How Staff manage to afford conversions...

[IBBoard]

I was looking at some of the models in one of the cases just before we got kicked out of GW Manchester at the end of gaming night, and had a quick chat with the staff. I now know the secret of how GW employees make such huge armies and afford conversions where they use one part of a £4 model - huge staff discount.

One of my friends used to work in GW Manchester, and he's told me about the "buy the metal bits, get the plastic bits free" offer that they got that allowed him to make a big pack of Dire Wolves for Warhammer on the cheap. Apparently they also get 50% discount if they buy in the shop!

But that's not the really cheap part. The really cheap part is that if they buy from Mail Order then they pay by weight! So a single metal trooper is tens of pence instead of nearly £1.50 with the current prices That's just unfair :\ everything is hugely over priced compared to that!

[TGSC]

get a part time job in GW

[IBBoard]

I get the feeling that Key Timers (their equivalent of part-timers) won't get the discounts until they've worked for them for a while Plus I don't think I know enough depth about the rules or the hobby and different armies - always a drawback

They've just done a recruitment event recently, and before it one of the staff did mention that if they're going to hire someone, it'll probably be the guy with a WH, 40K and BFG army over the guy with just the WH army.

[Lord Hawthorn]

Now I would bite my lip until it bled but meh... Cheap bastards! Cads! Scallywags! Bilge Rats! Blighters!
Anyhow... in that case GW has most certainly ripped us off and is now laughing and rolling in money... Actually, they've probably been laughing and rolling in money for quite some time now. It's a shame I'm not good mates with anyone that works there, otherwise I could get them to order me a few things in cheap and the like... Although I do recall one of my friends saying something about how he got discounts from one of his friends who works (or used to work) there.

[IBBoard]

I've been talking to a guy who now owns an independent gaming store in the Manchester area, and he used to work for GW as well. Apparently it not only used to be about 20p for the 'by weight' ordering of a metal Space Marine body, but it used to be 'if you come to the factory, we'll give you a box and take what you want'! Strangely, GW don't do that or opening sales any more.

The only options we have are eBay and independant stockists who give discount (or even those who don't - better to give at least part of the money to a stockist than all of it to GW). Don't forget to check out those online stockists!

If I go through with my 'little idea of the moment', I'll try and write a 'GW on a budget' article for the Hive World Terra site.