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Okay, so this is more for our Aussie gamers who play the the beloved hobby.
Recently ive found that prices for miniatures in Australia are just getting too high. for examply, i will take the humble tactical squad (which i love very dearly). In Australia, if you order from online or buy from any GW shop in Australia, this product will fetch you around $62. Now, when i look on the American website prices for this same product, a space marine tactical squad will only cost you $37.25. Why? why are the prices here in Australia so high?

It may be because of shipping reasons (as America is closer to Europe than Australia :p) and as such the shipping would cost less. but, lately the Aussie dollar has been better off than the American dollar, rising above the $1.06. Why hasnt this affected prices here if America can still have low prices despite a weaker dollar in trading with Britain?

I'm probably just rageing without taking in all the facts but im finding i cant get into the hobby as much knowing im paying more for less. Would turning to other options, such as a new hobby or even using Ebay to buy models be safe?

We have a similar problem in Canada. The Canadian dollar has stellar for quite some time, reaching and even surpassing the US dollar. Yet, we still pay about 20% higher than U.S. prices. Admittedly, it's nowhere near as bad as the Australian markup, I'm just letting you know we're upset too.

GW are squeezing the countries with a strong currency...
It lets them get more money i suppose...

The prices have been this high for almost a year now. Does GW ever lower prices or just increase?

I would have thought Canada would get roughly the same prices as America, obviously not...

Games Workshop has a manufacturing plant in the US. So it is cheaper to ship to distribution centers instead of having to ship from over the Atlantic.

It might also have something to do with local taxes. Canada and Australia have value added taxes. Which are generally higher than sales taxes.

I have the same questions. Considering sending them singly (which is more expensive in the long run) only ends up costing a couple of bucks more, double the price seems highly unfair and kinda dickish. I'm seriously beginning to think that GW doesn't want Australia as a customer.

CoI wrote:I have the same questions. Considering sending them singly (which is more expensive in the long run) only ends up costing a couple of bucks more, double the price seems highly unfair and kinda dickish. I'm seriously beginning to think that GW doesn't want Australia as a customer.

yep, same here...

Read this: http://theeternalwarriors.com/?p=1194

I sincerely agree with that article. We, as a community, need to take action and show GW that in the long run they're only going to be hurting themselves.

wow...yeah...i read that, it makes lots of sense...i even liked the little jab at Matt :p

Well written, with some damn good advice. I plan on using both the complaint methods advised. As well, no more buying from GW until something happens. God I hope this doesn't force me out of the game :( I _like_ 40k... looks like ebay will be an even better friend then :/

I've recently started playing Warmachine and I can tell you it's a lot of fun, and yeah I've gotta head to eBay too, I need a few more Wave Serpents and some Harlequins to finish up my army.

Hmmm I see trouble ahead,

The issue with not buying a product from a company that could be failing is that one day you might wake up to find them in Administration and then you don't get the models you want so who wins then?

I think the probem is:

Why the hell do we have to pay those ridiculous high prices for a bit of plastic/metal/resin that is produced in seconds, massively, and comes unclean from wastes???

To be fair, the stuff costs the Earth here in the UK as well. It's most likely owing to the government increasing VAT to 20% to combat the deficit. Maybe this is reverberating around the world.

*sighs* Well done David...

Small, Far Away wrote:To be fair, the stuff costs the Earth here in the UK as well. It's most likely owing to the government increasing VAT to 20% to combat the deficit. Maybe this is reverberating around the world.

*sighs* Well done David...

He's a Tory what do you expect?

Anything is worth what its purchaser will pay.

People are willing to pay higher prices, so the producer will charge higher prices.

End of.

If you don't like it, you can go on some sort of whiny socialist crusade, but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that it will have no impact whatsoever on prices.

So long as people feel they're getting their money's worth, they will continue to pay. Given the current price of things, people must value what they get pretty highly.

@Ailaros
Im just not that happy having to pay over 70 bucks right now for a dreadnought when they've now decided to hike the prices... if they're expecting us to stay with them and to continue buying, something has to change i think.

Marine_With_Heart wrote:@Ailaros
Im just not that happy having to pay over 70 bucks right now for a dreadnought when they've now decided to hike the prices... if they're expecting us to stay with them and to continue buying, something has to change i think.

The only thing that can change is you. Stop buying their crap.

Lord Scythican wrote:

Marine_With_Heart wrote:@Ailaros
Im just not that happy having to pay over 70 bucks right now for a dreadnought when they've now decided to hike the prices... if they're expecting us to stay with them and to continue buying, something has to change i think.

The only thing that can change is you. Stop buying their crap.

well put...

Actually, the most effective (and heavy-handed) way of getting a company to change its prices is a boycott.

There's a saying: "hit them where it hurts: in the wallet".

Socialist crusade or no, if you really want GW to lower Aussie/Canuck prices, organize a boycott.

It happends with everything. Even though our dollar (in canada) is stronger than the US dollar the stuff we import from the US is still priced the same as when we were $0.80 on the dollar. Everything from electrontics to books are still priced 20-50% higher than US prices.

I sympathize whole-heartedly with those gamers who find it difficult to purchase the figures for this game. I have seen many new people in this position walk off to find another game system once they look at the prices. This has gone on for many years and I still don't see GW changing any policies.

It is my personal opinion that GW will eventually overstep completely and catastrophically. We may find ourselves waking one day and the miniatures business has folded up. By then, however, the suits at GW will have milked the game for all its worth and reinvested the capital into something else... maybe the computer side, perhaps the books or both as the fluff will surely outlast the game. We wont get changes in policy or any notice.

The people that will be hurt will be those of us who got addicted to the game and have invested huge amounts of cash in the miniatures. They don't have a huge overhead problem so I think they'd be content to just let the cow die a quick death. If GW 'jumps the shark' and alienates all the new blood they'll just fold up the miniatures shop. The shift toward resin may be just a nod toward shipping issues and 'planned obsolescence' considering resins fragility. On a more sinister note, the move to resin might be a key that GW miniatures may move to more boutique levels like that of Forge World.

While I totally agree with most sentiments here I would be very suprised to see anyone boycott GW. There are too many people with enough disposable income to be really bothered by this. Most people who play have their army already or are in the midst of making one with a significant investment that they will simply not let go to waste. Unless there is a wholesale abandonment of 40k with no one playing anymore those folks will continue to be involved.

Miniatures gaming as a whole isn't what it once was. An old argument I know, but even the most positive of us can see the hobby is quietly disappearing.

Then again, I could be wrong about everything... just ask my girlfriend.

*edited because I can't freakin' spell...*