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As much as i love the hype of rumour hunting, leaks and announcements, etc.... I sometimes find it hard to save money for GW. For example, I had a paypal wallet of £50 I saved up from digital work ready to buy anything Ork related if GW brought it out so I didn't have to worry closer to the time if I was low on money (The £50 came from selling digital items, ebay and odd helping out here and there so it didnt come from my bank account, making me feel less guilty making big buys with the £50 to help out) However, I have no idea if GW will even bring anything Orky out so when the summer steam sale hit a few weeks ago (and is still going) I found myself spending my Paypal money on a bunch of games I wanted and knew weren't going to be on sale forever. Therefore, I now only have £10 left in my Paypal that was going to go on warhammer but now won't (I have pretty good control over my model buying so I very much so now will buy a lot less models from gw if something Ork did happen).

So, I was wondering if any of you guy have the same problem? My brain says "there is a 50% chance you will spend that money on a new thing you don't even know is comming or a 100% chance of buying some great game deals you were already waiting to buy anyway). If GW did show off new models I know I would have never have bought those games and would have saved even more for a huge spending spree at GW. (Huge for me is about £100 because I have no interest in buying new multiple models before the old ones are finished and painted. This way it feels more like a hobby rather than an addiction XD )


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On an additional note: Even when it comes to stuff I didn't think I wanted (like forgebane, renegade knights....) I still never bought them because they gave me little time to prepare my schedule for painting and prepare the money from my daily life and other hobbies.

But at the same time I love that they havr these huge announcements! The idea of hearing about something and buying it a week or so later is great. Many time I hear about a movie or game and forget about it only to see it come out 3 years later.

the idea behind their not giving us much warning is if they announce things out too far ahead it curbs impluse buying. well IMHO this likely doesn't apply much to large models (if you want a knight you're proably buying a knight) there may be some truth of it for smaller models, people may for example be more likely to decide they want a pack of Ork Boyz if they don't know that Truk is coming, but if they really really want that new trukk, they'll buy it eventually anyway

It depends on the context, but when it comes to the upcoming Orks yes I'm having a hard time saving my money. There might not be any new models, but on the other hand maybe it will be a huge release, who knows?

I often jump on good deals, even if in retrospect I'm not sure I wanted that army (or whatever). So I keep telling myself "save your money for orks" and then I buy Forgebane. And then I buy the Renegade box. Right now I'm in negotiations for a Moon Clan AoS army.

I don't buy much entertainment other than GW products, so in a certain context it isn't hard to save my money for GW because that's what I'm going to spend it on anyway. When it comes to individual GW kits it can be difficult. I keep saving up for a Gargantuan Squiggoth from Forge World, but then I'll notice an entire used army for sale cheap and jump on that instead.

On the plus side I've picked up apoc-sized armies of Tyranids, Tau and AdMech (and more Orks) over the last year for extremely cheap.

BrianDavion wrote:
the idea behind their not giving us much warning is if they announce things out too far ahead it curbs impluse buying. well IMHO this likely doesn't apply much to large models (if you want a knight you're proably buying a knight) there may be some truth of it for smaller models, people may for example be more likely to decide they want a pack of Ork Boyz if they don't know that Truk is coming, but if they really really want that new trukk, they'll buy it eventually anyway

I can only speak from my experience but a lot of times I would actually buy more models if I knew one was comming out. Right now I want to buy more Ork bikers but I'm holding off to see if traks and buggies come. If I knew I would buy them now to prepare but if they did come out and i did not know they were comming id buy the buggies and forget about the bikes as i have done in the past with new models. XD because by the time the buggies are painted ive moved onto the next new modelmor game or movie.

Isn't impulse buying like kind of a bad thing? It targets the same people that fall prey to micro transactions etc.

 Dakka Flakka Flame wrote:
It depends on the context, but when it comes to the upcoming Orks yes I'm having a hard time saving my money. There might not be any new models, but on the other hand maybe it will be a huge release, who knows?

I often jump on good deals, even if in retrospect I'm not sure I wanted that army (or whatever). So I keep telling myself "save your money for orks" and then I buy Forgebane. And then I buy the Renegade box. Right now I'm in negotiations for a Moon Clan AoS army.

I don't buy much entertainment other than GW products, so in a certain context it isn't hard to save my money for GW because that's what I'm going to spend it on anyway. When it comes to individual GW kits it can be difficult. I keep saving up for a Gargantuan Squiggoth from Forge World, but then I'll notice an entire used army for sale cheap and jump on that instead.

On the plus side I've picked up apoc-sized armies of Tyranids, Tau and AdMech (and more Orks) over the last year for extremely cheap.

Yeah... before I moved to Vietnam I used to spend an hour every night on ebay... got a bunch 8f orks for cheap... ranging from 20 new on sprues for £10 all the way to 60 orks for minus money because I got 100 orks orginaly but sold the ones I didn't want go make a profit and still keep 60 orks.

Karol wrote:
Isn't impulse buying like kind of a bad thing? It targets the same people that fall prey to micro transactions etc.

Bad for whom? Company or customer? Company cares only about their profit margin and GW doesn't care much if one customer stops buying due to those as their business model is based on attracting new players. Older players are of less concern so effect on existing customer base should be pretty darn bad.

Karol wrote:
Isn't impulse buying like kind of a bad thing? It targets the same people that fall prey to micro transactions etc.

Yes, the community calls them whales. Sad fact is (as someone who had a friend who worked for a mobile game) almost 70+% of their money came from only 10 <% of their players who would spend £20-100+ a week on the game.
It's something I would love to stop but unfortunately right now it makes them a lot of money (not sure about gw). My partner (who does business) says it's a weird place right now for this kind of business. A lot of companies jump on it but it's not sustainable. It only gives you a short burst of money for a year or two but the buyers who spend big always move to somewhere else and the money runs out. However, the difference is a mobile game is a throw away thing... it's cheap to make and gives a great amount of money. Gw and models are not cheap to make.

it's better than cannadough.

I try to save up but there's always something I need, paint, glue, etc...and then that's less that goes into the kitty for models. But now and then I get a bug up my ass and spend waayy too much impulse buying e.g. forgebane, felt I needed a land raider helios, nephew wanted bad guys so started ynarri.

yes they could give 2 scheiss about anything but $€£¥, but they should care about long term customer engagement.

There's more than enough old stuff out that I'd like to pick up that new releases rarely phase me. I tend to save up the small bonuses I occasionally get at work and then buy a lot of models at once. It's rare I'll impulse buy. Did it a bit around Xmas time with the Tau battle force and the store's last old SC Nids box, but again, those were funded off money other than my wages.
I have a few other hobbies so I try to plan my spending carefully.

The only one that caught me out was IK:R's re-release. I'd already spent my hobby budget the month it came out and ended up dipping into my pockets for it. The boxed sets are a bit frustrating as you don't know if they'll be around for 2 months or 2 years. If it's new models I can wait for months before I purchase them as I know they'll be there for the foreseeable future.

I impulse bought once at gw... it was boxing day and was the limited slymarbo... I bought it for a friend who then painted a model for me in return. XD


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phillv85 wrote:
The only one that caught me out was IK:R's re-release. I'd already spent my hobby budget the month it came out and ended up dipping into my pockets for it. The boxed sets are a bit frustrating as you don't know if they'll be around for 2 months or 2 years. If it's new models I can wait for months before I purchase them as I know they'll be there for the foreseeable future.

Yeah... i get this... i want to buy the Renegade but want to see what orks have to offer. In the end though I'll likely say no to hoth and buy the new AoS kit. I always wanted to start a AoS army that could be a new place to start. Depends on how good the orks are... but for right now gw doesn't get my money.

Nope, not a problem. GW is cheap. If I want something I buy it. If i I want to do something else I do that and maybe buy a GW thing later if I want it. Once you're an adult with a real job you don't worry about saving up over weeks/months for a $50 toy.

I don't save money for it. I have a small budget each month and I just buy what I want.

It is exceptionally rare that I buy new GW products, so it's not a big deal. My system is simple: if it's in Paypal, it's fun money. So I only get Paypal from selling stuff on eBay (either my stuff or commission).

Most of my armies are conversions from bits, or using old metals.

It kind of is and isn't in my case.

I earn a pretty good wage in my job. However, marriage, two kids under 5, new house and so forth means my actual spare money is tight.

However, me and my wife have £25 a month going into each others personal savings account that we use for personal items. This way, I'm able to buy what I want, but it's usually a monthly purchase that helps me paint what I've got first!

 Peregrine wrote:
Nope, not a problem. GW is cheap. If I want something I buy it. If i I want to do something else I do that and maybe buy a GW thing later if I want it. Once you're an adult with a real job you don't worry about saving up over weeks/months for a $50 toy.

While I don't 100% agree with this sentiment, as it's not everyone's economic situation, GW isn't expensive on the scale of hobbies. And I know that a lot of people, especially young men, are really, really bad at saving money. I work with enough 20-30 year olds to see how much they spend on take out lunches vs brown bagging their own lunch, and just that change alone would fund a GW hobby of 2-3 armies a year, with cash to spare.

No, there's not a lot else that I want to divert my cash, so my recreation-allocated fundscan generally be fully devotes to miniatures.

The real question is whether I buy something new that looks cool now, orsave it for something that I may want later. I'm always in a roundabout as toexactly what I want to buy.

Also, books. It wasn't a problem when I only played ig, but now I'm looking at 4, possibly more, codecies plus ca and stutf and that really eats into my discretionary spending pool.

John Prins wrote:

 Peregrine wrote:
Nope, not a problem. GW is cheap. If I want something I buy it. If i I want to do something else I do that and maybe buy a GW thing later if I want it. Once you're an adult with a real job you don't worry about saving up over weeks/months for a $50 toy.

While I don't 100% agree with this sentiment, as it's not everyone's economic situation, GW isn't expensive on the scale of hobbies. And I know that a lot of people, especially young men, are really, really bad at saving money. I work with enough 20-30 year olds to see how much they spend on take out lunches vs brown bagging their own lunch, and just that change alone would fund a GW hobby of 2-3 armies a year, with cash to spare.

This. Honestly, 40k isn't that expensive. If you're making below a living wage it's another story, but...

If you eat a out for lunch daily, on an order of $5-$10, just cut that out in favor of a bucket of leftovers or a sandwich, you can fairly easy expect to be able to afford a new toy on a monthly basis if you want it.

I gave up on saving for GW, as I never knew what was coming out next.

I simply buy as I have an opportunity or need. Unfortunately, lately I've way overspent on buying GW product, for reasons I can't really explain as I have more than I'll ever use as it is right now.

 Elbows wrote:
It is exceptionally rare that I buy new GW products, so it's not a big deal. My system is simple: if it's in Paypal, it's fun money. So I only get Paypal from selling stuff on eBay (either my stuff or commission).

Most of my armies are conversions from bits, or using old metals.

I'm very much the same... a few people just presume everyone lives like they do and if they don't then they're a child or a poor person but i have a busy life of expensive travelling due to my partners family living in the other side of the earth and my job requires me to move about, etc... I could spend £1000 on gw models or I could spend that on plane tickets and the likes... my hoby money really comes from ebay and my digital work. I also work as a teacher so not sure if people count that as a real job or not... but, even when I do have the money GW is just a hobby, it's something to save spare money up for, not every day money. Or my partner would kill me. XD but also, I like to keep it to hobby money because I'm not a competitive player, it's just something fun.

 lolman1c wrote:

Karol wrote:
Isn't impulse buying like kind of a bad thing? It targets the same people that fall prey to micro transactions etc.

Yes, the community calls them whales. Sad fact is (as someone who had a friend who worked for a mobile game) almost 70+% of their money came from only 10 <% of their players who would spend £20-100+ a week on the game.
It's something I would love to stop but unfortunately right now it makes them a lot of money (not sure about gw). My partner (who does business) says it's a weird place right now for this kind of business. A lot of companies jump on it but it's not sustainable. It only gives you a short burst of money for a year or two but the buyers who spend big always move to somewhere else and the money runs out. However, the difference is a mobile game is a throw away thing... it's cheap to make and gives a great amount of money. Gw and models are not cheap to make.

yeah that is what I been thinking. I mean from what I have been told, in editions past people got a codex or update every 2-3 months. In 8th there is something almost every month, and at the start of the edition start they were puting stuff even faster. Those whale dudes must have generated a huge income spike for GW.

If you eat a out for lunch daily, on an order of $5-$10, just cut that out in favor of a bucket of leftovers or a sandwich, you can fairly easy expect to be able to afford a new toy on a monthly basis if you want it.

Man I do not envy you guys 10$ for a meal is crazy.

While I don't 100% agree with this sentiment, as it's not everyone's economic situation, GW isn't expensive on the scale of hobbies. And I know that a lot of people, especially young men, are really, really bad at saving money. I work with enough 20-30 year olds to see how much they spend on take out lunches vs brown bagging their own lunch, and just that change alone would fund a GW hobby of 2-3 armies a year, with cash to spare.

That is true, but there is also the fact that the cost of a GW army is not the same around the world. 800$ is more then an employee under 35 makes monthly here, and in some cases this doesn't even buy a full painted army. So yeah if someone lives in a place where the pay is something crazy like 2-3$ an hour the hobby may feel different to places where you make 1-1,5$ .

10$ would buy me 3 meals in thd uk and about 6 or 7 here in vietnam. XD but then again, i est mainly sandwich or noodles. XD

yeah around 5-6 here. Of course you could go ham,ask grandparents to "hunt" a boar that run around in huge packs for techniclly free, buy a sack of potatoes and live 2-3 weeks on that, but it is a bit extrem and some people maybe crazy vegans, or something like that.

A meal usually costs me about $3-$6 if I make it myself and about $8-$12 if I eat out. That's food that's not particularly expensive or cheap (a meat sandwich, chicken with some salad, etc.).

Sometimes I feel ashamed of how much money I spend on Warhammer stuff. Then I think of all the people I know who are spending $30 a day on beer and cigarettes and I don't feel so bad anymore.

It's why I like to save up for my hobbies or use ebay money. I don't feel guilty in anyway for doing it if it doesn't come from the money that is used to support my family.

For example, the Morkanaut in my profile picture. I one time sold some items in my house for an unusually high price (just a good ebay bidder day I geuss) so I have like £100 in my account but didn't want anything but a center peice for me army. So when i found someone who offered to pro paint me a Morkanaut for £30 plus the price of the Morkanaut I was happy to pay that price even if it seemed high.... and then i got the thing and it looks amazing! Was worth it and guilt free! Although I like to paint a lot of my own army it also saved me on hours of my own time that I then spent working... so all is good and why I like to save up for stuff.

I wish there were banks for people under 18, letting parents hold your money ends up with them buying you a new pair of jeans or schools books with your birthday money. In the end I think that if someone is not able to get a money to buy a full army in 6th months, then it may not be worth it to start. Because even if you buy the best of the best and start on CA comes out, it is still only 6 months till major nerfs, that can turn real money in to paper weights.

What? Even when I was under 18 my parents just let em keep hold of my money for Christmas and Birthday. It taught valuable lessons!

and what kind of parent uses birthday money to buy them clothes and books for school?!

Some lovely entitlement and willful ignorance of the huge variation in economic circumstances in here. Not from everyone, thankfully. Saying that GW isn't an expensive hobby is great, in comparison to some hobbies, sure. In comparison to some others, it's quite a pricey one. Prices are different in different countries, as are wages, and we clearly do have members who are still in school as well. Let's not be dicks because we're better off than other posters?

 Dakka Flakka Flame wrote:

Sometimes I feel ashamed of how much money I spend on Warhammer stuff. Then I think of all the people I know who are spending $30 a day on beer and cigarettes and I don't feel so bad anymore.

This is something that hits me every now and then but then i remember;

- I know a guy who has been known to spend £300+ on cocaine in 1 weekend- hes on minimum wage.
- I know a guy who probably spends the same per week on steroids- he is self employed, paid cash in hand- works 7 days a week to pay rent on top of "supplies"
- I know a guy who takes breaks during work (night shifts on call) to visit hookers- REGULARLY

People spend way more money on way worse things that little plastic men.

My saving grace with the hobby is that I paint reasonably well, very quickly. I'm able to make pretty much my entire hobby budget up doing quick turnaround commission paint jobs. You want a knight painted in a week, I can do that for you...it'll just cost you 120$. I use a combination of spraycan primers and a cheap 20$ compressed air can testors airbrush for a lot of my base coating/stencil work and I've gotten very good at large brush technique, so I do a lot of big vehicles and terrain projects.

As long as there's no shortage of people with more money than time, I'll have a good, solid way to make my hobby money.