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Why does Games Workshop i.e. "Evil Empire" charge so much money for their models (If you ask them, they will rant on about how it is some sort of special plastic WHICH i know is bloody horse crap, and they say they ship it from Europe and all this other bull i don't want to here (I never buy from games workshop cause of that reason which makes me buy from Maelstrom and other discount online stores)-a lot of their main player base is kids under 18, and their blowing their money away because simply they haven't herd of any other tabletop modeling game like DBMM or DBR, or Flames of war and etc. And they just plain rip them off (You know 1 Space marine will cost around $4.20 NZD which is flipping outrageous. If you go to Warlord games they charge a box of 24 hard-plastic models for only around $22 NZD (which is like a dollar per model) where as a box of 10 space marines or 10 orks cost $45 NZD

Its really a shame cause i like the Sie-fie idea and i love playing this game with these Skirmish based rules (I mean i have a alot of models but it has cost me over Thousands of dollars to get them (I have a job so its not to hard to come by but still...)

What do you guys think?

Plastic is getting more expensive...
The molds are also apparently expensive.
It's probably more expensive for you since you're in NZ though...

Quite simply, its Leze Faire(i think thats how its spelt...lol), they can charge whatever they want because we will pay almost anything for our plastic little men.

And truth be told, they make an obscene profit, i heard somewhere thats its like 77%(which im sure is an exageration )

Sculpting and molding take up a lot of time- it's sort of like the pharmaceutical industry: just because the pills you buy cost a few cents each to make, they have to charge $12 a pop because they sunk a few million into 3 different research projects and only this one worked out.

Also, New Zealanders & Aussies have to pay extra. Just the luck of the draw.

Laissez faire?
Economic policy which i don't think is used in the UK...
At least not across the board.
Not sure whether that affects things over seas.

purplefood wrote:It's probably more expensive for you since you're in NZ though...

Yes but if you look in every country and compare exchange rates it all works out to be the same $$$

In short, because people are willing to pay for them. They are a business like any other. They are looking to maximize profits. This is not a bad thing, nor is it a good thing. It is simply a business.

Oh, do Kiwis and aussies have to pay extra...How come?

Commisar Von Humps wrote:Quite simply, its Leze Faire(i think thats how its spelt...lol), they can charge whatever they want because we will pay almost anything for our plastic little men.

And truth be told, they make an obscene profit, i heard somewhere thats its like 77%(which im sure is an exageration )

It is a 68% Markup in reality from what I have been told. I decided to push the company away for good they do not deserve the money any longer. PP here I come!

Rogueyopants wrote:Oh, do Kiwis and aussies have to pay extra...How come?

Because our prices were set at a margain back when we got about US$0.50 instead of the 1:1 exchange we have now.

Well that's a a bit unlucky.....

uggh. this again. while it bothers me that the models are expensive, possibly a good deal more than necessary, I'm not gonna and moan about it, when I know full well that
-I'm going to buy more models
-GW has forged an amazing universe, has created a spectacular universe, has (indirectly) created a fascinating and intriguing culture (Dakka included ), all while "popularizing" (relatively speaking) wargaming
-IM GOING TO BUY MORE MODELS

I'm not saying that GW hasn't done some jerky things and made some pretty big mistakes, but I think calling them an "evil Empire" i a bit much.

If this makes me an addict/apologist/moron, Ima sorry.

however, I will say the Aussie Markup thing is probably that should definitely get fixed.

This thread again? Well, I guess last week is over and there's room for another.

Short answer: Because they can. The market will bear costs where they are, and GW is happy with that. They know they have most of us hooked so they can get away with it. Saying that lowering prices would bring in more players is just preaching to the choir here.

Commisar Von Humps wrote:Quite simply, its Leze Faire(i think thats how its spelt...lol), they can charge whatever they want because we will pay almost anything for our plastic little men.

And truth be told, they make an obscene profit, i heard somewhere thats its like 77%(which im sure is an exageration )

They make an "obscene profit" before the operating costs of their stores, etc is figured in.

In reality, they're barely turning a profit once those factors are considered.

purplefood wrote:Laissez faire?
Economic policy which i don't think is used in the UK...
At least not across the board.
Not sure whether that affects things over seas.

Woops! My bad, in AP world we learned about this a while ago along with some others, i was thinking of free market, lol.

Yea guys fare enough, good comment by potato_god...I am gonna by more models as well, be it games workshop or an online store. lol you mad a very good point

Rogueyopants wrote:Yea guys fare enough, good comment by potato_god...I am gonna by more models as well, be it games workshop or an online store. lol you mad a very good point

You seem new to this, so let me say the same thing I always say to new Aussie and Kiwi players:

Don't buy locally. It is a waste of time and a waste of your money. Go here instead. Half the price. Free shipping. Started buying there a few years ago and never looked back. Since then many, many people from Dakka have taken up the Maelstrom banner (even those not in Oz/NZ).

Save your money.

Hi, I'm Aerethan, I'm here about the dead horse. I brought my own stick.

Pretty niche hobby. Anyway, 40 squids for a videogame, 40-50 squids to get ratarsed in town, 20-70 bucks to see a football match.... It's all relative.

purplefood wrote:Laissez faire?
Economic policy which i don't think is used in the UK...
At least not across the board.
Not sure whether that affects things over seas.

Thought is was L'ass est mort
but I could be wrong.

Anyhoo there is not a lot of laissez faire where GW are concerned
and is the price of plastic rising as much as suggested?

Is someone complaining about GW's prices?

I doubt the price of plastic has increased the 40% that prices have increased over the last 10 years. And that is assuming the now old pricing of $35 per ~20 models. With the new pricing and packaging structure the price per box is down i.e. orc boys at $29 for 10 when 2 months ago they were $35 for 19.

I do love how these threads turn into those that want to discuss GW's pricing structure, and those that think that clever images and cute phrases constitute constructive rebuttal...

quick math put 1 model at 19 per $35 at $1.84 where as now that same model is $2.90 which is a 63% price increase per model at the new pricing structure. So it was 40% over 10 years then 60% in the span of a month on certain models.

GW=winning

aerethan wrote:Hi, I'm Aerethan, I'm here about the dead horse. I brought my own stick.

I HAVE to sig this!

Makes me feel all fuzzy, especially when brought on for no new reason.

H.B.M.C. wrote:

Rogueyopants wrote:Yea guys fare enough, good comment by potato_god...I am gonna by more models as well, be it games workshop or an online store. lol you mad a very good point

You seem new to this, so let me say the same thing I always say to new Aussie and Kiwi players:

Don't buy locally. It is a waste of time and a waste of your money. Go here instead. Half the price. Free shipping. Started buying there a few years ago and never looked back. Since then many, many people from Dakka have taken up the Maelstrom banner (even those not in Oz/NZ).

Save your money.

Go Wayland instead
Tried maelstrom, its slow, crap customer service and adding the shipping to Wayland, the prices are still the same regardless, with Wayland sometimes being even cheaper
You'll get it fast with Wayland for the same cost essentially and you wont have a service which ignores emails for a refund after they offered one in the first place

Perkustin wrote:Pretty niche hobby. Anyway, 40 squids for a videogame, 40-50 squids to get ratarsed in town, 20-70 bucks to see a football match.... It's all relative.

This pretty much sums it up for me. Everything costs money. A crazy night out could be the equivalent of the cost of 1/3 of your average 40k army. At least with GW you have something that can be used over and over again. The amount I've spent going out over the years could have funded countless armies and all I have to show for it is hazy memories. In some cases no memory.

When you're young, it sucks dealing with the high prices. When you're older and gainfully employed, it's not as big of a deal. Still expensive, but online retailers help soften the blow. However, I will say if you game at local shops, at least buy something each time you game there. It's always nice to support local shops in general(and by that I mean locally owned) but if you're using their services, make and effort to support them - even if it's just a bottle of paint or two.

H.B.M.C. wrote:I do love how these threads turn into those that want to discuss GW's pricing structure, and those that think that clever images and cute phrases constitute constructive rebuttal...

The thing is, we've heard these threads before. And before then. And before THEN. The very thing man did when he finally evolved enough to articulate sounds into meaningful language was complain about GW's prices.

GW will charge what they want to, because people will buy it. I had to physically restrain myself from pre-ordering that new Tomb Kings Necrosphinx kit, and I'm currently looking into selling my Space Marines (my only 40k army) so I can buy EPIC and BLOOD BOWL.

Don't you see? Unless GW officially closes down, it can charge, and will charge, higher prices. And there will always be people who will buy those models. If a person is will to sell out $700 for a single forgeworld model, let alone even more, then what's stopping them from getting $100 of models a month?