Games Workshop = Bah Humbug

[Master of fact]

Now, I am not in any way wanting to degrade GW\'s image but I think I have had enough of their price increases and their new policy of not letting so called basement sellers sell their products on the likes of Ebay.

I do not live all that far away from Belfast\'s GW, its just more hassle for me as I am too busy even to pop in (and when I do they try to sell me ££££\'s of stuff.

I have been using a seller on ebay (robinsons Gaming supplies) to buy all of my space marines, a power seller with over 7000 positive comments. Now under GW\'s new rules he wont get his stock replenished.

I think what i am trying to say is why do GW feel the need to target and possibly ostracize us gamers and painters with so many price hikes? Gone are the days when a Marine tactical squad cost
£10, now they are £20!!

Sorry for the rant but this must irk some people!!

I need a :beer:

 

[Ebonbuddha]

I have never understood them either. They seem to be trying to drive away their customers: From raising prices to getting rid of bitz. They are idiots I tell you.

 

[Amazon warrior]

....thinks back to all the threads about GW price hikes, and all the posts from people saying, \"But I\'ll buy them anyway!\".


What was your question again?

 

[Master of fact]

True, but i wont be buying again ( it has nothing to do with all those boxs of unpainted marines in my loft!) they just cost too much now.

 

[Amazon warrior]

Originally posted by Master of fact
True, but i wont be buying again ( it has nothing to do with all those boxs of unpainted marines in my loft!) they just cost too much now.

That\'s fine then. If enough people decided to do this, GW would be shafted and would have to rethink their pricing policies somewhat (or they\'d have to cut costs in other areas, such as closing stores and shedding staff).

 

[Master of fact]

I doubt there will be enough people who stop buying though. There are plenty more companies out there and games but just not as mainstream i suppose.

 

[Amazon warrior]

Originally posted by Master of fact
I doubt there will be enough people who stop buying though. There are plenty more companies out there and games but just not as mainstream i suppose.

My original point. I know where you\'re coming from tho. I popped into the GW in Winchester while I was back over in May, and it was purely an exercise in annoyance. I was the only person in the shop (and *gasp!* female too!) so the redshirt pounced on me instantly and just wouldn\'t back off. Then the store had nothing I wanted (I was after the Fay Enchantress or the Green Knight, or even just a bunch of small square bases would have been nice) and he told me I could order them. Well, I can do that perfectly well with my OWN interwebs, thank you so very much, and I was left wondering how much use the GW walk-in stores actually are to people. I prefer to go to the indie game stores in Mannheim anyway - they do discounts, have very wide varieties of stock and leave you in peace to browse. The result? I\'ve spent hundreds of euros in both of them, and about 7 euros in the GW store in M\'heim. Admittedly, those stacks of euros were NOT spent on GW stuff (except paint), but if I was buying from a walk-in store, I\'d go to one of my faithful indie stores. They\'re great!

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by Amazon warrior
.........I was left wondering how much use the GW walk-in stores actually are to people.

For GW primary target (12-16 year Olds with limited patience) they are fine.

As a social gathering gaming place, provided the manager is an understanding gamer/hobbyist and not a Uber sales freak, the atmosphere is good.
However Heulwen, you have to remember that the average female who walks into a GW store is either the mother, sister, aunt or Grandmother of a teenager. Not an attractive young woman in her 20\'s who\'s a modeller and painter.
So when a Blue shirt does leap towards you, its partially out of delight and partially out of testosterone. lol

 

[A Luna]

GW Amsterdam has some nice people in it. The manager is one awesome person (always happy and helpful, not really desperete on trying to make you buy something like others in that GW). There are also some of the crew which seem to be jealous at me or something:S I\'m not allowed to paint a miniature of a different brand (not even a miniature which hasn\'t got a brand). Nor use paint diluter

I\'ve quit buying their products a long time ago. I just have to \'buy\' stuff from them as I have to use price money I sometimes win at GW with painting competitions.

I really wish many people stop buying their products now.. I really hope that.

 

[Sand Rat]

On topic - cannot really complain about GW that much - having spent $250 on an order this morning - although it was all for figures, no vehicles or such.

Off topic - Got to agree with Mike here - the Oh my god its an attractive female in the LGS is not limited to the GW stores - although the only GW store I\'ve ever been in is oddly enough Mikes local.

 

[starchaser1]

i to payed my last visit to a GW store last month ( manchester ).Im sory to say the prices they expect people to pay is getting beyond a joke, and i expresed that fact to the manager, who i had known for a good many years needless to say i wasnt the first, or will probably not be the last person to tell them. If i do want anything from there company in future i will wait until one comes up on ebay. i fear that all GW is interested in now is putting profit before there followers

 

[Master of fact]

@ starchaser: \"i fear that all GW is interested in now is putting profit before there followers\"

Perfect.

Remember when GW gave you skullz everytime you bought something. Or when white dwarf (sorry monthly catalogue) was really cool to read.

PS

I got all the mechanicus from that promotion!!!!

 

[alextheartist]

Originally posted by Dragonsreach

Originally posted by Amazon warrior
.........I was left wondering how much use the GW walk-in stores actually are to people.

For GW primary target (12-16 year Olds with limited patience) they are fine.

As a social gathering gaming place, provided the manager is an understanding gamer/hobbyist and not a Uber sales freak, the atmosphere is good.
However Heulwen, you have to remember that the average female who walks into a GW store is either the mother, sister, aunt or Grandmother of a teenager. Not an attractive young woman in her 20\'s who\'s a modeller and painter.
So when a Blue shirt does leap towards you, its partially out of delight and partially out of testosterone. lol

I\'m 16... I would say in my GW the age is about 12-14 then everyone who is unemployed over the age of 18 lol...

Strigoi (sp) who started the p3 thread works at my local store (and will no doubt appear here..lol)

 

[Amazon warrior]

Originally posted by Dragonsreach

Originally posted by Amazon warrior
.........I was left wondering how much use the GW walk-in stores actually are to people.

For GW primary target (12-16 year Olds with limited patience) they are fine.

As a social gathering gaming place, provided the manager is an understanding gamer/hobbyist and not a Uber sales freak, the atmosphere is good.

I suppose so - easy to persuade them to buy the newest shiny box for their army(ies), as their parents weep and take out a second mortgage! I\'ve never really got the social aspect at a GW-only store - maybe I\'ve not been to the good ones. I have seen it in indie stores much more tho. (And indie stores have less perv quotient in my experience - maybe they just see more women, and are a little more balanced about it.)

Originally posted by Dragonsreach
However Heulwen, you have to remember that the average female who walks into a GW store is either the mother, sister, aunt or Grandmother of a teenager. Not an attractive young woman in her 20\'s who\'s a modeller and painter.
So when a Blue shirt does leap towards you, its partially out of delight and partially out of testosterone. lol

:redface::redface::redface::redface::redface::redface:

 

[hestan101]

yes, gw are charging extortionate prices, and always have been in my view.
on the topic of in-store experience, for the time i went reguularly to my local store, i had a great time. the two staff memebers were about as far from pawns of the company as it is possible to get, and would tell people the honest truth when they were asked about anything. the guys were hobbyists, they were running regular apocalypse games, black library competions, conversations about (shock horror) real life and literally all night gaming events until the company stopped them. since then one has moved onto become a footballer, the other has left due to not being able to stand the place and is now living happily and still enjoying the hobby. my local store is now run by salesmen and populated by 6 year olds telling their friends why the should collect a certain army and old regulars trying to cling onto what the shop once was. i dont go down anymore as you might have guessed

 

[freakinacage]

tbh i rarely buy from them, for that reason. got the valkyrie though, which i thought was reasonable. the odd plastic kit is handy and you can have a lot of fun with conversions.

 

[Sand Rat]

Cant help but wonder if GW did away with their brick and mortar locations and went to a web model, coupled with selling through independents if that would help with their cash flow issues -

Cause most of the other major companies I collect have managed to keep costs down and not go through multiple yearly price rises.

Course, most of them use metal, not plastic.lol

 

[Torn blue sky]

Ah man, the GW pricing chestnut!
I just don\'t bother anymore on the principle that the materials and production don\'t cost a FRACTION of what they charge. Aye I can understand they\'re a business and as such need profit margins...

Margins, not yawing caverns! At the end of the day, yes, they\'re just greedy wee bolluxs\'.

As for GW stores I just can\'t stand the places anymore. As it\'s been pointed out; The concept of personal space is so lost on them i find myself reverting to primary school and swinging my arms about yelling \"this is my space\"... I have also bore witness , firsthand, some pretty bad leching too lol I was so embarrassed for the individuals concerned I had to leave the place myself!

GW used to be a total people company, and they had a sense of humour at one point too!

 

[james sequeira]

When I worked at my local indie store I tried to keep a very laid back but helpful approach to serving customers, say hi, ask if they are ok and if they do need any help just to ask me, and I would leave it at that rather than pester them.

I guess working at a local toy store (before the indie shop) helped me because we would get it hammered into us, to constantly keep ontop of every customer making sure we could get the best sales and stuff, that kind of stuff even annoyed me never mind the customers hehe.

On a side note I think the GW stores are very over staffed my nearest one normally has 3 guys in it, I used to handle opening the store and getting the stuff organised and ready for opening time. Setting up the tables for the days games, online and phone orders, the phones, serving and refreshing the stock and facing up alone on a saturday.

 

[crazyboyae1]

i dont really buy that much stuff there even tho i hang out at gw alot to paint and just hang. seeing as how Gamesworkshop is the most successful mini/gaming business they arent dumb and they do these kind of things because they do whatever is best to make money. yes veterans who remember the \"good old days\" complain, but new people who go in the shop don\'t really care and they just keep raking in the cash.