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According to a Facebook post by the Battle Bunker in Bowie, Maryland, Battle Bunkers will no longer have Forge World models (they will still stock books).
Here's the announcement:

Games Workshop: Bowie
I have some very important info. to share with everyone as of May 31st no bunker in North America will be selling Forge world any more. This will not affect the Forge world books that are stocked in stores. So after May 31st you will have to order Forge World directly threw there web site or buy phone. We expect to see faster delivery to your homes and the best levels of customer service. So if there is any thing you do need from Forge World get down to the Bunker and order what you need i will be placing the last order on May 31st.

https://www.facebook.com/GWBowie

I'm confused...

IIRC the bunkers stopped selling FW like two years ago.

I think it means you can not order through them to avoid the shipping costs. You could still order Forgeworld through Bowie, have it shipped to the store for free and pick it up when you got a chance.

That is a shame. They need to start producing Forgeworld in the US then. The already high cost of Forgeworld, and then to now have to add shipping sucks.

If you find them to be too expensive, you can start buying less. When they see their business being hurt, they will do something about it.

ajefferism wrote:According to a Facebook post by the Battle Bunker in Bowie, Maryland, Battle Bunkers will no longer have Forge World models (they will still stock books).
Here's the announcement:

Games Workshop: Bowie
I have some very important info. to share with everyone as of May 31st no bunker in North America will be selling Forge world any more. This will not affect the Forge world books that are stocked in stores. So after May 31st you will have to order Forge World directly threw there web site or buy phone. We expect to see faster delivery to your homes and the best levels of customer service. So if there is any thing you do need from Forge World get down to the Bunker and order what you need i will be placing the last order on May 31st.

https://www.facebook.com/GWBowie

Not to be a grammar/spelling nazi, but they an official publication from a huge company like GW should hopefully get threw/through and buy/by correct...

One less reason to visit a bunker. Also, perhaps they need to screen GW managers for grammar skills and ability to write professionally.

ajefferism wrote:...you will have to order Forge World directly threw there web site or buy phone. We expect to see faster delivery to your homes and the best levels of customer service...
rl]

By the way the grammar in their post is pretty horrible:

"threw" instead of through

"buy" instead of by

Not to mention all the run-on sentences. You'd think they'd get someone who knows the English language better for their PR announcements.

It's the local manager making the post, people.

I know him; he's good people and very old school GW, like back when Rick Priestly and Andy Chambers still mattered, and Alessio Cavatore was a new hire. Cut him some slack.

Hmmmm... I guess this is why over the last year I've gotten 304 emails from Customer Service saying I couldn't get FW stuff shipped to the Altamonte Springs store.

"We don't store FW in the US."

Ya, cause I bet they make/ship to order for the battle bunkers, right?

Apparently so, if it isn't cost effective stocking it in the big store, guess I know why they won't ship it to a hobby center.

What's a Battle Bunker?

DarknessEternal wrote:What's a Battle Bunker?

They tend to call their own stores Battle Bunkers... soo... Games Workshop Store = Battle Bunker

I think it's funny, there is another grammar mistake that all the editors have overlooked in their criticism. There is a hint or two in this post of what they're missing.

This news matters not, there hasn't been a GW near Massachusetts in years. What I'm hoping for is that this is a portent of things to come, ALL Games Workshops and Indy Shops stocking Forge World! Reset and restock!

DarknessEternal wrote:What's a Battle Bunker?

A very large GW store.

Revarien wrote:

DarknessEternal wrote:What's a Battle Bunker?

They tend to call their own stores Battle Bunkers... soo... Games Workshop Store = Battle Bunker

No, the Battle Bunkers are supposed to be stores that have tons of space for gaming and painting, along with the store. They also have a larger staff and tend to be open 7 days a week. This is different than the stores that are now managed and staffed by one guy 5 days a week, alot of times Wednesday through Sunday.

Normal store- 3-6 places to paint, 2-4 tables
Battle Bunker - 8-12 places to paint, about a dozen tables.

*edit* LOL, ninja'd by Noir's easy comment while I was typing out this. Why didn't I think of that.

Wait, what? They used to sell FW stuff in Bowie? I haven't been there since like august of 2011, so I wouldn't exactly know, but whatever....

Dez wrote:What I'm hoping for is that this is a portent of things to come, ALL Games Workshops and Indy Shops stocking Forge World!

Independent stores simply being able to order FW without the absurd 15% markup would be a welcome change.

And then those of us located outside of the UK could stop paying VAT.

Just to clear up a few questions from above:

1) GW Battle Bunkers did stop stocking Forge World (FW) about 3 years ago, but shortly thereafter started offering the service of ordering it as someone else has already described. This allows you to avoid shipping charges and the store does quality control for you. However, you still pay your state sales tax as applicable.

2) Independent stores with very few exceptions do not carry Forge World because FW does not offer stores the product to sell at wholesale prices. FW simply does not have an independent retailer trade sales program. The very few stores that carry it usually from my experience offer it as a courtesy to their customers at either a small or no mark-up and don't really make any money on it. If they marked it up normally from what they have to pay no one would buy it from them, customers would just order it directly from FW, which is obviously what FW wants. FW has never mass produced their product in a way that would allow wholesale trade sales to independent retailers.

3) If you order FW from a Battle Bunker it is sold at a fixed exchange rate ($1.65 per pound currently). If you order directly from FW you will pay the exchange rate that is current at the time your credit card is charged. Since it fluctuates a bit from day to day you may end up paying more or less than the $1.65 rate. Of course, comparing ordering on your own to buying through a Battle Bunker will be a non-issue after May 31.

15% markup? What do you mean? Forge World doesn't differentiate between stores and other customers, and sells to everybody for exactly the same price. This is because they don't want stores carrying their products. I assume a store near you is paying full retail for product and then marking it up 15%, but FW doesn't charge them any differently than they would you. A 15% mark-up by the store when they're buying the products for full retail is pretty meager, though. Game stores are used to getting a 40 to 50% wholesale discount when they stock their products.

That is correct, stores are just another customer to Forge World. There are no wholesale FW sales to retailers. Unlike the regular GW kits which are mass produced in the thousands, FW does very small production runs by comparison. They don't mass produce for nor do they offer trade sales.

If someone is selling and marking Forge World product up 15% they are doing you a favor and not making much money on it. By comparison, regular GW product is sold through Trade Sales at 55% of MSRP (i.e., a kit that costs you $100 suggested list price in your local shop is sold to them at $55).

I think he's talking about VAT being charged if sold to consumers but not if it was sent to a GW Store.

redcapscorner wrote:15% markup? What do you mean? Forge World doesn't differentiate between stores and other customers, and sells to everybody for exactly the same price.

FW charges me an extra 15% over their advertised price if I want to order from them.

Plus, I get the added benefit of paying a 20% VAT that I wouldn't have to pay if the products were sold through the LGS.

redcapscorner wrote:15% markup? What do you mean? Forge World doesn't differentiate between stores and other customers, and sells to everybody for exactly the same price. This is because they don't want stores carrying their products. I assume a store near you is paying full retail for product and then marking it up 15%, but FW doesn't charge them any differently than they would you. A 15% mark-up by the store when they're buying the products for full retail is pretty meager, though. Game stores are used to getting a 40 to 50% wholesale discount when they stock their products.

The 15% markup is their shipping, which isn't a flat rate like most companies. The amount you pay for shipping depends on the total monetary value of your order. So basically estimate your total that you want, and add 15% to it.

That on top of the fact that US buyers are forced to pay VAT, which is a UK tax that isn't applicable to those outside the country. So when FW sells to the US, they don't have to pay the tax that they charged you for, instead getting to pocket it.

Perhaps FW is ignorant of the fact that Hong Kong and Russia are producing large portions of the 40k model lines and selling them at better prices with reasonable shipping.

Dez wrote:I think it's funny, there is another grammar mistake that all the editors have overlooked in their criticism. There is a hint or two in this post of what they're missing.

This news matters not, there hasn't been a GW near Massachusetts in years. What I'm hoping for is that this is a portent of things to come, ALL Games Workshops and Indy Shops stocking Forge World! Reset and restock!

Yo Dez, where in Mass are yea?

Valhallan42nd wrote:It's the local manager making the post, people.

I know him; he's good people and very old school GW, like back when Rick Priestly and Andy Chambers still mattered, and Alessio Cavatore was a new hire. Cut him some slack.

Hear hear!

Also, it sounds like you just can't have them order the FW items for you... a bummer, since I'm near this Bunker, but I hadn't done so before so it won't really affect me...

Mark-up and shipping charges are two different things and shipping charges from legitimate businesses are clearly labeled as such. FW is both the producer and (mostly) the only seller of their own products so how much they mark up their products is not a well-known bit of information. Like any business, mark-up not only covers production costs it pays rent on office space, salaries, electric bills, etc. plus it provides a profit.

FW clearly states that if you order directly from them that shipping is added to the price of your order at the rate of 15% of the total price of the order. However, if you break the 250 pound barrier then you get free express shipping.

BrassScorpion wrote:Mark-up and shipping charges are two different things and shipping charges from legitimate businesses are clearly labeled as such. FW is both the producer and (mostly) the only seller of their own products so how much they mark up their products is not a well-known bit of information. Like any business, mark-up not only covers production costs it pays rent on office space, salaries, electric bills, etc.

OK.

It doesn't matter whether it's a 15% increase in price due to shipping, VAT, or shareholder dividends. I still don't want to pay it.

Ah, I was wondering why you weren't in this thread, BrassScorpion, since this is "your Bunker"... but now I see you've just changed your avatar .

I've converted over to Hordes (trollbloods) for the most part, and my current 40k project is using DreamForge's 15mm Crusader models rather than GW's, hence my not attending the Bunker or the Columbia GW these days.

I just team up with my friends to get things from Forgeworld? Typically if you can find 5-6 people, each person getting one thing will put you over their free shipping limit.

RiTides wrote:but now I see you've just changed your avatar .

People need to stop doing that, I can't recognize them anymore.

ajefferism wrote:By the way the grammar in their post is pretty horrible:
"threw" instead of through
"buy" instead of by
Not to mention all the run-on sentences. You'd think they'd get someone who knows the English language better for their PR announcements.

Oh, and I thought this was American English.