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If you go to GW's webstore, and open up the 40k Special Availability section, there's a Best Sellers option.

Of the 12 items there, I refuse to believe the Eldar Hemlock Wraithfighter is a best-seller....
Stormraven Gunship?
The only item there for the newest 40k codex (Guard) is the 5-man Scions kit.
There are 3 Tau items, 3 Eldar, the Imperial Knight, and 4 for Space Marines.

Am I just seeing the less-popular units at my club, or is GW's definition of Best Seller not what most people would think?
Does outright profit their way of working out, and displaying, their stock list?

I note that the Hobbit section doesn't have a Best Sellers list...

 Skinnereal wrote:
Of the 12 items there, I refuse to believe the Eldar Hemlock Wraithfighter is a best-seller....

It's one of the best looking models in the entire industry. Just goes to show what kind of a minority powergaming gakkers are.

 lord_blackfang wrote:

 Skinnereal wrote:
Of the 12 items there, I refuse to believe the Eldar Hemlock Wraithfighter is a best-seller....

It's one of the best looking models in the entire industry. Just goes to show what kind of a minority powergaming gakkers are.

Best looking maybe, but surely the Crimson Hunter sells better, being the other half of that kit.

Oh well.

 Skinnereal wrote:

 lord_blackfang wrote:

 Skinnereal wrote:
Of the 12 items there, I refuse to believe the Eldar Hemlock Wraithfighter is a best-seller....

It's one of the best looking models in the entire industry. Just goes to show what kind of a minority powergaming gakkers are.

Best looking maybe, but surely the Crimson Hunter sells better, being the other half of that kit.

Oh well.

So if the "Crimson Hunter" is "the other half of that kit"...why does it surprise you that the Hemlock/Crimson Hunter double kit is a best seller?

They're obviously looking at best sales/profit margin. Big kits cost 2 cents of plastic where the squads are one cent. More profit per kit sold, therefore these are the best sellers (for their bottom line) in popular lines they have in stock at the warehouse.

Tinfoil hat has now been removed .

List looks pretty legit to me. No sarcasm.

The hemlock does seem an odd choice... Wouldn't most gamers, competitive or otherwise only field the one?

But seriously, that isn't the surprising crazy one.

The frigging Centurions are there. The frikking Teletubby marines!

I think its less bestsellers and more what do they want to sell most.

In all honesty I would have thought Terminators of some form would have outsold Teletubby marines any day of the week.
Also, Valkyries.

the best sellers list is likely just based on a simple snap shot of what items have sold the most in the last x number of days, which means its possible for a single purchase to throw a wrench into the numbers

 Compel wrote:
The hemlock does seem an odd choice... Wouldn't most gamers, competitive or otherwise only field the one?

But seriously, that isn't the surprising crazy one.

The frigging Centurions are there. The frikking Teletubby marines!

I think its less bestsellers and more what do they want to sell most.

In all honesty I would have thought Terminators of some form would have outsold Teletubby marines any day of the week.
Also, Valkyries.

Take a look at the music, movie or video game charts.

Units shifted is no indicator of quality, and quite often people seem to have exceedingly bad taste.

 Kanluwen wrote:
So if the "Crimson Hunter" is "the other half of that kit"...why does it surprise you that the Hemlock/Crimson Hunter double kit is a best seller?

Because they're listed separately in the store... and the Crimson Hunter isn't on the best sellers list. So they're obviously tracking sales based on which version of the kit people have on the screen when they add it to their cart, rather than counting them both together.

Which one is listed first of the eldar section? If its the non crimson hunter display then thats probably why. I know I purchased the terradon display once even though I was gonna make them ripperdactyls. Simply because it was first on the list.

 Compel wrote:
The hemlock does seem an odd choice... Wouldn't most gamers, competitive or otherwise only field the one?

But seriously, that isn't the surprising crazy one.

The frigging Centurions are there. The frikking Teletubby marines!

I think its less bestsellers and more what do they want to sell most.

In all honesty I would have thought Terminators of some form would have outsold Teletubby marines any day of the week.
Also, Valkyries.

I've been playing for years, the only reason I would buy something is if I want a new kit. I have no need to buy terminators, I have enough for all of my marine armies. I did buy 3 boxes of the tele tubby marines though because they were new. Same with my chaos marines, the only thing I bought were 2 flying turkeys and 2 forge fiends. I have no need for anything else since I bought tons of cultists and a couple of chaos dark vengeance boxes for my word bearers. Now if vets and noobs are buying the new stuff, then they will probably sell better.

 insaniak wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:
So if the "Crimson Hunter" is "the other half of that kit"...why does it surprise you that the Hemlock/Crimson Hunter double kit is a best seller?

Because they're listed separately in the store... and the Crimson Hunter isn't on the best sellers list. So they're obviously tracking sales based on which version of the kit people have on the screen when they add it to their cart, rather than counting them both together.

Wraithguard and Wraithblades are listed separately in the store, but only the Wraithguard are listed.

I think that this list might have been compiled from data pulled from the old store, not the new one.

It could also be a completely bogus list. I work at a chain bookstore in the US (bet no one can guess which one ) and our 'Bestseller' list has NOTHING to do with which titles are the top ten sales in Fiction and Non-Fiction. I mean, they might be on there, but I wouldn't guarantee it.

We have stuff on there the day of release (it can't be a bestseller yet, since we haven't sold ANY).

To be fair, we aren't claiming that these are the ten best-selling Non-fiction books. We just label them bestsellers. Best out of what, we don't say. There is a reason for it, though. We used to strictly follow what our top ten selling books were in fiction and nonfiction. However, some books, because companies ordered them for seminars and leadership sessions and meetings, stayed on the non-fiction list for YEARS. There was no reason to discount them as bestsellers, because the companies would buy them anyway. It made the list stale and boring seeing "Who Moved My Cheese?" and "Seven Habits" on there every week, for literally years.

I suspect that the GW Bestseller lists are likely something like "List of Stuff that is most likely to sell more if we put it on a Bestseller list".

They're not best sellers, they're best margins, so they make a list to draw your attention to what they make the most money off of

boyd wrote:
I've been playing for years, the only reason I would buy something is if I want a new kit. I have no need to buy terminators, I have enough for all of my marine armies. I did buy 3 boxes of the tele tubby marines though because they were new. Same with my chaos marines, the only thing I bought were 2 flying turkeys and 2 forge fiends. I have no need for anything else since I bought tons of cultists and a couple of chaos dark vengeance boxes for my word bearers. Now if vets and noobs are buying the new stuff, then they will probably sell better.

I think you've got the right of it. This is, after all, why GW has been creating all new stuff with each army release. Example: Why create the Hunter/Stalker when GW could just make the Whirlwind Hyperios an option in the Codex? Because, to GW, every SM player already owns a Whirlwind model, so GW needs to make the Hunter/Stalker to sell a new model to all the SM players. Thus, the Hunter/Stalker will be a "bestseller" because every SM player will buy one (supposedly). .

 Tannhauser42 wrote:

boyd wrote:
I've been playing for years, the only reason I would buy something is if I want a new kit. I have no need to buy terminators, I have enough for all of my marine armies. I did buy 3 boxes of the tele tubby marines though because they were new. Same with my chaos marines, the only thing I bought were 2 flying turkeys and 2 forge fiends. I have no need for anything else since I bought tons of cultists and a couple of chaos dark vengeance boxes for my word bearers. Now if vets and noobs are buying the new stuff, then they will probably sell better.

I think you've got the right of it. This is, after all, why GW has been creating all new stuff with each army release. Example: Why create the Hunter/Stalker when GW could just make the Whirlwind Hyperios an option in the Codex? Because, to GW, every SM player already owns a Whirlwind model, so GW needs to make the Hunter/Stalker to sell a new model to all the SM players. Thus, the Hunter/Stalker will be a "bestseller" because every SM player will buy one (supposedly). .

Which completely flies in the face of the idea that the majority of customers aren't vets, and have a life cycle of about 12-18 months.

Herzlos wrote:

 Tannhauser42 wrote:

boyd wrote:
I've been playing for years, the only reason I would buy something is if I want a new kit. I have no need to buy terminators, I have enough for all of my marine armies. I did buy 3 boxes of the tele tubby marines though because they were new. Same with my chaos marines, the only thing I bought were 2 flying turkeys and 2 forge fiends. I have no need for anything else since I bought tons of cultists and a couple of chaos dark vengeance boxes for my word bearers. Now if vets and noobs are buying the new stuff, then they will probably sell better.

I think you've got the right of it. This is, after all, why GW has been creating all new stuff with each army release. Example: Why create the Hunter/Stalker when GW could just make the Whirlwind Hyperios an option in the Codex? Because, to GW, every SM player already owns a Whirlwind model, so GW needs to make the Hunter/Stalker to sell a new model to all the SM players. Thus, the Hunter/Stalker will be a "bestseller" because every SM player will buy one (supposedly). .

Which completely flies in the face of the idea that the majority of customers aren't vets, and have a life cycle of about 12-18 months.

Thats bull crap. Where is the evidence for this?

I think the original source was one of their reports several years ago. Some of the major former staff have also been known to talk about it.

But honestly, I don't know why anyone would see it as a surprise or "bullcrap" especially in the UK.

The way it generally goes is. A 12 year old walks into GW with his mother, thinking it's a computer game shop. They give him a space marine and a demo game. There's a "mummy, mummy, I want..." GW then get 2 years out of him. - Usually 2 Christmases and a birthday. Where he buys a load of space marines, assembles about half of them. Paints maybe half of that. Traditionally, he'd turn up to weekend games, where his mother could use GW as a babysitter so she could do some shopping.

Then the kid discovers girls / sport etc and never touches his warhammers ever again, except maybe for when he runs a carboot sale, or tries out an ebay account.

Now, obviously, I'm not referring to every GW customer, ever. However, GW is mostly about the 'churn' with, perhaps, a couple of customers per store that end up easily talked into buying every new army book that is released.

You then have a smaller proportion - that I'd guess is now shrinking more due to the price increases, but that's just a guess - of people that stopped GW, then have returned to it when they go to uni.

And, finally, you've got the even smaller proportion than that, a statistically insignificant proportion likely, who have just not stopped playing GW for 15-20 years.

 Swastakowey wrote:

Herzlos wrote:

 Tannhauser42 wrote:

boyd wrote:
I've been playing for years, the only reason I would buy something is if I want a new kit. I have no need to buy terminators, I have enough for all of my marine armies. I did buy 3 boxes of the tele tubby marines though because they were new. Same with my chaos marines, the only thing I bought were 2 flying turkeys and 2 forge fiends. I have no need for anything else since I bought tons of cultists and a couple of chaos dark vengeance boxes for my word bearers. Now if vets and noobs are buying the new stuff, then they will probably sell better.

I think you've got the right of it. This is, after all, why GW has been creating all new stuff with each army release. Example: Why create the Hunter/Stalker when GW could just make the Whirlwind Hyperios an option in the Codex? Because, to GW, every SM player already owns a Whirlwind model, so GW needs to make the Hunter/Stalker to sell a new model to all the SM players. Thus, the Hunter/Stalker will be a "bestseller" because every SM player will buy one (supposedly). .

Which completely flies in the face of the idea that the majority of customers aren't vets, and have a life cycle of about 12-18 months.

Thats bull crap. Where is the evidence for this?

That's something GW talk about as openly as anything else they do...

From my past experience working for GW the best selling items where always Chaos Black paint (or whatever the modern equivalent is), Chaos Black Spray and Space Marine Tactical squads.

There was no such thing as having too many of those in stock.

Has the Fire Warrior kit been updated for the new codex?
Every other kit there is a year old or less, apart from the stormraven which is SM's most expensive model.

So, these are all most likely to be buys for veteran gamers, but are also (generally) good looking models for collectors.
Neither group is likely to buy from GW, though.
So, I still cannot work out why this list has what it has, but I expect the answer is "GW".

 Skinnereal wrote:
If you go to GW's webstore, and open up the 40k Special Availability section, there's a Best Sellers option.

Of the 12 items there, I refuse to believe the Eldar Hemlock Wraithfighter is a best-seller....
Stormraven Gunship?
The only item there for the newest 40k codex (Guard) is the 5-man Scions kit.
There are 3 Tau items, 3 Eldar, the Imperial Knight, and 4 for Space Marines.

Am I just seeing the less-popular units at my club, or is GW's definition of Best Seller not what most people would think?
Does outright profit their way of working out, and displaying, their stock list?

I note that the Hobbit section doesn't have a Best Sellers list...

I don't get what it is you're complaining about to be honest. You do realise that not everyone buys from GW direct right? So the best sellers list will more than likely appear a bit on the funny side.

boyd wrote:

 Compel wrote:
I would have thought Terminators of some form would have outsold Teletubby marines any day of the week.

I've been playing for years, the only reason I would buy something is if I want a new kit. I have no need to buy terminators, I have enough for all of my marine armies.

GW have complained about market saturation being an issue in the past. I've often wondered how factual that it. I also have a lot of terminators, but I think the main reason I don't buy more is because they are too expensive, so I make do with what I have. If they were cheap I think I'd just keep buying them indefinitely and build companies of them in all different colours.

 angelofvengeance wrote:
I don't get what it is you're complaining about to be honest. You do realise that not everyone buys from GW direct right? So the best sellers list will more than likely appear a bit on the funny side.

Complaining? not really.
Wondering, if GW posts a list of 'best sellers', how come this lot are it?

Your comment about buying from other sellers was pretty much the main point. If people are buying big items, most of them are going to want discounts. So they'd not buy from GW, and it wouldn't be a best seller on GW's site.

This part of GW's site is just another example of their marketing strategy, one that makes no sense to me.

 Skinnereal wrote:

 angelofvengeance wrote:
I don't get what it is you're complaining about to be honest. You do realise that not everyone buys from GW direct right? So the best sellers list will more than likely appear a bit on the funny side.

Complaining? not really.
Wondering, if GW posts a list of 'best sellers', how come this lot are it?

Your comment about buying from other sellers was pretty much the main point. If people are buying big items, most of them are going to want discounts. So they'd not buy from GW, and it wouldn't be a best seller on GW's site.

This part of GW's site is just another example of their marketing strategy, one that makes no sense to me.

That list probably are it then lol. Knights seem like a reasonable product to be on there, as do Space Marines,AM, Eldar, and Tau. If you look at one of the polls on here for which armies the folk on Dakka collect, it's probably not far from the truth.

I've always heard that the number of non-players that buy GW stuff, either to paint or simply to collect, is pretty large.

The Eldar flier is one of their better recent kits, so that makes at least some sense.

 lord_blackfang wrote:

 Skinnereal wrote:
Of the 12 items there, I refuse to believe the Eldar Hemlock Wraithfighter is a best-seller....

It's one of the best looking models in the entire industry. Just goes to show what kind of a minority powergaming gakkers are.

This. A torrent of angry posts on the internet does not equal an actual majority of gamers.

KommissarKarl wrote:

 lord_blackfang wrote:

 Skinnereal wrote:
Of the 12 items there, I refuse to believe the Eldar Hemlock Wraithfighter is a best-seller....

It's one of the best looking models in the entire industry. Just goes to show what kind of a minority powergaming gakkers are.

This. A torrent of angry posts on the internet does not equal an actual majority of gamers.

Then again, GW's online store might not be where most people get their stuff.