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.

So I was at Dragon Con this weekend in Atlanta and GW had a vendor table where they happened to have a bunch of FW stuff on sale. They had a ton of clam packs as well as showing off the new big pieces (Mastadon, thunderhawk, etc.) and it was the first time I had seen the prices listed in US Dollars rather than British Pounds. The Secutarii were available for preorder with free shipping if you purchased them there (no minimum order) and I was very tempted to order them but I was put off by the price. The Secutarii were listed at $39 US. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they are currently on the website for 23.50 UK which equates to 31.35 US given the current exchange rate. Even if I ordered it online and paid normal FW shipping (15%) that would only come to $36.05, almost a full $3 less than They would cost online. When I pointed this out to the salesman who was english, he didn't have much to say and actually seemed to get a little short and aggravated with me which full on put me off my purchase right there. I'm curious, is this a normal practice for GW when selling FW at events around the states and has anyone else had a similar experience? I can understand with the variable currency rate that there can be discrepancies but it seemed a little sheisty and I definitely didn't appreciate the sales person getting irritated when I pointed it out.

Probably pricing them to take some of the hit off of the recent plunge in exchange rate due to Brexit.

Screw em. Personally I find Forgeworld stuff to be over-priced already but yeah, if it's not legit - don't buy it. And let them know, regardless of how irate they may be.

 Dramagod2 wrote:
So I was at Dragon Con this weekend in Atlanta and GW had a vendor table where they happened to have a bunch of FW stuff on sale. They had a ton of clam packs as well as showing off the new big pieces (Mastadon, thunderhawk, etc.) and it was the first time I had seen the prices listed in US Dollars rather than British Pounds. The Secutarii were available for preorder with free shipping if you purchased them there (no minimum order) and I was very tempted to order them but I was put off by the price. The Secutarii were listed at $39 US. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they are currently on the website for 23.50 UK which equates to 31.35 US given the current exchange rate. Even if I ordered it online and paid normal FW shipping (15%) that would only come to $36.05, almost a full $3 less than They would cost online. When I pointed this out to the salesman who was english, he didn't have much to say and actually seemed to get a little short and aggravated with me which full on put me off my purchase right there. I'm curious, is this a normal practice for GW when selling FW at events around the states and has anyone else had a similar experience? I can understand with the variable currency rate that there can be discrepancies but it seemed a little sheisty and I definitely didn't appreciate the sales person getting irritated when I pointed it out.

Sounds like somebody is not cut out for his job.

If he's getting aggravated at a sane customer, what's going to happen when he gets one of the crazies?
At least he should have tried to BS you by citing some cost or whatnot and praising your internet/customer savviness

Yeah, that's pretty much how they do it. If you look on GW's website and convert the equivalent local currencies to USD, the 40 pound Kill Team set costs $52 in the UK, $65 in the USA, and $80 in Australia (AUS$110).

They are either literally the worst company in the world at managing product distribution and shipping, or just enjoy gouging overseas customers and hoping nobody notices.

 WhiteBobcat wrote:
Yeah, that's pretty much how they do it. If you look on GW's website and convert the equivalent local currencies to USD, the 40 pound Kill Team set costs $52 in the UK, $65 in the USA, and $80 in Australia (AUS$110).

They are either literally the worst company in the world at managing product distribution and shipping, or just enjoy gouging overseas customers and hoping nobody notices.

Definitely gouging. When the Canadian dollar was strong they still decided to raise the price during their annual price hike "to be fair" to the other countries. When our dollar dropped, they gouged us even more because now the pound is stronger.

It gets to comical degrees that once i get a car, I am probably going to hop across the border just to buy GW products. Even with the Gas and customs, I'd still be saving money!

From what I've heard from someone at my local GW shop who went to Adepticon last year, the FW stuff there is actually less expensive. And, at least at this particular vendor, whatever they didn't have in stock actually at the Con was shipped free.

So, I dunno if it's like your experience at every Con.

SG

 WhiteBobcat wrote:
Yeah, that's pretty much how they do it. If you look on GW's website and convert the equivalent local currencies to USD, the 40 pound Kill Team set costs $52 in the UK, $65 in the USA, and $80 in Australia (AUS$110).

They are either literally the worst company in the world at managing product distribution and shipping, or just enjoy gouging overseas customers and hoping nobody notices.

It's because of the fact that they don't price things based on direct currency conversions but rather they have set price bands that items get put into.

It's something that international companies do to prevent having to constantly update/adjust their prices based on currency exchange rates.

 Kanluwen wrote:

 WhiteBobcat wrote:
Yeah, that's pretty much how they do it. If you look on GW's website and convert the equivalent local currencies to USD, the 40 pound Kill Team set costs $52 in the UK, $65 in the USA, and $80 in Australia (AUS$110).

They are either literally the worst company in the world at managing product distribution and shipping, or just enjoy gouging overseas customers and hoping nobody notices.

It's because of the fact that they don't price things based on direct currency conversions but rather they have set price bands that items get put into.

It's something that international companies do to prevent having to constantly update/adjust their prices based on currency exchange rates.

I can understand the practice in general, but in a face to face setting, I think they should be willing to honor the current exchange rate, especially considering that the only way to buy FW is through theor site where everything is listed in GBP. It takes stones to look a customer in the eye and tell them they're paying more just cause. It's the reason I walked away without making a purchase and it left a very sour taste in my mouth. Just seems like poor customer service.

I would happily pay a vendor 15% premium over the FW website price to be able to buy a FW item in person. The big advantage is being able to inspect the item before taking it; while FW's replacement service is excellent, I do not want to have to avail myself of it -- I would much rather have a better cast piece of resin, or, often, spend my money somewhere else.

Keep in mind, FW offers no discounts other than to UK customers, for whom taxes are built-in to the price. So if someone other than GW/FW is selling you FW products at FW website prices (converted in currency), they're not making any money, and what's the point in that?

Wow, GW actually had a booth. I thought they had their last one years ago back when all that was left was the bits selling booth.

Forgeworld does have set US dollar prices for all their products, regardless of fluctuations in exchange rates. You can see them in the FW catalog. It's just that buying online you're buying in pounds, and so benefit from the exchange rate.

Why would you expect them to not charge the US price that they list online? Also, you can NOT expect a direct conversion regardless as they have to ship the items with them to the con, and that costs a hefty sum plus storage space once they get here if they ship beforehand to ensure stock actually arrives.

 troa wrote:
Why would you expect them to not charge the US price that they list online? Also, you can NOT expect a direct conversion regardless as they have to ship the items with them to the con, and that costs a hefty sum plus storage space once they get here if they ship beforehand to ensure stock actually arrives.

The whole point is that US prices are not listed in the website. Only prices in pounds. And regardless of their costs for transporting their own product. I shouldn't be paying more to preorder it at a booth than I would online. Plus they were touting free shipping as a benefit when their price with free shipping was more expensive than an online order from their site with a 15% shipping fee included. There really is no excuse for it. It's form the same corporate source. Not a reseller or 3rd party merchant. It's a poor business practice.

Bluntly, currency exchange doesn't work the way you think it does and you blundering around the thread crying foul because they didn't adjust the price to the exchange rate of the day (or hour...or minute...or hell second considering how it can go up and down sometimes) does not mean they were swindling anyone. Pretty much no company in the world adjusts prices based on the exchange rate of the moment, you want a real eye opener go to your bank and buy foreign currency and see their exchange rate compared to the market.

Secondly to that as if that wasn't enough, there's a difference between you ordering from home and FW shipping it to you (where you pay the duties) and them bringing a bunch of product over to sell which is subject to taxes/tariffs and so forth.

Orktavius wrote:
Bluntly, currency exchange doesn't work the way you think it does and you blundering around the thread crying foul because they didn't adjust the price to the exchange rate of the day (or hour...or minute...or hell second considering how it can go up and down sometimes) does not mean they were swindling anyone. Pretty much no company in the world adjusts prices based on the exchange rate of the moment, you want a real eye opener go to your bank and buy foreign currency and see their exchange rate compared to the market.

Secondly to that as if that wasn't enough, there's a difference between you ordering from home and FW shipping it to you (where you pay the duties) and them bringing a bunch of product over to sell which is subject to taxes/tariffs and so forth.

Two your first point, I inderstand that the market fluctuates but when you're on sales, you have a problem if the customer can order the product on their phone right in front of you including paying for shipping for less money than you are offering it for order in person while offer free shipping.

To your second point since you didn't care to read what I wrote. My issue is that the items weren't there in person. This was just to preorder them and they would later be shipped to me for "free" even though it would still have been more than if I ordered them from the site after paying a 15% shipping fee.

Have you checked what exchange rate your credit card provider is currently using? It will always be worse than the true exchange rate (all banks, etc will move the rate in their favour when converting)

Any way you want to dissect it, I am with the OP on this one.
Why pay more when you do not have to.

 Talys wrote:
I would happily pay a vendor 15% premium over the FW website price to be able to buy a FW item in person. The big advantage is being able to inspect the item before taking it;

Not to mention not having to wait for weeks for the item to arrive.

That said, it's a convention, and conventions gouge people. Tables cost money to rent and people manning the table cost money as well - plus hotel stays in many cases. These are costs they wouldn't incur selling via web store.

Sure, their margins are high enough that they could eat the difference, but this is FW we're talking about here. They'll make the customer eat those costs. You are paying more for the convenience.

John Prins wrote:

 Talys wrote:
I would happily pay a vendor 15% premium over the FW website price to be able to buy a FW item in person. The big advantage is being able to inspect the item before taking it;

Not to mention not having to wait for weeks for the item to arrive.

That said, it's a convention, and conventions gouge people. Tables cost money to rent and people manning the table cost money as well - plus hotel stays in many cases. These are costs they wouldn't incur selling via web store.

Sure, their margins are high enough that they could eat the difference, but this is FW we're talking about here. They'll make the customer eat those costs. You are paying more for the convenience.

Again though, as I have stated, the convenience you are arguing for WAS NOT THERE. You didn't get the item immediately and you didn't get to inspect it. You were simply ordering it from the booth the same way you would on the site. It would be shipped later just as if you had ordered it online. THe only difference was that the price they were asking which included "free shipping" was more than it would have been online after including a 15% shipping fee. There's no way to argue around it and the benefits that are being argued simply did not exist. The only thing you could maybe say was that you were paying that additional cost to deal with a person instead of a computer, but to me that just isn't worht the cost.

If tyhey had had the items their for purchase, I too, probably would have bit the bullet and purchased them just to have them then and there, but that was not the case and Im simply not paying more to them just because they are there in person for an item that was going to be shipped from england just as if I had ordered it online. Plus when I pointed out the pricing discrepencies that got irritated, short and kind of rude about it. All around unacceptable business practices in my opinion. I've been a loyal GW customer for nearly 20 years and their response to the situation was unnecessary and left me feeling very pushed aside, definitely not in the mood to spend hundreds of dollars on little resin toys.

 Dramagod2 wrote:
Again though, as I have stated, the convenience you are arguing for WAS NOT THERE. You didn't get the item immediately and you didn't get to inspect it. You were simply ordering it from the booth the same way you would on the site.

They were there selling things, though, right? The first post says they had lots of clamshells of product. Probably they just slapped a blanket markup on everything - including taking orders for stuff they weren't carrying at the con.

Which is kind of crap, but the alternative is to have 2 sets of pricing, which will just confuse/anger people - exactly as it did to you once you looked it up. Shenanigans!

The sales person definitely sucked at his job, though. You don't get mad a the customer for pointing out the truth. Unless he was getting commission or something, which I can't see.

It was the same thing at Gencon this year, the catalog prices in $US were higher than the conversion prices in pounds, since they haven't put out a new catalog since Brexit. No biggie, just load up on the event exclusives and order the rest online.