GAMESWORKSHOP = GREEDY MONEY GRABBERS!

[Your a nerd]

Right i have been absent from this game for 5 years, but i can honestly say games workshop is more greedy for money than ever, i mean didin't paints used to cost £10, not they cost £15, but you get the same what's up with that huh? Plus lot of the models seem to have shot up by considerbly a large amount of money, which is also sad because they cost little to make the miniatures but yet the price keeps going up, can somebody that works with the company please justify that, now using the excuse oh the miniature is more powerfull is not a good answer, in fact that's nothing short of a pathetic answer, they do realise there main fanbase like teenagers who proably can't aford to pay for this stuff, it's no a wonder the Stirlingshire shop went out of business the shop was busy as hell and it went out of business dude to sheer high prices of the miniatures, i mean gameswork shop as far as i know has never really had a sale, oh wait there was that time spend £100 and save a fiver, let's see what u got for £100 in those big boxes they only brought out at christmas, 12 space marines or soemthing, a bike, a dreadnought, a small tank and another flying vehicle, i can honestly say all that plastic is not even worth a tenner to make, so who are they kidding eh? Seriously people may think i'm having a laugh comming on here saying this, but i think if no one else will say it then i'll be the first to say it, if u believe that gameswork shop is the most overexspensive hobby in the world then gimmie a hell yea, i know what i say tot hat hell yea it's the most overexspensive game ever, there so greedy for money it's not funny and they know they can get away with it because it's all fans who love the game and are hooked.

[IBBoard]

First thing's first: Please use new lines and paragraphs so people can read your messages without having their brain dribble out of their ears. A few extra fullstops and capitalisations wouldn't hurt either.

As for GW being greedy, yes, very much so. That's the main reason why my purchases are now done at online stores who give discounts (although I don't tend to make too many purchases any more).

GW's pricing scheme seems to go along the lines of how much the unit/squad/vehicle is worth in game as much as the actual content of the box. I remember the days when a champion in Warhammer was £3, a command group (standard bearer and musician) was £4 and three normal metal infantry men were £5. Now champions are more likely to be £5. Lords (who were about £5 because of the additional detail) are now £6 or £7.

On the plus side, GW have improved the quality and details of their models, and they do beat just about any other model I've seen (even when I first started gaming over twelve years ago). Not that it's worth the amount of the price hikes, but their comparatively higher prices are fractionally justified by quality.

If you haven't done already, I'd recommend you read our Games Workshop on a budget article. Even if you've already got all the models you want for a while then it has suggestions for paints and things. Commercialism is rife, and GW are just following a trend. After all, people are stupid enough to pay up to £50 for a single computer game for a games console when they'll normally be £35 on a PC and down to £20 in a few months, so doing the same with models isn't surprising.

[Frond]

yeh. sure its a bit expensive, but ecnomize.
remember them leftover wepons options that came with the chapter master, use them on your imperial guard commander and so on...
The possibilitys are endless.
Also remember they have to pay for staff, all the bills that a factory runs up and even the price of the boxes. Its not just the moddels that cost.
also it has given me and countles other teenagers a place to go and socialise over a game instead of sitting around doing nothing... so, unless you have been active and you know the effect it is having on the people that are, DON'T comment.
If I have to pay a bit more so this hobby can keep in business fine.

[IBBoard]

pay more? I think GW's been raising prices at probably (rough guess) ten times the rate of inflation. GW already charges way more than any other wargames company I know of, their paints are getting smaller and smaller, models are being priced on points value more than model amount/detail, and it just generally seems to be downhill from where I started.

GW may have to pay the staff, but they're not terribly well paid, and some of their pay is probably in the 'bonuses' like getting metal Space Marines for ~40p each if they mail order them. If GW can do that and independant shops are able to offer up to 25% discounts online, then how much is GW raking in?

[Frond]

when i said more, i MEANT in comparason with other brands.

[IBBoard]

Ah, that makes a bit more sense. Yes, I admit the GW models have that bit extra detail that warrants a slightly higher price tag, but they could probably still reduce it by quite a bit and still make good profits (unless they're still paying off the price tag of having bought the LotR rights!)

[Cheezo]

Well, from what I know, all the details on all those nice models would take some pretty incredible machinery and mould...which isn't something you can usually buy at the Pound Shop

[IBBoard]

I just took a look at the Rackham store at the Militia crossbowmen (Rackham make a game called Confrontation that's similar to Warhammer) and suddenly the prices are quite similar.

About six years ago or more (the first few years after I started gaming) there was quite a difference in price. Now Rackham are selling three crossbow-armed militia for ~£6.75 (with a 'collectors card' thing) where as GW's old Brettonian Bowmen (the closest looking models I can think of) are £2.50 each.

I guess the Rackham models are much closer to the GW quality than they used to be, though.

[Annubis]

Though i agree with the fact that the models details are a lot better than what they were several years ago, I cannot see that as a reason for raising the prices to what they are now.

Though this is a place for people to go and enjoy there hobby instead of sitting at home, there are plenty of people who simply cannot afford these prices in which means they cannot get as involved with the games as others.

So I say that there should be regular sales on all products I cannot see why this is not possible, can you?

[IBBoard]

There used to be. I remember getting vouchers for Christmas and trying to hang on until early February when GW inevitably had another sale. I guess that'll be at least seven years ago now, though, and like the 10% and 25% vouchers for store openings that they used to print in WD then they've vanished.

[DieterHellsghewer]

Eh I'm from America and things are about the same here. You can usually find retailers willing to give you a break. Here paint is $3.00 a bottle. I don't quite know what that translates to in pounds. But i play guardsmen. It gets really expensive. I don't make a lot. but i can usually by a box a something every once and a while when i have time to work on them, and I'm from a hic little corner of the counrty. there is a city about oh probably 35 kilometers away. I know kilometers cause i was on the Cross Country team for my town. so i know 5K=3.1 miles. or there abouts. but yeah it'd be nice if they could atleast justify the ridiculous pricing. i mean each one the guardsmen is not worth $1.05. and a Leman Russ shouldn't be $45. But yeah i save all the bitz and on occasion it saves me a fair ammouint of money. Especially when it comes to the extra heavy and special weapons i've accrued over time. I also have a nid and space marine army.

[IBBoard]

It's still close enough to call it $2:£1, so $3 for a GW paint (if it is GW) is £1.50, which is 3/4 the price we pay (£2 per pot).

I play (or played - I've not gamed in ages) Orks, so I think I win on the "having lots of models" front. Not so much with the tanks, though, which can be quite expensive.

My earlier point about the price being as much based on points as on detail and amount of plastic is probably true. If you can keep bits and do your own conversions (I have home-made Big Shootas in my mobs, and Grots made from Goblins so I didn't have to buy metal models) then it does help.

Also, new lines are your friend. They make things a lot easier to read

[GW u fools]

i just cannot believe how much it costs i mean it costs 8 to 10 pounds for a puny metal model and it does not cost £20 for 10 plastic 6cm tall piece of plastic. I just want to kill them guys. why can't they just make it £2 for 10 models it only costs like 50p to make all them plastic pieces.

i know a place in chatam it doesn't sell many different types of warhammer figures or sell paint but the prices of them are £5 cheaper than the othter shops but just check near the pentagon and u will find a shop that sell them. it is a book shop and it is way cheaper than the otherfigures.

[stfas]

there is actually a edit button...

[IBBoard]

stfas: Yes, and people seem to struggle with it. I made use of it for him.

GW u fools: It's unusual to see a bricks and mortar store sell models cheaper, as they normally need to cover their overheads and so comply with GW's normal pricing. Your prices are probably a bit unrealistic given the overheads, though.

A regiment box used to be £12 including metal command parts, where as now it is £18, sometimes for less models. Champions used to be £3, Command Groups £4 (musician and standard bearer) and metal troopers £5 (for three or four models, depending on whether they were human sized or goblin sized).

If GW didn't run their own stores and sold through other places then they wouldn't need to pay rental on shop premises, they wouldn't need as many staff and they wouldn't have both of them sat idle for large chunks of the day. I'd imagine that could cut huge amounts of their overhead costs. £1.50 for design, packaging, storage, stores and staff is potentially a bit slim for a viable business (although I've not checked the numbers).

Just like Coca Cola and other brands there's always going to be an extra margin slapped on for the name.