone over the last couple of years.
Or it's just a WarCom person expressing themselves incorrectly or inaccurately.

[EDIT]: Unless that's a quote from an investor thing, in which case I retract my statement.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/01/25 00:04:26


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 Platuan4th wrote:

Not by any definition not by Investopedia. "A collectable is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms to denote those types." One of those types is a "manufactured collectable" defined as "something designed and marketed to be collectable". GW models fit this definition, just the same way Transformers and more traditional models are.

Yes, and no. GW models fit this definition for those people who buy them purely to collect, rather than to play the game. But, ultimately, the primary purpose of gaming miniatures should be to play the game they are designed for. If you're deliberately making some of your models difficult or impossible to purchase for some of your customer base, that would seem to be rather counterproductive to actually supporting the game.

Going by their recent sales performance, that approach seems to be working for them, though, so maybe they're right and more customers actually do view their product as collectibles rather than gaming miniatures. I guess we'll see whether that strategy pays off in the long term... although the example set by pretty much every other company that has gone the collectible miniatures route is that maintaining interest long-term is incredibly difficult. And GW minis don't even have the bonus endorphin rush of opening blind boosters going for them... just a massive price tag and a potentially frustrating ordering experience.

 
   
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 MrMoustaffa wrote:
I think is a result of the killteam box not selling as much as they thought it would. I see them all over the place, many stores have multiple copies. All I can figure is GW expected plastic Krieg to carry the box and sell like gangbusters. I ended up getting 3 and only paid full price for the first one. Im sure they sold a bunch, but between all the extra sitting around and the supply issues, they have an easy out to say "whelp, didnt work, guess we go back to the old way".

Whether that was a mistake or they wanted it to go that way so they could pretend they gave it a shot is anyones guess. Shame too, other than the rules the killteam box was a really good one, the models are great and the terrain was solid too.


Then again...since there were so many boxes the preorder promise didn't come to play. It never was involvea in the sales to begin with.

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soviet13 wrote:
If a box sells out it means GW failed because they didn't properly anticipate customer demand. It's FOMO exploitation raargh!

If a box doesn't sell out it means GW failed because clearly no-one wants it or can afford it or approves of some recent unrelated decision. It's a customer boycott raargh!


Alleging hypocrisy is not an argument. If you don't state which of the two above arguments you believe is the correct one, you have effectively contributed nothing to the conversation.

Apologies for being so direct, but this debate tactic really irks me, and I try to call it out when I can.

Dudeface wrote:
 Eldarain wrote:
Is there another game where players consistently blame each other for the failings of the creator?

If you want to get existential, life for some.
 
   
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United States

 Backspacehacker wrote:
Ill be honest if a "local store" Ordered 500 copies and only sold 250, thats not an issue on GW, thats the store managers fault for WAY over estimating his customer base.


GW is the villain around here. Get your narrative straight...


Ayn Rand "We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality" 
   
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Decrepit Dakkanaut





Biloxi, MS USA

 insaniak wrote:
just a massive price tag and a potentially frustrating ordering experience.


Interestingly enough, that experience mirrors trying to get Hasbro convention exclusives.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/01/25 10:45:03


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I fail to see why they need to scrap it?

If the initial batch sells out, they just make more for those orders over the pre-order weekend.

If it doesn't sell out, they don't need to produce anymore anyway so nothing really changes?

GW still get their money, customers still get their product, only MTO'ing for orders over the weekend means excess stock isn't sitting in a warehouse.

All I can think is that the scalper market really was buying up absurd amount of stock (despite what some people here were insisting), to the point sales noticeably fell off after the pre-order promise and they want to go back to that because it was much better for their bottom line?

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2022/01/26 12:01:29


 
   
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The Great State of New Jersey

 Arbitrator wrote:
I fail to see why they need to scrap it?

If the initial batch sells out, they just make more for those orders over the pre-order weekend.

If it doesn't sell out, they don't need to produce anymore anyway so nothing really changes?

GW still get their money, customers still get their product, only MTO'ing for orders over the weekend means excess stock isn't sitting in a warehouse.

All I can think is that the scalper market really was buying up absurd amount of stock (despite what some people here were insisting), to the point sales noticeably fell off after the pre-order promise and they want to go back to that because it was much better for their bottom line?


Bit of a simplification of the issue. The preorder promise extends to retailers and trade accounts, so stores can (and evidently do) order dozens of copies which then don't sell immediately, which means stores put it on ever bigger discounts to try to get it off the shelves, thus creating a cheaper source of miniatures than purchasing full price individual kits, which in turn undercuts GWs own sales.

Also, evidently while the retailers and trade accounts can't cancel their orders, supposedly end-customers buying via GWs stores (online and/or in-person) evidently *can* cancel (I don't know this for sure, just based on what others indicated in this thread), which means GW *does* end up manufacturing stock that *does* end up sitting in a warehouse - because remember what I said about the retailers putting the product on discount to try to get it off their shelves? At some point the people preordering from GW online are going to notice they can get the same product 20-30% off at their local store down the street and just go buy it there instead.

Presumably too, the greater availability of product via independent stores has put a dent in GWs direct online sales, I assume (based on observation) that there were a large number of people who felt that their best bet of getting limited releases was to try to buy them from GW directly via their website instead of getting it at their local stores, etc. With the promise, that urgency is evidently removed and customers are seemingly more likely to ask their store to order them a copy instead.

CoALabaer wrote:
Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
 
   
 
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