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Free shipping from the GW site has raised up quite a bit I noticed, from $20-$40 CAD which is a real shame for me. Being a resident of Canada, most of the 'discount' stores only sell to the US or Europe or have horrendus shipping fees for out of the country and the closest FLGS is in another province .

I actually bought from GW because it was a pretty good deal, if I need a paint or two, I just bought them and threw in a little something to nudge the price up to $20 hence saving me any nasty shipping charges that I would otherwise face. Well, I guess it means I will just have to buy more stuff in one go from now on

Thoughts?

Personally I still think it's a good deal.
Not too hard to hit that price point with GW prices anyway.

The shipping costs GW money when they are paying for it, eating into their profit margin. It's reasonable to expect the value of the transaction to have a minimum amount that makes it profitable for them to do it. $30 as opposed to $15 is not huge and not hard to reach with GW products that's for sure. I don't have a problem with it, it's still worthwhile. Amazon requires $25 to qualify for free shipping. GW is hardly being draconian here.

At a GW board room, somewhere in deepest darkest Nottingham...

Kirby: My friends, my colleges. Today I am going to blow. Your. Mind!

Investors/Board Members: How!

Kirby: I'm going to tell you of our new focus, a focus that will see us far into the future.

Investors/Board Members: Tell us more! Tell us more!

Kirby: One simple principle - It's all about the short-term. Quick profits. Speedy returns. Large cuts. Make next year's profit shortfall look a little less worse.

Investors/Board Members: *5 minute applause*

here here!! ( rings bell)

I really don't mind this at all. I usually don't buy huge amounts of models at once. I buy a box when the mood strikes me. The only times I've dropped a bunch of money in one go were:
When the Tau first came out in 3rd edition back when prices were way lower and I was so excited I bought one of those $200 army boxes the moment my flgs stocked it, and
When I bought about $100 worth of stuff from Maelstrom to get enough models to get my beastmen to where I want them and potentially never need to buy another GW model.

So free shopping doesn't matter for me, because with prices where they are I'll probably never buy enough from GW to take advantage of it!

Commander Cain, All I could suggest would be looking at a different shop, such as maelstromgames.co.uk, which has a free shipping worldwide on orders more than 10 GBP (c.a 15 USD) and has a 10% sale on GW items).

The shop is legit, although you might want to look for an alternative closer to home.

Hmm, still the same around here: €15

I guess if I bought anything but Direct Only items from GW, this would be sad news for me. Can't you get it delivered to a local GW and save on shipping?

There is a certain amount of fixed cost involved in free delivery.

If the order size is too small, the fixed cost may eliminate the profit on the sale.

I do notice that they have upgraded their UK postal services to include tracking numbers and faster delivery rates. I wonder if that holds up once it crosses the Channel.

Foxtale wrote:Can't you get it delivered to a local GW and save on shipping?

Unfortunatelythat would probably cost Commander Cain more, as in this case he is a victim of geography. Commander Cain lists his location as being in the province of PEI(which is a massive Island Provence, with only one LONG bridge connecting to the mainland), at it's minimum, the closest GW retail store would be an hour and a half, at it's maximum, it would be close to a three hour drive.

My suggestion would be just to save up, and pool you're order to one of the discount sellers. Some discount stores in the UK have low enough prices, that even after shipping, and exchange rate, are cheaper then buying locally here in Ontario. I am a fan of buying locally when possible, boosting the local economy, and (hopefully) using less fuel/emissions overall. But if that's not an option, buy internationally, get it as cheap as you can.

'Massive Island' Pretty much every town or villiage on the island is named according to this simple principle, *insert name of town/settlement+'by the sea'* And yes Thaanos, it would be at least a three hour drive to get to a store, the closest being in Moncton.

I think my plan for getting paints and such will just be to group up with my other 40k buddies and make a list of what we need then buy it all at once, simple
Just so you know, this was not one of the threads where you have someone complaining about the actual price of the products, nono, if I was going to do that I would ask the question "why are Canadian products so much more that US when the dollars are equal?"

Anyway, time to end my rant I suppose!

Well considering that it takes over three hours to drive from one side of the island to the other, I would call that massive, wouldn't you? Not that I've been there though. I have not been fortunate enough to go out east yet, although I want to(just not in winter, there are certain parts of me I do not want to freeze off).

BrassScorpion wrote:The shipping costs GW money when they are paying for it, eating into their profit margin. It's reasonable to expect the value of the transaction to have a minimum amount that makes it profitable for them to do it. $20 as opposed to $15 is not huge and not hard to reach with GW products that's for sure. I don't have a problem with it, it's still worthwhile.

This issue with this is that when they sell to a wholesaler or distributor they sell it for 50% retail... so with a $30 book... GW gets $15, of which only $7 is profit. When they sell directly to us, they charge full retail... so a $30 book gives them $22 profit... they definitely have the margin to not screw us on shipping.

This issue with this is that when they sell to a wholesaler or distributor they sell it for 50% retail... so with a $30 book... GW gets $15, of which only $7 is profit. When they sell directly to us, they charge full retail... so a $30 book gives them $22 profit... they definitely have the margin to not screw us on shipping.

That is overly simplistic to say the least. Profit and profitability is determined by a lot more than just what is listed in that comment.

H.B.M.C. wrote:At a GW board room, somewhere in deepest darkest Nottingham...

Kirby: My friends, my colleges. Today I am going to blow. Your. Mind!

Investors/Board Members: How!

Kirby: I'm going to tell you of our new focus, a focus that will see us far into the future.

Investors/Board Members: Tell us more! Tell us more!

Kirby: One simple principle - It's all about the short-term. Quick profits. Speedy returns. Large cuts. Make next year's profit shortfall look a little less worse.

Investors/Board Members: *5 minute applause*

What's interesting is that this bit would actually be likely to more accurately portray any form of discounting (which free shipping essentially is), as in many markets it's considered a short term way to boost sales while harming long term profits.

It's more likely that GW raised the minimum because the cost of shipping has gone up, and the profti margin shrank. In addition, having such small orders ship free puts pressure on FLGS's, which while not an option for the OP are still the workhorses for North American sales. Local shops do a steady business on small little sales (a few pots of paint, a blister, a single small box), and raising the minimum shipping might be an attempt to boost more in store sales.

BrassScorpion wrote:

This issue with this is that when they sell to a wholesaler or distributor they sell it for 50% retail... so with a $30 book... GW gets $15, of which only $7 is profit. When they sell directly to us, they charge full retail... so a $30 book gives them $22 profit... they definitely have the margin to not screw us on shipping.

That is overly simplistic to say the least. Profit and profitability is determined by a lot more than just what is listed in that comment.

Its a simple at face value look, with a $22 profit on a $30 item... for that not to be profitable enough to warrant the extra work means they're floating a severe cost to sell and higher overhead than other portions of GW. You're effectively insisting that the effort of warehousing, packing, and shipping exceed the effort GW puts into doing the same for wholesaler by more than double. The simple fact is there are retailers who can sell for less and ship with little or no cost. Not all sellers can compete in that way but GW has economy of scale on their side they can negotiate a fixed price for box size they have people who are dedicated to the task and have less unproductive hours. If they can't do it, no one can, but others can and so can GW. GW can hold off and be more forgiving about shipping rates.

I thought what you said before was reasonable, I just think GW has always been very quick to shove costs on to its customers very hastely. My points been more an objection to how they've done it than the fact they do it. No notice, no heads up or advanced warning. Other companies have adjusted pricing on product and shipping and make more of it, to give people an opportunity to act. GW has every luxury to do so and yet its chosen not to.

I personally think GW should out-source its IP to other country for its model business, this way, the cost would be lower and lower price attracts more player, more player equal more business in terms of volume sales.

For example: if a box of Space Marine Tactical Squad is pricing of 23pound (from GW site), converting it into foreign currency say, the dollar where I live, it would be 115 dollars per box. 115 dollars for 10 20mm plastic figurine.

Now if the price of the above items is say, 60 dollars, I can get 20 marines for the converted price of 1 box. Which mean a player can complete an army in short time while able to move the stock real quickly, thus GW can release more model without waiting for the sales figure to hit its target. It's a win-win situation.

All GW need to do is just protecting its IP, which is where real money is from. If they can let THQ make games (Dawn of War series) out of it, I don't see the reason not to do with the figurine section.

Licence some one to under cut you, yes Mr Gold that is a great idea of classic proportions.

Mr Gold wrote:I personally think GW should out-source its IP to other country for its model business, this way, the cost would be lower and lower price attracts more player, more player equal more business in terms of volume sales.
...
All GW need to do is just protecting its IP, which is where real money is from. If they can let THQ make games (Dawn of War series) out of it, I don't see the reason not to do with the figurine section.

Other than it being GW's primary source of income... the managing of GW IP is what's kept it from dying out where so many other similar companies failed. GW made $150M revenue from sales and $10M from licensing, its not likely licensing will overwhelm their miniature sales anytime soon.

Next from GW's perspective there aren't currently any companies that can produce plastic miniatures to the quality that GW does for the price they do it.

Maybe I'm in a cynical mood today, but why does every thread on here seem to be people complaining about a company being run as a company?

Companies want to make money. If upping the minimum order to qualify for free shipping will get them more cash, what the hell do you expect them to do? Would you rather they take away the free shipping altogether and make you pay for that on top of the price of the items you are buying?

Personally, I don't think this is much of a big deal. I tend to make big orders from GW anyway (usually I save up for a few months to buy lots of stuff at once) so a small change like this doesn't affect me. And if it did, I might be tempted to drop into local stores (GW or FLGS) to buy the things I want.

I got my stuff from Maelstrom Games, shipped to Canada for less than the local GW store, so there's a discounter to consider.

Misguidance wrote:Maybe I'm in a cynical mood today, but why does every thread on here seem to be people complaining about a company being run as a company?

And when GW starts being run like a company, you'll let us know, right?

H.B.M.C. wrote:

Misguidance wrote:Maybe I'm in a cynical mood today, but why does every thread on here seem to be people complaining about a company being run as a company?

And when GW starts being run like a company, you'll let us know, right?

Well played.

Fuel prices are going up all over the world. Thus shipping charges will go up and will begin to affect the shippers. UPS, fedEx and etc will increase their pricing to meet FSC(fuel surcharge). Fuel, especially diesel is .75 cents higher from one year in the USA. It is reasonable to expect cost of goods to go higher.

I'm actually surprised the bar for free shipping was so low and for so long; the change to $30 is far from upsetting.

Eh, under the old system ordering a blister and a paint pot was already $15, and therefore free shipping. I mean, now, ordering a "standard" troop/core box (Usually about 30+ $$ already, depending on faction) means free shipping.

Not terribly great, but hardly a soulless move by a company attempting to cheat me out of my dollars... Now, as for the needless price hikes...

Misguidance wrote:Maybe I'm in a cynical mood today, but why does every thread on here seem to be people complaining about a company being run as a company?

I don't know, especially since nobody here was complaining. In fact, nearly every post was explaining why the move made sense. Even the OP merely presented the fact, and explained why it affected him negatively.

So, maybe you're just looking for something to be salty about?

H.B.M.C. wrote:

Misguidance wrote:Maybe I'm in a cynical mood today, but why does every thread on here seem to be people complaining about a company being run as a company?

And when GW starts being run like a company, you'll let us know, right?

I'd say its more a matter of ethics. Too many buisnesses today are run "to maximize shareholder wealth"... as GW is run... ethics dictates that the primary purpose of business is to "provide a service" and while these two things are not mutually exclusive the moment you place the first as a priotity ahead of the other, a company ceases to be an ethical entity. Thus when GW or any company has clearly shown its intent is flawed they open themselve to repudiation and indignation.

GW may very well be acting in a necessary way, but it is the way they do it that speaks outwardly of their sentiments and intent.