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Shaelinith wrote:
In the 2019 survey i told them that the prices were too high. Guess they didn't take into account my feedback

Same.

That said, I also mentioned the lack of local events; I really do not want the journey'n'hotel hassle for an event in Sheffield or Nottingham. They could be increasing the price to accomodate the other things we would like changed.

 totalfailure wrote:

 Polonius wrote:

On the flip side, this same inelasticity means that GW will likely not lose all that many sales. I think people will keep buying.

This, x1000000. We go through this every price increase. Does anyone like them? Of course not. But the bean counters at GW have far more info than we do, and they feel any customers lost will be more than offset by the higher prices. And, they have been right this countless times in the past, and I doubt this price increase will be any different. History is very much on GWs side here.

And since they are important CORPORATE PEOPLE, they of course know best. That is why GW has never ever run into financial issues and declining sales. Ever.

How they keep raising prices on some of their oldest kits is something only GW doesn't see as ludicrous.

By the time my son is old enough to play a basic troop kit is going to be close to $100.

In the uk they made the price rise retroactive in that anything ordered by a flgs after the announcement was at the higher price even if stuff in store was not going up yet.

I guess they learned there lesson after the start collecting issues.

LOL I pulled the trigger last night and ordered my Custodes army I've been wanting for a year because of this and now reading the list they're not on there. LMAO

 Fajita Fan wrote:
LOL I pulled the trigger last night and ordered my Custodes army I've been wanting for a year because of this and now reading the list they're not on there. LMAO

Tsk-tsk. And you still haven't got around to those Reavers! Not having a good day, are you?

 Fajita Fan wrote:
LOL I pulled the trigger last night and ordered my Custodes army I've been wanting for a year because of this and now reading the list they're not on there. LMAO

Eh, look at it this way. If these price rises 'work' everything else will jump up before too long.

SamusDrake wrote:

That said, I also mentioned the lack of local events; I really do not want the journey'n'hotel hassle for an event in Sheffield or Nottingham. They could be increasing the price to accomodate the other things we would like changed.

I remember when they opened that 'Gaming Centre' just across the road from Meadowhall a long time ago (must be over a decade now)? If I remember right, it was meant to be their way of expanding their big event hubs outside of just Nottingham. It didn't last too long unfortunately. That being said, now I think about it, it was almost identical to their design of the Citadel Cafe with the expanded stock, casual lounging area and such. Maybe we'll see a return to that some day, particularly Darn Sarf.

Lets hope so, Arbitrator!

I have no problem with high(er) GW prices.

The quality of their (newer) minis are second to none and IMHO the inflated pricing is a price I gladly pay for them having their own physical stores - which none of the ”competition” has.
Among other things this (although costly compared to internet-only) provides is a guarantee of ongoing support and higher probabilities of finding other players.

I will never forget GW for blowing up the Old World and replacing it with a high fantasy mess (fluff wise) - and I find some of their rules lacking (not to mention nonexistant proof reading/QA for Necromunda) - but prices on minis, games and books are still totallt worth it.

 kendoka wrote:
I have no problem with high(er) GW prices.

The quality of their (newer) minis are second to none and IMHO the inflated pricing is a price I gladly pay for them having their own physical stores - which none of the ”competition” has.
Among other things this (although costly compared to internet-only) provides is a guarantee of ongoing support and higher probabilities of finding other players.

I will never forget GW for blowing up the Old World and replacing it with a high fantasy mess (fluff wise) - and I find some of their rules lacking (not to mention nonexistant proof reading/QA for Necromunda) - but prices on minis, games and books are still totallt worth it.

LoL maybe Kirby and Merrit were right after all, I always find the forums after a price hike 7x times higher than inflation pretty depressing.

 SickSix wrote:
How they keep raising prices on some of their oldest kits is something only GW doesn't see as ludicrous.

By the time my son is old enough to play a basic troop kit is going to be close to $100.

Does kind of make sense, after a fashion.

Production costs go up over time. So the cost of making new kits increases. And being a sensible business, you need to set the unit price to reflect that if you want some profit.

If you only tied your price to the original production cost, you end up with a strange pricing model. Older kits are far cheaper than new kits. Net result? You risk nobody buying your new kits, in preference of the older and cheaper ones.

Raise them all roughly in-line, and you avoid that.

which they did used to do with their annual everything goes up (above inflation) day which certainly upset everybody,

id rather the more occasional price rise on some of the older kits (every 3-4 years I think that's how long its been except for the paints and SC boxes) even if it does come as a shock when it happens

(I would like to have seen the new price list released generally rather than just to retailers though since I've still not seen a complete on, just various bits often selected to show the highest rises and it would make it easier do decide what you should buy first if you want to make the most of your money)

I know this isn't going to be a popular opinion by any stretch, but (until this one) they've been far more restrained of late - and have even explored various different price points within the wider hobby (Skirmish games etc).

One does wonder if this might be an attempt to safeguard themselves in case the political situation in the UK goes full on Ploin Shaped? If the pound is at risk of tanking, I think higher international prices insulates them somewhat, leading to a more predictable income for the foreseeable (I may be completely wrong on this!)

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I know this isn't going to be a popular opinion by any stretch, but (until this one) they've been far more restrained of late - and have even explored various different price points within the wider hobby (Skirmish games etc).

One does wonder if this might be an attempt to safeguard themselves in case the political situation in the UK goes full on Ploin Shaped? If the pound is at risk of tanking, I think higher international prices insulates them somewhat, leading to a more predictable income for the foreseeable (I may be completely wrong on this!)

Yes, practically every word.

If the pound tanks, that US$50 kit suddenly becomes worth far more £ than it was previously. Ditto the € and every other currency. Considering their total non domestic sales are greater than their domestic sales, this would only potentially be bad news in some weird reality where the of raw materials is somehow independently and disproportionately affected from their retail sales, which is a near economic impossibility.

Also..this?

they've been far more restrained of late

Is objectively false, they've just pursued their stated policy of imposing price rises on new releases. So they've essentially raised prices on an almost weekly basis, you just have to pay attention to notice because they're not technically price rises if the product is new. This is the first retrospective rise in a bit, but they've never stopped cranking the handle.

You cannot raise a price on a new product though?

That's been their approach for a while, and this is the first time in a while they've upped the sticker on an existing product, no?

And I thought I got the other bit wrong. However, it does provide some insulation from higher import tariffs for the plastic etc, as they'll have more cash on hand.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
You cannot raise a price on a new product though?

No. You just set it higher to begin with, so you don't need to. Which they have done, almost every time.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
You cannot raise a price on a new product though?

That's been their approach for a while, and this is the first time in a while they've upped the sticker on an existing product, no?

And I thought I got the other bit wrong. However, it does provide some insulation from higher import tariffs for the plastic etc, as they'll have more cash on hand.

I hope you warmed up first, stretching that hard from a standing start could cause a serious injury.

 SickSix wrote:
How they keep raising prices on some of their oldest kits is something only GW doesn't see as ludicrous.

By the time my son is old enough to play a basic troop kit is going to be close to $100.

Locally, basic boxes of a squad are wavering around 55 dollars... vehicles are going for 80.

 Albertorius wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
You cannot raise a price on a new product though?

No. You just set it higher to begin with, so you don't need to. Which they have done, almost every time.

Nope, the price is the price, if on release something is £50 ,it's price is £50, the community can't just assume it was actually £40 but GW increased it for gaks and giggles.

Obispudkenobi wrote:

 Albertorius wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
You cannot raise a price on a new product though?

No. You just set it higher to begin with, so you don't need to. Which they have done, almost every time.

Nope, the price is the price, if on release something is £50 ,it's price is £50, the community can't just assume it was actually £40 but GW increased it for gaks and giggles.

I believe his point is that whilst the model is new and thus the price is the first price it will ever have. The price is raised compared to the price that models of a similar nature have been in the past.
So the price for a "troop" has raised, for example.

This assumes comparing like for like - so a hero to a hero of similar scale and dimensions. Clearly things like the new Greater Demons compared to their old counterparts are very different because the new models are a different material and many times the size of the originals, even though they sit in roughly the same segment of the army (heroes)




Of cousre this can be a bit muddy to read esp for something like Age of Sigmar where a lot of models changed roles. Eg Daughters of Khaine Witch Aelves were once an elite unit pack designed to be bought perhaps a few times and that was it; now they are a core troop to be used multiple times. Yet their price never lowered so they appear very overpriced compared to other regular troop choices for other armies.

stratigo wrote:

 totalfailure wrote:

 Polonius wrote:

On the flip side, this same inelasticity means that GW will likely not lose all that many sales. I think people will keep buying.

This, x1000000. We go through this every price increase. Does anyone like them? Of course not. But the bean counters at GW have far more info than we do, and they feel any customers lost will be more than offset by the higher prices. And, they have been right this countless times in the past, and I doubt this price increase will be any different. History is very much on GWs side here.

And since they are important CORPORATE PEOPLE, they of course know best. That is why GW has never ever run into financial issues and declining sales. Ever.

It's not a question of infallibility, but simply access to the information that only GW would have internally.

Here's a speculative example: maybe they have data which shows that people buying single unit kits at retail fall into three camps:
1) People buying at release
2) people buying to complete a specific army, possibly for tournament play
3) or buy units without much concern for price.

Then, they find that the people buying bundles are people that are big collectors, but are price conscious.

So, you have two large profit centers: people that buy small amounts regularly because they want it now, and people that buy larger kits because it's a deal.

If I had that data, I would advise the company to increase the prices of kits, while also rolling out more, and often time limited, bundles. This way, you can capture two large profit centers.

 Polonius wrote:

stratigo wrote:

 totalfailure wrote:

 Polonius wrote:

On the flip side, this same inelasticity means that GW will likely not lose all that many sales. I think people will keep buying.

This, x1000000. We go through this every price increase. Does anyone like them? Of course not. But the bean counters at GW have far more info than we do, and they feel any customers lost will be more than offset by the higher prices. And, they have been right this countless times in the past, and I doubt this price increase will be any different. History is very much on GWs side here.

And since they are important CORPORATE PEOPLE, they of course know best. That is why GW has never ever run into financial issues and declining sales. Ever.

It's not a question of infallibility, but simply access to the information that only GW would have internally.

Here's a speculative example: maybe they have data which shows that people buying single unit kits at retail fall into three camps:
1) People buying at release
2) people buying to complete a specific army, possibly for tournament play
3) or buy units without much concern for price.

Then, they find that the people buying bundles are people that are big collectors, but are price conscious.

So, you have two large profit centers: people that buy small amounts regularly because they want it now, and people that buy larger kits because it's a deal.

If I had that data, I would advise the company to increase the prices of kits, while also rolling out more, and often time limited, bundles. This way, you can capture two large profit centers.

You are literally just making gak up though.

GW has fethed up basic 101 level economics before, and corporations have literally driven the world economy into the ground over self defeating fast profit schemes before. What is driving any price rise is not usually based on long term market analysis, but an eye on short term margins that pad immediate profit that strokes the wallets of disconnected share holders and can justify the bonus of the executives. The sustainability of such practices is never the point because there's no real consequence for failure for the people who implement these policies.

Ayy, short term their little scheme may work out.
Long and Midterm, recasters and 3D printer owners will have a field day.

Obispudkenobi wrote:

 Albertorius wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
You cannot raise a price on a new product though?

No. You just set it higher to begin with, so you don't need to. Which they have done, almost every time.

Nope, the price is the price, if on release something is £50 ,it's price is £50, the community can't just assume it was actually £40 but GW increased it for gaks and giggles.

"It" can just assume that's the price GW wants that type of unit to be from now on. Which, it is the same type and has the same amount of sprues/etc. as many others, well... guess what, it has gone up.

Wait so back then GW said they weren't gonna raise prices but keep making new kits more expensive to compensate.

They have done the second but they are also gonna raise prices of old kits?

Ok.

Is not like those products are worth more. Quite the contrary with how cheap in points everything is now and how new models are much better than older ones.

stratigo wrote:


You are literally just making gak up though.

GW has fethed up basic 101 level economics before, and corporations have literally driven the world economy into the ground over self defeating fast profit schemes before. What is driving any price rise is not usually based on long term market analysis, but an eye on short term margins that pad immediate profit that strokes the wallets of disconnected share holders and can justify the bonus of the executives. The sustainability of such practices is never the point because there's no real consequence for failure for the people who implement these policies.

Well, I was speculating on the sort of data and strategy that could be driving their decision making, which while admittedly involves making stuff up, I feel like my guess has a good chance of being accurate. I think there are large cohorts of both price insensitive consumers as well as value conscious consumers in the market. I think it’s prudent to entice both to buy your products.

As for second point, yes, experts have been wrong with catastrophic results. That doesn’t mean they are always wrong. You can get all freakanomics and talk about the cases when experts have been shown to be wrong, but that’s usually by other, better experts. Pricing consumer goods is not an unknowable mystery, and GW is a publicly traded company with professional management. They could be making a mistake, but they probably aren’t.

Meh, it's really not that big of a deal. It does feel like a realignment to their new pricing or to make similar stuff within armies cost the same (i.e. bumping all but the tzeentch demon troops to match the tzeentch number). Over all it is what it is. The hobby is booming and this wont slowing down.

Not Online!!! wrote:
Ayy, short term their little scheme may work out.
Long and Midterm, recasters and 3D printer owners will have a field day.

I don’t think an extra few bucks is what’s going to drive people to recasters. GW prices are on the high end for minis already, I think the impact will be marginal.

Also, 3D printing simply isn’t viable yet for most GW stuff, and the recasters struggle with plastic.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Hulksmash wrote:
Meh, it's really not that big of a deal. It does feel like a realignment to their new pricing or to make similar stuff within armies cost the same (i.e. bumping all but the tzeentch demon troops to match the tzeentch number). Over all it is what it is. The hobby is booming and this wont slowing down.

Yeah, the price hikes during the dark days of 6th/7th had a real air of squeezing some quick cash out of the whales and die hards. This is during a time of growth, and notably this decision was made after seeing the results of bumping up Start Collecting boxes.

Since I am done buying GW products but own a bunch this is great news. I just made a potential killing without spending any money. I hope GW continues to hike prices across the board because I would love to sell a Monoliths at a Tesseract amount. Let's get there lads!

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
You cannot raise a price on a new product though?

That's been their approach for a while, and this is the first time in a while they've upped the sticker on an existing product, no?

And I thought I got the other bit wrong. However, it does provide some insulation from higher import tariffs for the plastic etc, as they'll have more cash on hand.

But if new kit costs more than previous totally comparable kit...and next one...soon we have unit boxes costing 100 when same kind of kit used to be 50. Different poses sure cost much!