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Just checking has anyone tried to get GW to price match non GW stores that usually have 10 or 20% their products.

I compare GW in some ways to Apple and Apple do price match even though they normally have high prices.

Bwahahahahahahahaha..... No.

Back before GW stopped people with trade accounts from selling overseas, aus players could get at least 50% off even buying full price from GW UK

GW do not do discounts or sales.

I'm not sure GW would even acknowledge that discounters exist. If you brought it up with them I am sure they would tell you those discounters are the reason prices are so high though, GW needs to make some money off all those GW products after all

I've tried, I've even walked into stores ready to buy $500 bucks worth of war barbies and asked them if they wanted to even try to compete with online purchases. Obviously they refused so I cheerfully bought off ebay and a week later it all arrived. I would have been happy with ten percent off, but thier best response was, 'oh, you won't be able to use it straight away but from us you can get it today'

Disgusting attitude to competition really, but whatever, there are tonnes of ways to get around shops these days, although I still buy one of kits and books when I need them...just not big purchases...admittedly that 500 was like two years ago and I am just finishing the last of it now.

You're more likely to be banned from the store if you mention their competition too loudly.

The retail staff have no power to control the prices, and are reluctant to acknowledge that discounters exist.

GW stopped having sales in the 90's and I don't think they will ever come back. As for discounting and price matching, one of my biggest dreads when I ran my local GW was people coming in learning the rules and all about the hobby and then they would drive down the road to the FLGS and buy it there. It was even worse when Argos carried it, but I think they closed that door now. When I was manager we could offer some kind of discount or freebie to help sales as we could "known loss" a product but that has stopped now. Also when I used to complain about the discounters at the managers meeting the brass basically said that the two sides of the business had their own targets and every product had a base value, believe it or not retail base value was more than the discounters could sell for, so we couldn't price match even if we wanted to. GW were happy either way as they were getting sales. But there was always no love lost between the guys on the frontline (retail) and mail order/direct sales/3rd Party FLGS discounters.

We had to up our game and basically form a relationship with the customer and hope they would see the value and buy from us, didn't always work but some of the time it did and that made it worth it. All changed now but there are still some great guys in retail and shouldn't be tarred with the same brush as the heavy sellers.

I would say they won't or should say can't price match, that's not to say deals can't be done you just have to think a bit more about what you need/want from the sale.

GW does not offer discounts. Well, except to their employees. Employee discount is pretty sweet.

Not as sweet as it used to be

i wonder if gw will have the balls to go completely direct only

No, but if the blackshirt is nice enough and you sublty hint that you are a loyal customer which is trying to stay loyal, they may throw some stuff in by writing it off.

That's what I did and was able to get stuff equivalent to getting over 15% off.

GW Oz used to do "opening day sales" in the 90s. When they opened a new store (or shifted to a new location. Sydney CBD moved from the Hilton arcade to the Battlebunker where they are now, for example).

The first few In Sydney (and Wollongong) were a "buy one, get one - of equal or lesser value - free" - then they changed to "buy three, get the cheapest free", then it became "pay retail (OUR retail) on everything and get a free receipt". I was at the CBD, Wollongong and Chatswood ones, from memory (didn't get to Newcastle as Wollongong was closer to me.)

Price matching? Not going to happen again in your lifetime.

If you want lower than GW retail, BUY your stuff elsewhere - NOT GW retail.

Herzlos wrote:
You're more likely to be banned from the store if you mention their competition too loudly.

The retail staff have no power to control the prices, and are reluctant to acknowledge that discounters exist.

So... I should not wear my Bartertown t-shirt into my local GW? Say it isn't so...

Done it a couple times for newbie days.. managed to NOT get banned somehow, even though I was spreading the 'online secondhand" gospel..

And yes.. I was specificially attired for the day.. it was not a mistake in what to wear that day..

-P

Do managers not have any discretionary powers then? Many stores would give you a deal if you were to buy a heap of stuff. Given the numerous ways they seem to hamstring their managers to prevent individuality, GW just see their managers as selling stuff, not properly running a store and shaping it to an area. They seem pretty restricted on the sorts of games and events they can run at stores too, for example.

 Howard A Treesong wrote:
Do managers not have any discretionary powers then?

They do, but they still need to answer to regional managers and corporate.

Damn, I pissed myself reading the title.

winterdyne wrote:Bwahahahahahahahaha..... No.

Pacific wrote:

Spoiler:

Noir wrote:Damn, I pissed myself reading the title.

The title could be "Do Games Workshop do good things?" and this is what you'd get

 jonolikespie wrote:
I'm not sure GW would even acknowledge that discounters exist. If you brought it up with them I am sure they would tell you those discounters are the reason prices are so high though, GW needs to make some money off all those GW products after all

They like to tow the line that online discounters are killing the brick and mortar stores.

Well I can understand this argument with the FLGS, but doesn't work at all towords the GW stores witch only exist to sell GW product now and not be a place of gameing.

Thanks for the laugh OP. Needed that.

If I remember one in particular tried to argue that "Anything you buy online you end up making up for the discount in postage cost alone and you end up paying more than retail AND have to wait" I believe his words were.

As to the sales things, if I recall the word on it from them was "Discounts devalue the brand"

I don't think discounts kill FLGS. I got direct order stuff from mine and still got 10% off no sales tax too. Another has 20% off everything in store but state sales tax applies, thus keeping the price roughly equivalent. I would've paid more buying direct from GW. I could've gotten it less from online, but that adds value to my model that you can't see through the bad paint jobs. I see it though. Makes the dice roll better. Well that's what the shop keep told me. Too bad I bought orks...

No they don't. GW likes to claim that online discounters are some how fething them over despite the fact GW are obviously making money off every online sale.

GW seems to hope that their customers are ignorant to other ways to buy their products or that other games even exist. They also like to pressure customers into buying things they neither want or need much like phone shops selling contracts.

Not every GW employee is like this mind you, but the company itself is.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 doc1234 wrote:

As to the sales things, if I recall the word on it from them was "Discounts devalue the brand"

That may be the most impressive bit of bs mental gymnastics I have heard in a while.

 carlos13th wrote:

 doc1234 wrote:

As to the sales things, if I recall the word on it from them was "Discounts devalue the brand"

That may be the most impressive bit of bs mental gymnastics I have heard in a while.

Don't be silly, it makes perfect sense. GW are the Ferrari of tabletop games after all

 jonolikespie wrote:

 carlos13th wrote:

 doc1234 wrote:

As to the sales things, if I recall the word on it from them was "Discounts devalue the brand"

That may be the most impressive bit of bs mental gymnastics I have heard in a while.

Don't be silly, it makes perfect sense. GW are the Ferrari of tabletop games after all

It's true. GW do sell keychains at times.

 doktor_g wrote:
I don't think discounts kill FLGS. I got direct order stuff from mine and still got 10% off no sales tax too. Another has 20% off everything in store but state sales tax applies, thus keeping the price roughly equivalent. I would've paid more buying direct from GW. I could've gotten it less from online, but that adds value to my model that you can't see through the bad paint jobs. I see it though. Makes the dice roll better. Well that's what the shop keep told me. Too bad I bought orks...

Discount sites don't kill FLGS's per say, it's just if you play in their gameing areas then they really appreciate you buy stuff from them so they can keep offering a place for people to play their games!

Gameing areas aren't free, They coast money to have enough square footage set aside for gaming, that could be used for more product. Many FLGS's around me had to downsize to smaller stores with cheaper rent to stay completive with on-line retailers. They still carried the same amount of product, but had to axe their gaming areas. Buying from online retailers might not kill the busniess, but it will axe off their gaming area if they don't feel it's bringing in enough paying customers to justify it's existence.


But like I said that argument doesn't work for GW stores, since they only exist now to introduce people to the product and games. Once this is accomplished they expect you to go out the door and start your own groups. (Yet hope you keep comeing back to them and buying at a higher price!)

If someone doesn't play at their FLGS or don't have a FLGS near them then online retailers are a GREAT option.

 jonolikespie wrote:

 carlos13th wrote:

 doc1234 wrote:

As to the sales things, if I recall the word on it from them was "Discounts devalue the brand"

That may be the most impressive bit of bs mental gymnastics I have heard in a while.

Don't be silly, it makes perfect sense. GW are the Ferrari of tabletop games after all

Pretty sure its a ford focus or a low end mazda at best. It just has a Ferrari badge glued to the front with over priced glue and its been sprayed red with over priced spray. It also has Ferrari written in sharpie on the windows.

 carlos13th wrote:

 jonolikespie wrote:

 carlos13th wrote:

 doc1234 wrote:

As to the sales things, if I recall the word on it from them was "Discounts devalue the brand"

That may be the most impressive bit of bs mental gymnastics I have heard in a while.

Don't be silly, it makes perfect sense. GW are the Ferrari of tabletop games after all

Pretty sure its a ford focus or a low end mazda at best. It just has a Ferrari badge glued to the front with over priced glue and its been sprayed red with over priced spray. It also has Ferrari written in sharpie on the windows.

How GW see themselves

And what they realy are


On the OP there are difference in prices because of the Huuuge differences in value of money in different countries

 jonolikespie wrote:

 carlos13th wrote:

 doc1234 wrote:

As to the sales things, if I recall the word on it from them was "Discounts devalue the brand"

That may be the most impressive bit of bs mental gymnastics I have heard in a while.

Don't be silly, it makes perfect sense. GW are the Ferrari of tabletop games after all

It's not Ferrari actually, it's Porsche..

*Waits*

Drumroll please...