Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

What is going on with bitz sellers these days? Most of the ebay guys take ages to get in new releases - if they bother to at all, most are happy to just flog Marines and nothing else - and I've only managed to find a single website that even pretends to restock on a semi-regular basis and it seems literally everyone else is using them too because stuff goes out of stock almost immediately. Is there some super-secret hidey hole I'm not privy to, or are reliable sellers just that thin on the ground?

I've seen several bitz dealers active on my regular browse-through on e-bay... and they usually have the bitz I'm looking for.

Of course, the odds are I'm looking for different bitz than you are. But the dealers remain all the same.

Iv seen a bunch on the Murican side of things but its true there bits selection isnt that great. edit: On ebay

I have a feeling that when it comes to newer items its just the competition waiting to see who sets the price first.

Otherwise it could also be that they are all physical stores and they get priority.

Yeah - ebay is your main go-to these days.
Unfortunately GW has really cracked down on bitz websites in recent times, making it very hard for these people to operate.

yeah ebay is about the only full source anymore ... i do not know of any US sites that still stock bits ... and haven't happend upon one from across the water yet either.

That's the thing though, even ebay is slim pickings. Other than one shady git selling Skitarii special weapons individually, but all the backpacks from the kit including the ones for the specials in another lot, I've not been able to find any Arc Rifles up for sale. Helbrute feet and various other bits & bobs are nonexistent. Getting really frustrating.

Have you considered buying the kits and then selling the bits on ebay yourself to recover the costs?
Being in the UK you have a rich source of discount retailers to get good deals on the kits - much unlike here in Australia - we get royally stooged for GW stuff haha

http://www.bitzbox.co.uk/
Tends to have good stock on most things without the randomness of eBay, and ship internationally.

I use them often (shipping to Malaysia), they ship fast and the product is great.

Whatever you do, if you buy from horde o bits on ebay & you ever want to do business with them again do not file a claim or leave bad or neutral feedback no matter how badly they screw up or refuse to answer your emails. They block you for their mistake.

 Red_Starrise wrote:
Whatever you do, if you buy from horde o bits on ebay & you ever want to do business with them again do not file a claim or leave bad or neutral feedback no matter how badly they screw up or refuse to answer your emails. They block you for their mistake.

Wow. What a terrible company. I would never do business with a company that did that -- thanks for the heads-up.

I've noticed this recently in the UK. Also that big sellers swap eBay IDs on a nearly monthly basis. I've often wondered why.
For modern pieces, quite honestly the easiest way to secure bits is to go in person to your local GW and let people know what you're looking for, and what you'd like to trade for them. There will be people with the part, and if not, there will be someone going to buy the kit soon who can help you.

I've had joy with bitsandkits.co.uk, their bits sell out quick but they often have sales on.

That's the website I didn't name in the OP.

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
I've noticed this recently in the UK. Also that big sellers swap eBay IDs on a nearly monthly basis. I've often wondered why.
For modern pieces, quite honestly the easiest way to secure bits is to go in person to your local GW and let people know what you're looking for, and what you'd like to trade for them. There will be people with the part, and if not, there will be someone going to buy the kit soon who can help you.

Yeah, that doesn't go down so well in GW these days. I tried arranging some bitz swaps at a GW last year and we were taken aside by one of the redshirts and told explicitly we'd be banned if we did it again, and that if we wanted a part we had to buy the box that contains it.

Entirely depends on your local store's attitude, I'd say then.
I made the mistake of mentioning I'd got a broken kit at my local, and was suddenly neck deep in bits boxes and smiles.

Speaking as a bits seller... 1 man operation, on the side of a full time job. I dont really have time to clip, photograph, create listings and pricing for a new kit as often as would be ideal. Keeping the popular items in stock would be a full time job in its own right.
My shop at least gets restocked as much as I can find time for and could certainly make a lot more sales than it does because of it. I have kits on hand waiting to be broken down for listing ~ like close to a grand in kits just sat around!

~just a little insight as to why a new kit may not appear instantly with the other bit sellers. Unless I was doing this full time, frankly youve got no chance - the profit margins are not high enough to replace any actual job either ~ everything my shop makes goes into more stock once ina blue moon I might have a kit for myself which is the only payment I've had from it so far . Its largely a labour of love to support the community rather than a viable bussiness model. It supports itself and generates a little ontop to get a wider selection of stock on offer but thats about it.

 Red_Starrise wrote:
Whatever you do, if you buy from horde o bits on ebay & you ever want to do business with them again do not file a claim or leave bad or neutral feedback no matter how badly they screw up or refuse to answer your emails. They block you for their mistake.

yeah, i am still waiting on some bits from them ordered several bits on ebay about 2 weeks ago ... each company charged the same for shipping... Horde' is the only one that decided to ship it some way other then priority ... still have yet to receive what i ordered from them ... and the tracking number still shows no data found ... the other companies i had the stuff in just 2 to 3 days at the most ...

I'm not about to jump in and defend horde o bits (as I've never used them.. I'm in another country...)
But I do see it myself on my own shop, and I work in customer service for another eBay seller in a totally different sector.
Parcels absolutely can go missing in the post, and do everyday.
It might not be the sellers fault per say ~ equally they might be slacking a bit also. Its really hard to tell sometimes.

~ I'l take note from this thread and add some mechanicum to the next order for my own shop

What happened in my case is they sent me the wrong bits & then ignored my messages for a month. They even ignored the claim I opened with ebay & all I wanted was the bits I ordered. I ordered Ogre heads & got gut plates instead.

I have noticed many of the non-ebay sites seem to have stopped restocking many parts - especially for kits that are not "hot" anymore.

of course, I don't blame them - I mean, that makes business sense. Most of the ebay sellers also eventually seem to stop stocking some bits (getting riptide or triarch stalker bits is not easy these days - for the popular parts).

HairySticks wrote:
I'm not about to jump in and defend horde o bits (as I've never used them.. I'm in another country...)
But I do see it myself on my own shop, and I work in customer service for another eBay seller in a totally different sector.
Parcels absolutely can go missing in the post, and do everyday.
It might not be the sellers fault per say ~ equally they might be slacking a bit also. Its really hard to tell sometimes.

~ I'l take note from this thread and add some mechanicum to the next order for my own shop

if it had not been the same experience on what is now my 4th order from them i would normally tend to agree with you ... but i am at the point now that i will even consider paying international shipping to avoid ordering from them ... if i could at least track the package that would be different ... but not showing any data at all ... (each purchase from them has done the same ... i get it anywhere from 3 weeks to 5 weeks afterwards)

Bits and kits are great in my experience, but can be a little slow to dispatch.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also what can GW do to stop people selling stuff second hand? It's not against the law is it?

 General Kroll wrote:

Also what can GW do to stop people selling stuff second hand? It's not against the law is it?

Im not sure theres much they can do, the way it is now a bits seller need to buy at retail prices ~ no cheaper than any one else can get it - so its not a huge deal as they still sold a kit for full price...although I can imagine they might see it as not selling two kits when two or more people buy parts from a single kit. Back when GW would allow trade terms to people who sell bits there was a much much healthier profit margin on offer and it was probably quite lucrative.
I started up after GW changed the rules and stock in my shop was bought at the same price anyone has to fork out for these kits. That said, provided I carry the right kits (i.e the ones people want bits from) it can, and does sustain itself and slowly grow.

~ the delay with them might be that they list bits they dont have yet, and have to either wait for enough orders to actually buy the stuff, or for the stuff to actually arrive before being able to ship. listing stock that isnt in-stock but avil to order is common (and annoying) among ebay sellers.

HairySticks wrote:

 General Kroll wrote:

Also what can GW do to stop people selling stuff second hand? It's not against the law is it?

Im not sure theres much they can do, the way it is now a bits seller need to buy at retail prices ~ no cheaper than any one else can get it - so its not a huge deal as they still sold a kit for full price...although I can imagine they might see it as not selling two kits when two or more people buy parts from a single kit. Back when GW would allow trade terms to people who sell bits there was a much much healthier profit margin on offer and it was probably quite lucrative.
I started up after GW changed the rules and stock in my shop was bought at the same price anyone has to fork out for these kits. That said, provided I carry the right kits (i.e the ones people want bits from) it can, and does sustain itself and slowly grow.

~ the delay with them might be that they list bits they dont have yet, and have to either wait for enough orders to actually buy the stuff, or for the stuff to actually arrive before being able to ship. listing stock that isnt in-stock but avil to order is common (and annoying) among ebay sellers.

I suppose the other option would be to buy in the kits from GW at trade price, "sell" them to your bits company and then sell the bits on.

chuloopa wrote:Have you considered buying the kits and then selling the bits on ebay yourself to recover the costs?
Being in the UK you have a rich source of discount retailers to get good deals on the kits - much unlike here in Australia - we get royally stooged for GW stuff haha

Have you checked out Bunker Games? Aussie online retailer who will often have ~30% off many kits!

Red_Starrise wrote:Whatever you do, if you buy from horde o bits on ebay & you ever want to do business with them again do not file a claim or leave bad or neutral feedback no matter how badly they screw up or refuse to answer your emails. They block you for their mistake.

That's a shame, haven't used hoard o bitz for a while now, last time I did something was missing from my order, emailed them and they hastily sent out the missing bit. Sounds like they have gone downhill a bit!

 General Kroll wrote:

HairySticks wrote:

 General Kroll wrote:

Also what can GW do to stop people selling stuff second hand? It's not against the law is it?

Im not sure theres much they can do, the way it is now a bits seller need to buy at retail prices ~ no cheaper than any one else can get it - so its not a huge deal as they still sold a kit for full price...although I can imagine they might see it as not selling two kits when two or more people buy parts from a single kit. Back when GW would allow trade terms to people who sell bits there was a much much healthier profit margin on offer and it was probably quite lucrative.
I started up after GW changed the rules and stock in my shop was bought at the same price anyone has to fork out for these kits. That said, provided I carry the right kits (i.e the ones people want bits from) it can, and does sustain itself and slowly grow.

~ the delay with them might be that they list bits they dont have yet, and have to either wait for enough orders to actually buy the stuff, or for the stuff to actually arrive before being able to ship. listing stock that isnt in-stock but avil to order is common (and annoying) among ebay sellers.

I suppose the other option would be to buy in the kits from GW at trade price, "sell" them to your bits company and then sell the bits on.

There may be people doing that, but the latest trade terms from GW prohibit it. Stockists would be risking their trade contract if GW get wind of it (as far as I understand it)

SilenzZzz wrote:

 Red_Starrise wrote:
Whatever you do, if you buy from horde o bits on ebay & you ever want to do business with them again do not file a claim or leave bad or neutral feedback no matter how badly they screw up or refuse to answer your emails. They block you for their mistake.

yeah, i am still waiting on some bits from them ordered several bits on ebay about 2 weeks ago ... each company charged the same for shipping... Horde' is the only one that decided to ship it some way other then priority ... still have yet to receive what i ordered from them ... and the tracking number still shows no data found ... the other companies i had the stuff in just 2 to 3 days at the most ...

I've ordered from them many times and never had any problems.

 CT GAMER wrote:

SilenzZzz wrote:

 Red_Starrise wrote:
Whatever you do, if you buy from horde o bits on ebay & you ever want to do business with them again do not file a claim or leave bad or neutral feedback no matter how badly they screw up or refuse to answer your emails. They block you for their mistake.

yeah, i am still waiting on some bits from them ordered several bits on ebay about 2 weeks ago ... each company charged the same for shipping... Horde' is the only one that decided to ship it some way other then priority ... still have yet to receive what i ordered from them ... and the tracking number still shows no data found ... the other companies i had the stuff in just 2 to 3 days at the most ...

I've ordered from them many times and never had any problems.

apparently this evening they finally dropped the package off to be mailed .. so it is finally showing movement ... maybe by saturday or monday i will have it ... so will be about 3 weeks total.

HairySticks wrote:
Stockists would be risking their trade contract if GW get wind of it (as far as I understand it)

I know of one brick and motar in this situation. GW won't sell to them because they suspect they are a Ebay bits dealer.

Of course, when your regular GW order consists of 10 Dark Vengeance box sets, and nothing else, they probably are right to be suspicious

 adamsouza wrote:

HairySticks wrote:
Stockists would be risking their trade contract if GW get wind of it (as far as I understand it)

I know of one brick and motar in this situation. GW won't sell to them because they suspect they are a Ebay bits dealer.

Of course, when your regular GW order consists of 10 Dark Vengeance box sets, and nothing else, they probably are right to be suspicious

Its more than just if the stockist is a bits dealer. If they supply a bits dealer too~ basically acting as a distributor to the bits sellers seems to be prohibited. ~ does any one know if thats selling to bits sellers full stop? or rather giving them trade rates? I could understand how they dont want a stockist to become a distributor in this way. ~ i have the impression its about trade rates. they dont like that the bits seller could be making more % on it that they are. ~ if paying trade rate and selling for current bits prices thats what would be happening.

GW got out of the bitz buissiness, so they could sell you complete boxes. Bitz dealers, of any sort, allow you to buy just what you need/want without buying the rest of the box. GW wants us to buy full box sets and they are doing everything in thier power to make it so that it is the only option.