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I just got an e-mail from GW (strange since I don't usually get them). I haven't touched GW since their silly embargo (and won't until it ends) but I did once order direct only stuff from the GW UK site. At the time there was no Japanese site, but they've since put one up, complete with prices that rank up there with Australia as some of the worst in the world. The embargo makes it very hard to order from outside of the country, but I gather that it was possible to order from the UK site and get much better prices that on the Japanese or Australian store. The e-mail suggests that this might be about to end. Here's the text of the e-mail:

Today, we've got an important notice regarding changes to shipping for customers living in Japan.

If you currently order your miniatures from outside the Japanese website (in British Pounds or American Dollars, for example), then your shipping costs will change from November 1st 2011. The carriage fee will vary depending on the size of your order - you'll find the new shipping costs when you get to the checkout on the website.

However, we do have some good news! The shipping costs for orders placed on the Japanese language web store will remain the same, and any orders over 10,000 Yen will be shipped to your home address for free. There is also no charge for sending orders to one of our Games Workshop Hobby Centres, no matter the size of your order.

If you haven't yet changed to the Japanese Games Workshop website, then this is the time to do so. Simply change the flag in the drop-down menu in the bottom right-hand corner of the website to the Japanese flag, log in to your account and place your order as normal. It couldn't be any easier

We all look forward to seeing you on our site in the near future, until then...Sayonara!

The Japanese Web Team

I like how they let us know that the changes come into effect from November 1st - a little over 2 hours to go. But then like I say, I'm not touching GW anyway. I think the intention is clear though, and I'd hazard a guess that Australia will be seeing the same approach sooner rather than later. Shipping was never cheap from the UK as I recall, but even then they'll have to jack it up a long way to make it cheaper to buy from the Japanese store given that the yen has been hitting record highs in recent months. Free shipping isn't much consolation when you paying more than double for your order.

Yep. They realised that they were the Internet freeloaders, so now they're gouging you on 'shipping'.

H.B.M.C. wrote:Yep. They realised that they were the Internet freeloaders, so now they're gouging you on 'shipping'.

And so the snake finally begins to choke on its own tail.



Ignoring my own silliness, B.C.H.M is probably right - they realized that the people in the embargoed areas could still order from GW UK at a lower price, and so this is their 'fix' to that 'problem'.

GWUS shipping was already ludicrous... I can imagine it might be more than the total order now.

Oh,you are fast!
I was about to post.

I'm waiting wayland back to sell GW product to us.Untill then I'm not going to expand army.
http://www.waylandgames.co.uk/games-workshop/rest-of-world-customers/cat_956.html

I wish they were this attentive and eager to fix "problems" when it comes to their fething games. Fix game balance, make tighter rules, make better FAQs that actually answer our fething questions (preferably without neutering the army to the point of boring unplayability), etc. Or how about their product, more good sculpts like the Dark Eldar line and less bad ones like any random kit for Chaos Daemons, the razorgor (or whatever that brown blob of gak was supposed to be), or those new flayed ones for Necrons? Some actual quality control with Finecast maybe, so I can once again buy minis and at least be confident that I'm going to get a good sculpt in exchange for the giant wad of cash I had to give up for it?

Oh well. At least they never miss a chance to "adjust" prices or otherwise gouge us for more money. That's way more important than giving the customer anything of real value for their money or rewarding them for their continued loyalty to your gakky brand.

Granted this seems kind of minor, but I'm in the US and thus I'm a little more "fortunate" when it comes to trying to acquire models at prices that aren't flying rodent gak insane for what you're getting, so I don't really understand what the rest of the world is going through. It's just that nothing like this is really surprising anymore...at this rate every thread title might as well be "GW thinks to itself, concludes it's being too nice to its fanbase, decides to punish them even more for playing their games".

I got that email as well. Just as an experiment I put 120 GBP worth of new Necrons in my shopping cart yesterday. The shipping at that time would have cost ~35 GBP for UPS global express. I went back today and the same order using the same method of shipping is, get ready for your jaws to hit the floor, 175 GBP!! Yes, you read that right, a 500% price hike to pay for shipping that hasn't actually become more expensive. Is that even legal?!

You know, I would order from GW Japan if the prices weren't totally out of line with GW UK and USA. A Ghost Ark in the UK costs 31 GBP while in Japan it costs roughly 52 GBP. And GW Japan's free shipping is also a joke. In the UK free domestic shipping is available for orders over 10 GBP. Japan's version requires a customer to spend at least 80 GBP.

I'm actually in the position where it would be CHEAPER to buy a Forgeworld army like DKoK or Chaos Dwarves than to order regular GW product domestically. How disgusting is that? Actually I shouldn't say anything or GW UK will force Forgeworld to charge 400 GBP per order for shipping to Japan. (the sad part is that is only partially a joke.)

It would be interesting to see the global sales data for the next quarter. I’d like to see what kind of impact GW’s shipping and sales decisions are having and what kind of spin the upper management try to put on it.

Games Workshop wrote:However, we do have some good news!

This is the sourest good news imaginable.

HarlequinZero wrote:I got that email as well. Just as an experiment I put 120 GBP worth of new Necrons in my shopping cart yesterday. The shipping at that time would have cost ~35 GBP for UPS global express. I went back today and the same order using the same method of shipping is, get ready for your jaws to hit the floor, 175 GBP!! Yes, you read that right, a 500% price hike to pay for shipping that hasn't actually become more expensive. Is that even legal?!

When I said the shipping might cost more than the product itself, I was just joking. I wasn't being serious.

I'd E-mail them and demand to know what carrier they are using and why the cost of the shipping is greater than the cost of the products.

Ah feth me he wasn’t kidding. Here is a screenshot from an order I just put through (I didn’t put it all the way through – I just got the the ‘gimme your CC details’ part).

The £60 is a Space Marine Battleforce. On what planet does shipping cost that much? I don’t live on Mars GW. What are the size and dimensions of a Marine Battleforce. To ship a similar item via UK Royal Mail how much does it really cost you price-gouging witches.

Go on apologists – defend that.

The product is either worth it for you to pay the prices they want, or it's not.

There isn't anything to defend.

Worglock wrote:The product is either worth it for you to pay the prices they want, or it's not.

There isn't anything to defend.

That's... that's defending it.

Given the strength of the Yen compared to the US Dollar, would it be feasable now to order from an online retailer such as from the US? Or would that still be prohibitivly expensive?

Are we surprised by who it is?

AUD$1 is worth the same amount where ever you buy it. AUD$1 is worth the same in Australia as it is in the UK, the US, Canada, Japan - whereever. It has a specific set value. That value does chang (daily, hourly even), but it's cost is universal. A product worth AUD$10 in Australia is worth the same AUD$10 in the UK. You can convert it over into pounds if you wish, but then that cost in pounds in the UK would be no different to me purchasing pounds using my dollars.

Then there are shipping costs. Shipping costs are set by the companies and government organisations that control the postal services. Royal Mail will have a set price for a specific set of packages within a grouping of dimensions and weight (as well as modifiers to that cost based upon speed of shipping). I will be very surprised - very fething surprised - if something in the range of size/weight of a Marine Battleforce costs £100 to ship overseas.

H.B.M.C. wrote:Ah feth me he wasn’t kidding. Here is a screenshot from an order I just put through (I didn’t put it all the way through – I just got the the ‘gimme your CC details’ part).

The £60 is a Space Marine Battleforce. On what planet does shipping cost that much? I don’t live on Mars GW. What are the size and dimensions of a Marine Battleforce. To ship a similar item via UK Royal Mail how much does it really cost you price-gouging witches.

Go on apologists – defend that.

I'm in Japan.
Almost same situation.
Well....I wish...this is some kind of joke...or simple system error..

Well,Buying UK from non-GW direct shop is prohibited by GW.
But I think American shop still allowed to sell us.
Although,I will wait to Wayland came back.

Check Dicebucket. I know they still ship to Australia, they might ship to Japan.

H.B.M.C. wrote:

Then there are shipping costs. Shipping costs are set by the companies and government organisations that control the postal services. Royal Mail will have a set price for a specific set of packages within a grouping of dimensions and weight (as well as modifiers to that cost based upon speed of shipping). I will be very surprised - very fething surprised - if something in the range of size/weight of a Marine Battleforce costs £100 to ship overseas.

Like I said, it doesn't cost that much. The same package they're trying to charge me 175 GBP to ship only cost 35 GBP yesterday. Unless the fine folks at UPS have gone, quite literally, bat spit crazy, GW is charging a 140 GBP 'tax' on Japanese customers.

No matter how reasonable this would appear to someone with all the facts, it appears to be rank bullying to those who don't have all the facts. And since customers rarely if ever have all the facts, businesses should be more careful about how their actions appear.

Good old GW at their company- and community-fething finest.

Just when you think GW can't shaft you any worse...they go and add sand to the KY jelly!!!



Padre^.

H.B.M.C. wrote:When I said the shipping might cost more than the product itself, I was just joking. I wasn't being serious.

I'd E-mail them and demand to know what carrier they are using and why the cost of the shipping is greater than the cost of the products.

The cost of an item is irrelevant to a shipping cost, unless its so big or heavy that it requires a special mode of transport that a standard delivery truck can't handle. Then it will be even more costly. Shipping costs can't be based on a products price because a delivery company would hemmorage money on small priced items, because a drivers wage and gas prices etc are not adjustable and tend to only increase.

I routinely order small parts from major motorcycle manufacturers and depending on what warehouse it comes from, drop shipping can be anywhere from 40-60 dollars for small carburetor parts that cost next to nothing and are the size of thumbtacks. The bigger it gets the costlier it becomes. And it varies per manufacturer as well, oddly enough, despite most of my drop ship orders coming from japan ( if its not in a CONUS warehouse).

On this forum I tried to sell some noise marine bits to a user here about a year ago and he lives in australia. I tried to give him a good deal on the bits so as to be rid of them, but ups shipping costs were almost a hundred dollars, twice what I intended to sell them for, for a pound of bits. Fedex and other avenues were around the same. Needless to say I still have those bits collecting dust.

Shipping costs are atrocious in various industries. And will continue to climb. Just a fact of life as oil/ gas prices increase.

'However, we do have some good news! Shipping costs on the Japanese website will not go up fivefold!'

FIVEFOLD. I never thought I would have to use that word in a sentence regarding prices for a luxury item. It isn't just us poor Australians who have been shafted by GW. Maybe they believe that those of us outside of Europe don't deserve sane prices on their products. I'd like to see your response to this gak Mark Wells. For the moment, I am at least relieved they haven't done this to Australia (might I dare add 'yet'? No, I might jynx it). The practices of this company are brazen and frankly disguisting. Perhaps a replacement of the board of directors is necessary?


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Also, is there any recent news of Wayland's situation at all? I know they have opened their new warehouse, but are any closer at all to retifying this injustice and being able to ship to ROW again?

Find a good US friend with a military APO address and have em order from the US.... fix'd!

Oops, clicked on the quote button instead of edit..

NELS1031 wrote:

Shipping costs are atrocious in various industries. And will continue to climb. Just a fact of life as oil/ gas prices increase.

A shipping increase of 500% to a single country? Singapore, Hong Kong, etc... are in the same UPS shipping zone and their prices are totally unaffected as far as I can tell. This is a blatant export tariff passed off as a shipping increase so GW can try to force people to buy direct from their overpriced Japanese division.

What I'm wondering is if GW UK can legally say that the cost of shipping is a certain amount when it's blatantly false. I know they can set their own prices, but legally can they misrepresent the costs of dealing with a third party to sort of pass the blame?

NELS1031 wrote:

H.B.M.C. wrote:When I said the shipping might cost more than the product itself, I was just joking. I wasn't being serious.

I'd E-mail them and demand to know what carrier they are using and why the cost of the shipping is greater than the cost of the products.

The cost of an item is irrelevant to a shipping cost, unless its so big or heavy that it requires a special mode of transport that a standard delivery truck can't handle. Then it will be even more costly. Shipping costs can't be based on a products price because a delivery company would hemmorage money on small priced items, because a drivers wage and gas prices etc are not adjustable and tend to only increase.

I routinely order small parts from major motorcycle manufacturers and depending on what warehouse it comes from, drop shipping can be anywhere from 40-60 dollars for small carburetor parts that cost next to nothing and are the size of thumbtacks. The bigger it gets the costlier it becomes. And it varies per manufacturer as well, oddly enough, despite most of my drop ship orders coming from japan ( if its not in a CONUS warehouse).

On this forum I tried to sell some noise marine bits to a user here about a year ago and he lives in australia. I tried to give him a good deal on the bits so as to be rid of them, but ups shipping costs were almost a hundred dollars, twice what I intended to sell them for, for a pound of bits. Fedex and other avenues were around the same. Needless to say I still have those bits collecting dust.

Shipping costs are atrocious in various industries. And will continue to climb. Just a fact of life as oil/ gas prices increase.

What shipping were you using? It's $11.39 for a 12" square package weighing a pound on USPS calculator for an international package to australia. Might take a couple of weeks to get there, but it's the cheapest.
I don't care what something costs, it's shipping costs should be based on what size/weight/insurance is required to post it. If a company is selling something the price of postage should be equilavent to what shipping from the post etc is.

Between the VAT refund and the trade embargo, I think it might be cheaper now to buy a new army if you fly to the UK yourself to pick it up.

NELS1031 wrote:The cost of an item is irrelevant to a shipping cost,

I didn't say it was. I even specifically asked what the dimensions/weight of a Battleforce were in order to compare it to standard shipping rates for things of that size/weight via Royal Mail. Don't put words in my mouth.

You told a poster in this thread to demand to know why a shipment charge cost more then the product itself.. Ergo, the statement reads as if you think the shipping charge should be relative to product cost.




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Geax wrote:
What shipping were you using? It's $11.39 for a 12" square package weighing a pound on USPS calculator for an international package to australia. Might take a couple of weeks to get there, but it's the cheapest.
I don't care what something costs, it's shipping costs should be based on what size/weight/insurance is required to post it. If a company is selling something the price of postage should be equilavent to what shipping from the post etc is.

From what I remember he needed it a little faster then what usps could get it to him by.

Looking at what usps charges for something like that I completely understand why they are going under.

NELS1031 wrote:You told a poster in this thread to demand to know why a shipment charge cost more then the product itself.. Ergo, the statement reads as if you think the shipping charge should be relative to product cost.

Erm, no. HBMC was asking for the dimensions of the box. Royal Mail (and Parcel Force) in the UK have a very specific set of criteria for what constitutes a letter and what as a parcel and will charge you more as they see fit if your letter will not fit through their perspex guide hole... thing. (UKers will know what I'm on about )

Also, for our ROW guys, Wargamestore in the UK still appears to ship to ROW.