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My purchasing of GW product has really dwindled during the course of the last 3 consecutive price hikes. Not because I can't afford it, but because I find a lot of the pricing offensive.

The "Annual Price Hike" is the penalty for playing.

I remember when we were mad as hell about the increase of the infantry /troops to 25.00 a box.
That was back in the days of 16 man box sets.

Lucky for me though I'm back to 2d and 3d edition figures, so they can increase those prices till the cows come home. The real problem comes to more shops shutting down, loss of gaming space, loss of interest.

GW had better start reading the tea leaves, because the terrain isn't 1990, anymore. Licensing only gets you attention, it doesn't keep you alive.

Have they said what it will be in Tariffland?

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Also worth understanding how inflation is calculated. You can read about that here

So it’s not entirely precise. It doesn’t take into account how much manufacturing costs have gone up in a given period - only how much of any such increase is passed on to the end consumer. I.E. smelly little Herbert’s like me.

That can delay the impact of silliness like the mini-budget which set light to the UK economy. In short, if business A absorbed some of that impact to ensure better prices for its customers? It may not be able to do so further down the line when more regular economic pressures are floating about.

Also? Inflation Figures. creates no obligation on manufacturers. Whilst it’s nice when they do so, my employer isn’t required to up my pay in-line with inflation every year. If Company A wants to increase its prices by 20% for the hell of it, they’re entirely free to do so.

For sure. Inflation isnt equalized. Some goods can go up 50%, while others actually decrease 50%. If that happens, your inflation rate is 0%. Just because an inflation rate is published at 4% doesn't mean that everything is going up only 4%, some things might be going up 2% while other things are going up 8%, etc. Thats just a generalized weighted average number based on a basket of common goods.

I don't buy anything from GW really, I get it all from FLGS with a 20% knock off. It'll get to a point where I feel even the 20% isn't enough which will be a shame but there it is. I don't know how people are getting by at the minute, everything is expensive.

 Eldarain wrote:
Have they said what it will be in Tariffland?

4% average

IIRC they said the prices will increase an average of 4% - that doesn't necessarily mean that the prices in each market are increasing by the same rate or that all markets are seeing a 4% increase. It wouldnt be the first time that items in one area increased at a higher rate than in other areas.

I hope you write just as long posts about every other company you ever buy a product from every time they change their prices.

what an absurdly meaningless random comment.

Games Workshop is a lifestyle brand, that means customers are more engaged with their products and take greater interest in things like price hikes than they will if, say, mcdonalds announces a price hike on french fries.

Vorian wrote:

Not even GW has said so, and most (almost all) years their raises have not even a passing resemblance with inflation (plus, as said, inflation varies from country), so citation needed

The thousands of companies that raise their prices each year don't announce it each year. But it's inflation. This is not a secret.

Most of inflation is companies arbitrarily raising prices for the hell of it, that's no secret either.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Kind of?

Again, it’s not something anyone has to like, but GW’s legal responsibility is to their shareholders. And that’s to maximise profits.

Now, there is more to that than just “slap a high price on it”. If you price yourself out of the market, your sales suffer and you can easily produce reduced profits as a result.

So if you increase by 4% (to use the announced one), but that results in a 5% drop in sales? You’re not maximising profits.

Naturally it’s all much more complex than that, but as a nutshell description it’ll work for this thread.

What we can add is that for decades now, certainly since I first joined Portent in what, 1998? People have been saying that this price increase is definitely the one to break the camel’s back. And it’s never really happened. In recent years, GW has seen serious and sustained year on year growth.

Doesn’t mean GW can’t still price themselves out of the market. But it does kinda go to show that GW know what they’re about, and seem to be getting it right.

That is simply not true and shows an utter ignorance of commercial laws. The Friedman doctrine is a theory of businees ethics not a legal obligation

GrosseSax wrote:
My purchasing of GW product has really dwindled during the course of the last 3 consecutive price hikes. Not because I can't afford it, but because I find a lot of the pricing offensive.

Me too their arbitrous pricing is tough to get around especially when you see what people in Europe are paying for the same product, it is easily around 30-40% difference. I stopped buying most GW stuff.

With this price hike, only thing i may get is 40k 11th ed box set, holiday battleforces, and maybe an army release box, that is if I can even get them. Most of the time they sell out so fast and I have no desire to try to chase down a place to take my money or worry about getting a product. The whole allocation system they are using sucks, it rewards scalpers and i mean at this point they might as well just raise their prices to double, if they don't care about demand, that way the supply and demand will meet. They have already said their directive is only to make "X" amount of products in a one and done kind of scenario. Eventually it will go to MTO only through GW website and they can charge anything that people are willing to pay, which has been proven, can be any price.

New releases regularly sell out on the day of preorder. Older releases are regularly out of stock and there is a pre-existing system for getting email reminders of restocks. MFers are buying this stuff as fast as GW can make it.

If you're running a business and this is your reality, _not_ raising prices now and again would be an obvious mistake.

I spent many years thinking that GW would eventually price itself into bankruptcy, but they're still chugging along, and that's great.

The last "new" GW product I bought was the LotR movie stuff, so I'm not really affected, but I do find the move reassuring. In a world of turmoil, we can still rely on death, taxes, and GW raising its prices.

Commissar von Toussaint wrote:
I spent many years thinking that GW would eventually price itself into bankruptcy, but they're still chugging along, and that's great.

The last "new" GW product I bought was the LotR movie stuff, so I'm not really affected, but I do find the move reassuring. In a world of turmoil, we can still rely on death, taxes, and GW raising its prices.

I must admit that i always tought the same. But kudos to GW, they are racking in absoluty insane profit. It shows how much kirby was mismanaging that com’any

 kodos wrote:

They can't be using new capacity to only build new stuff, letting old stuff go out of stock to the point people can't buy stuff for weeks at a time.
Producing artificially low numbers of the new product to keep prices high.

 kodos wrote:
the reason I never started a Dark Eldar Army and Slaanesh Daemon Army in 7thE40k was because my orders vanished in the void as they were currently not available (which changed after I pre ordered) and were canceled after months (one via GW the other a 3rd party retailer)

7th edition 40K was 2014-2017. You cannot say GW products have always been out-of-stock, for 25 years, if your counter begins in 2014. Do you understand?

From the late 90's through ~2015ish there were not chronic availability issues. I believe the first time the problems became widely known was indeed during the 7th edition years, when GW had to start emergency-shipping products in the generic white boxes and people started to put 1+1 together. The seriousness of the problem has waxed and waned over the last decade, but in recent years it's been constant. Products out of stock for long periods of time, unknown restock dates, and inventory that is often immediately snapped up after a restock so that only the vigilant get what they want.


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 streetsamurai wrote:

That is simply not true and shows an utter ignorance of commercial laws. The Friedman doctrine is a theory of businees ethics not a legal obligation

They're talking about this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_v._Ford_Motor_Co.

Nevertheless, uncredentialed British know-it-alls have been saying the same thing for 20+ years about GW, despite people regularly pointing out that they;re talking about an American paradigm. Contrarians regularly ask them for examples of equivalent British law and I don't think I've ever seen an explanation provided (although that doesn't mean one doesn't exist, for I am uncredentialed as well).

 streetsamurai wrote:

Commissar von Toussaint wrote:
I spent many years thinking that GW would eventually price itself into bankruptcy, but they're still chugging along, and that's great.

The last "new" GW product I bought was the LotR movie stuff, so I'm not really affected, but I do find the move reassuring. In a world of turmoil, we can still rely on death, taxes, and GW raising its prices.

I must admit that i always tought the same. But kudos to GW, they are racking in absoluty insane profit. It shows how much kirby was mismanaging that com’any

I actually think GW focusing on there skirmish and side games has been huge for keeping people buying, and in the GW hobby. My little club has effectively dropped 40K, But Kill team was strong even through it’s decline. And Necromunda, old world are driving huge revival in GW sales locally. Even Age of Sigmar is seeing interest with a skirmish rebuild.
They have options for players, and that’s big!

MaxT wrote:
I hope you write just as long posts about every other company you ever buy a product from every time they change their prices.

I’d think about it, but most companies I buy from seem to raise their prices every 10 years or so, not every year. AND they make all of their models (that I buy), in METAL. You know, that alloy that was so expensive, that GW had to move to plastics, and pass some of that sweet, sweet savings to its customers. LOL. And they’re stuff is in stock…

 Altruizine wrote:

 kodos wrote:

They can't be using new capacity to only build new stuff, letting old stuff go out of stock to the point people can't buy stuff for weeks at a time.
Producing artificially low numbers of the new product to keep prices high.

 kodos wrote:
the reason I never started a Dark Eldar Army and Slaanesh Daemon Army in 7thE40k was because my orders vanished in the void as they were currently not available (which changed after I pre ordered) and were canceled after months (one via GW the other a 3rd party retailer)

7th edition 40K was 2014-2017. You cannot say GW products have always been out-of-stock, for 25 years, if your counter begins in 2014. Do you understand?

From the late 90's through ~2015ish there were not chronic availability issues. I believe the first time the problems became widely known was indeed during the 7th edition years, when GW had to start emergency-shipping products in the generic white boxes and people started to put 1+1 together. The seriousness of the problem has waxed and waned over the last decade, but in recent years it's been constant. Products out of stock for long periods of time, unknown restock dates, and inventory that is often immediately snapped up after a restock so that only the vigilant get what they want.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 streetsamurai wrote:

That is simply not true and shows an utter ignorance of commercial laws. The Friedman doctrine is a theory of businees ethics not a legal obligation

They're talking about this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_v._Ford_Motor_Co.

Nevertheless, uncredentialed British know-it-alls have been saying the same thing for 20+ years about GW, despite people regularly pointing out that they;re talking about an American paradigm. Contrarians regularly ask them for examples of equivalent British law and I don't think I've ever seen an explanation provided (although that doesn't mean one doesn't exist, for I am uncredentialed as well).

Of course. But that judgements doesnt says that a corporation goal is to maximise profit. It said that a corporation has to work in the interest of its shareholder. Which can be interpreted numerous ways, and by no means mean a corporation has to maximise its profit, especially in the short term by price gouging its customers.

And has you said, this is a US ruling that is completely irrelevant to GW situation. In fact the UK Company Act pretty much explicitly states that theres no such legal obligation of profit maximization.

(1)A director of a company must act in the way he considers, in good faith, would be most likely to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole, and in doing so have regard (amongst other matters) to—

(a)the likely consequences of any decision in the long term,

(b)the interests of the company's employees,

(c)the need to foster the company's business relationships with suppliers, customers and others,

(d)the impact of the company's operations on the community and the environment,

(e)the desirability of the company maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct, and

(f)the need to act fairly as between members of the company.

MaxT wrote:
I hope you write just as long posts about every other company you ever buy a product from every time they change their prices.

No, but I do discuss it to death with my wife when my electricity company, oil company, and food prices go up every few months. If those had a populated forum that I frequented on a daily basis I would (probably) write long posts about them as well. In fact, the oil goes up and down daily and we often monitor it to catch the best deals and if there was a forum to catch the best offers, I'd be there as much as I'm on here!

Maybe not every time they change their prices as I'd be there doing it way more often than I would be here! The big difference is that I can't live without those things and they are unavoidable costs and very hard to lower. We attempted to lower our electric bill during the huge markups during covid, doing the full blown 'turn off every device when not in use, turn off lights when not in the room etc etc.' and it lowered the bill by about €1 per bill. Not at all worth all the hassle and worry.

But Gw/Hobby products have the advantage of seeing huge price hikes, but there being alternatives and huge ways to cut the costs to still be able to enjoy the hobby without spending the money GW demands. Being able to discuss it helps, the forum is advertising a lot of alternatives after all. Even purely sticking to GW games/models doesn't mean you can't save some money.

 Altruizine wrote:
You cannot say GW products have always been out-of-stock, for 25 years, if your counter begins in 2014. Do you understand?

I mentioned 7th 40k as reply to a specific mention of 7th
My counter begins with 5th fantasy (as mentioned above) and that was late 90ies

and getting certain model was a pain back in those days, like why I have 3 mortars and only a single cannon for my Empire Army, Cannons were always out of stock (and mail order a special experience)

 Albertorius wrote:
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 Jammer87 wrote:
Yeah, it actually makes sense when you look at it from GW’s perspective. Their paints live in a way more competitive market — Vallejo, Army Painter, Pro Acryl, Scale 75, even the random Amazon knock-offs. In terms of value and quality, GW can’t just jack the price up without people instantly jumping ship to something that’s basically the same or better.

Their models though? Totally different story. Like it or not, GW’s minis are head and shoulders above most of the competition. Sure, other companies make good sculpts, but GW’s sheer design volume, consistency, and brand pull are on another level. That gives them the leverage to push the prices up on plastic crack while keeping paints steady. Basically: paints are in the cola wars, minis are a monopoly on a really addictive flavor.

Smaller scales at the very least would beg to differ.

They also don't make great cars. What is the point you're trying to make?

 Jammer87 wrote:
They also don't make great cars. What is the point you're trying to make?

...exactly what I said? That they are not actually heads and shoulders above most competition when talking about small scales (re: LImps/AT), which GW actually makes, instead of cars?

I think that depends on what youre comparing. Epic scale infantry - GW is mid. Tanks - GW is better but maybe not head and shoulders. Titans/superheavy type stuff? Yeah, GW is on another level, more than just head and shoulders.

Honestly the infantry (mostly marines) are the only place GW lets themselves down at that scale.

Everything else GW are as good if not way better than their competition on that scale.

I think if you limit to sci-fi then GW is very much ahead of the game where most of the others are either just dipping their goes into plastics or are using much older metal casting methods.
I'd also say that artistically GW are very ahead of many others in this area in particular in sci-fi

chaos0xomega wrote:
I think that depends on what youre comparing. Epic scale infantry - GW is mid. Tanks - GW is better but maybe not head and shoulders. Titans/superheavy type stuff? Yeah, GW is on another level, more than just head and shoulders.

Tanks are better detail wise, but the tradeoff is a million parts unfortunately :(. AT stuff I'll give them that, for sure.

 Overread wrote:
Honestly the infantry (mostly marines) are the only place GW lets themselves down at that scale.

Everything else GW are as good if not way better than their competition on that scale.

Unless GW started adding working running gear and rubber tracks to their vehicles, they're still pretty weak on the vehicle front.

I remember when the LotR models came out and people were shocked, stunned that GW could make figures with realistic proportions rather than clown-sized weapons and giant hands. I guess the rest of the ranges have caught up somewhat, but it's all relative. A model is just a representation on a map, and if I can buy three kit-bashable Tamiya tanks for the same price of one GW, I know where I'm going.

It's fun seeing people still arguing if they are "worth it," but obviously someone thinks so, or they'd have gone under.

I should clarify that I have bought GW models more recently than 2004 or whenever, but not from GW. Huge amounts of older models on the secondary market, and that meshes well with my 2nd ed. army collection. In fact, it adds to the charm to have those one-pose models, especially since I've gotten good enough to reposition them into all sorts of fun poses.

Yeah but GW aren't specifically competing with historicals - who I agree do often have an edge on fine details on smaller tanks.

But on the sci-fi front most others pale in comparison to what GW can produce. Granted its also a medium which is super niche so a lot of the competition is often "one man in his shed with a metal caster"

They postponed releasing the Knight codex until they raised their prices?

This is unfair! How dare they treat us like some Dark Eldar player!

 Albertorius wrote:

 Jammer87 wrote:
They also don't make great cars. What is the point you're trying to make?

...exactly what I said? That they are not actually heads and shoulders above most competition when talking about small scales (re: LImps/AT), which GW actually makes, instead of cars?

I think it’s worth pointing out that Games Workshop has never really positioned itself as the company for small-scale gaming. Their bread and butter has always been the 28mm range, where they’ve consistently pushed detail, design, and plastic kit engineering further than most competitors.

When they’ve dipped into smaller scales — Epic, Aeronautica, Adeptus Titanicus, etc. — it’s been very much a side project compared to the mainline Warhammer ranges. Those releases are sporadic, limited in scope, and clearly not the focus of their design studio or marketing machine. Meanwhile, companies that specialize in 6mm, 10mm, or even 15mm have built their reputations on decades of experience in those niches.

So, saying GW “doesn’t make the best small-scale models” is kind of missing the mark. They don’t really try to dominate that space. Their focus is on 28mm, and that’s where they put the overwhelming majority of their resources and creative energy.