[Poland] Price hike in October!

[Dark Shepherd]

6 hours ago, Halandaar said:

These conversations often make me wonder, do people have the same level of derision for other businesses when their prices go up, or is it a thing that's exclusive to GW and it's fandom?

 

Are they pillorying book publishers because average paperback prices are higher than ever and pushing fan fiction as a valid replacement? Are they cancelling Netflix in favour of pirated torrents? Are they complaining to breweries while advocating making your own beer at home? If the price of their car journey goes up are they saying "bicycle go brrrt"? Boycotting McDonalds and Cineworld and Steam and Playstation and gigs and football matches?

 

I have no love for price increases but it feels to me like my entire life is more expensive now than it was last year, but GW is the only business I see getting regularly and vocally criticised for it.

CDs are big example of an industry shooting its foot off with price hikes

 

Closer to your point Im a big UFC fan and they get a lot of criticsim over that and it leads to piracy/loss of interest. Pub industry where I am get that a lot and result is people having house parties instead.

 

Not to go too off topic but GWs policy of not wanting non newbies playing instore games hurts their sales which leads to price hikes

Edited September 4, 2023 by Dark Shepherd

[Stitch5000]

6 hours ago, Halandaar said:

These conversations often make me wonder, do people have the same level of derision for other businesses when their prices go up, or is it a thing that's exclusive to GW and it's fandom?

 

Are they pillorying book publishers because average paperback prices are higher than ever and pushing fan fiction as a valid replacement? Are they cancelling Netflix in favour of pirated torrents? Are they complaining to breweries while advocating making your own beer at home? If the price of their car journey goes up are they saying "bicycle go brrrt"? Boycotting McDonalds and Cineworld and Steam and Playstation and gigs and football matches?

 

I have no love for price increases but it feels to me like my entire life is more expensive now than it was last year, but GW is the only business I see getting regularly and vocally criticised for it.

Too right... Have you even looked at cycling lately? The whole E-Bike thing has inflated the price of being a "serious" cyclist from about £1.5-2k to at the least £5,5k and people aren't even baulking at spending in excess of £10k on a bike these days. I straight up do not know how people can justify it. This is all on something that regularly gets broken and bits get worn out in normal useage. 

Even at double the price GW products are, we are getting a pretty healthy amount of "fun per £". 

[GreenScorpion]

2 hours ago, Razorblade said:

So, genuine question and no judgement but how are you interacting with the hobby that these price increases are driving you out? 

 

2 hours ago, Kastor Krieg said:

I am from Poland and earn in PLN. Our currency's "buying power" is about a quarter of that of a pound sterling, dollar or an euro. Minimum wage is about 600-700 EUR. Thus, every "just a few pounds / dollars / euro" price hike hits me quadruple.

 

Reinforcing a bit the answer from Kastor Krieg, for some members of the community a small increase in price can make a significant difference in what to buy or not for your hobby and while hobbies are optional it is certainly one of the things most people will try to have to help take their mind out of their daily lives.

 

To give an example on why some people might feel priced out or unwilling to accept price increases, I will reveal some data from my side to give a comparison between the year I started and the current year:

• I purchased my first box of GW miniatures in 2018. At the time I earned ~1100€ after taxation and I started to feel like I could purchase my first miniatures. For reference, Cadian Infantry boxes were 23€ at the time for 10 models (using this as an example as I remember the exact pricing, other items had similar evolutions in price).
• At the moment I earn ~1400€ after taxation and a box of Cadian Shock Troops is 40€. Obviously you can argue that the kit is new, but leman russes had similar prices increases from 2018 to 2023, so the comparison is still reasonable in my opinion.

For me personally the price increases from GW don't bother me any more, but that is because I haven't been buying their miniatures and started looking at other alternatives that could give me a similar level of hobby enjoyment but with a price tag that I could afford more easily.

 

On the overall comments on whether people complain about other increases from other companies, I don't think some people are watching the news.
My country for example has had a record of strikes, protests and overall complaints about price increases from many sectors and also the lack of wage increases and I know that the same things are happening elsewhere. Some complaints/protests are broader in scope but others are targetted at specific companies, but obviously things in your country/region might be different.

[Scribe]

6 hours ago, Halandaar said:

 

*shrug* - I don't disagree with any of that. My point here is not that GW is in the right, they absolutely aren't;  it's that it feels to me like they're being singled out and criticised to a much higher level than equivalent companies who are all up to the same stuff.

Nah man, look around. It's everywhere.

[Nova-V]

Other than the initial tip off that kicked off this thread has there been any further information or possible corroboration on if there will be a price rise and what form it will take?

[Matrindur]

17 minutes ago, Nova-V said:

Other than the initial tip off that kicked off this thread has there been any further information or possible corroboration on if there will be a price rise and what form it will take?

 

The original OP also posted where they got the info from, nothing other than that as far as I saw

 

On 9/2/2023 at 7:45 PM, Kastor Krieg said:

Gents. I've been here for a bit over 11 years. This is a store that has been my direct supplier (for both hobby and my customers' commission army needs) for about eight years or so. Every week they send myself and others a mailing list message with preorders and their prices. 24 hours ago I got this email:

 

 

Loosely translating from Polish:

"WARNING
Since 2nd of October GW IS INCREASING ALL PRODUCT PRICES, including paints.
This means that if you wish / plan to make any purchases, this is your last call.

 

Greetings"

 

You be the judge, lads.

 

 

[TrawlingCleaner]

=][= This thread has run it's course. If there's any official information that comes about, report the thread and we can look at reopening it. =][=

[TrawlingCleaner]

Classic. Close the thread, 30 minutes later, more information comes out

 

Provided by @Joe:

Quote

As far as can be seen, it's only Poland that's being affected by the price changes.

 

 

 

Quote

 

Reddit post here

 

We'll be watching this thread, very carefully as it's had 2 nudges already. Keep on topic and stay respectful

Edited September 5, 2023 by TrawlingCleaner

[RWJP]

Just to repost the information I provided on Reddit: 
 

Quote

Important: Currently, these price rises have only been reported by Polish retailers. One report here: https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/380125-price-hike-in-october/ and this thread.
 

So far, no retailers from any other country have reported any price increases.
 

Additionally, the GW Trade website which GW uses to communicate with retailers does not show any indication of any price increases for any region other than Poland: https://trade.games-workshop.com/resources/ You can check that yourself by going to the "Guidance Docs" section then "Order Forms". If you change the Country to Poland, there is a document titled "Zmiana Cen Games Workshop 02.10.2023" which lists price changes in Polish. Here's a direct link to that document: https://trade.games-workshop.com/assets/2023/08/Zmiana Cen Games Workshop - 02.10.2023.xlsx If you then change the Country to any other Country, there is no equivalent document.
 

At the moment, we do not know if these prices will affect any other countries.
 

Edit: If you set the GW website to Polish, a notification is shown on the front page confirming that prices will be 
changing on 02/10/2023: https://www.games-workshop.com/en-PL/Home?_requestid=31741266

This notification does not appear on any other region.

It looks like our Polish Fraters are a bit screwed, but the rest of us are going to escape things for now. Turns out my original comments about not jumping to conclusions and panicking ended up being at least partly right for the moment.

A quick scan of the Polish Price Change Document I found there shows price increases of roughly 8-10%  Apologies, my maths was off, price rises are approximately 11-12%. Paints seem to be around 10%-11%, Plastic kits vary between 10% and 13%!

A question for any Polish Fraters, have there been any recent changes in your taxation or import laws that might explain/account for this. The fact it's specifically Poland being affected makes me wonder if something has changed there.

Edited September 5, 2023 by RWJP

[acrozatarim]

This seems a kinda baffling price change. I don't usually pay a lot of attention to Polish finance/economy news despite living in Wrocław, so i havent heard if theres something wrt imports or regulation that'd just affect Poland in particular, but I can't see any major shifts in the GBP-PLN exchange rate that might explain it.

[Joe]

On 9/2/2023 at 7:11 PM, Joe said:

Might be localised to the EU then? As far as I remember, Games Workshop did absorb some of the cost post-Brexit to make it easier for LGS and EU-based customers. If that hasn't already come to an end this might be covering that, in effect.

 

I'm somewhat glad my suspicion panned out and it isn't a price rise across the board (yet), however I do feel for our Polish fraters.

 

@TrawlingCleaner Sod's law at the end of the day. 

 

 

[Dark Shepherd]

2 minutes ago, Joe said:

 

I'm somewhat glad my suspicion panned out and it isn't a price rise across the board (yet), however I do feel for our Polish fraters.

 

@TrawlingCleaner Sod's law at the end of the day. 

 

 

AFAIK geedubs have worked around most Brexit costs, Black Library books are headquartered in Dublin for EU trade, orders Ive gotten here have been sent from Germany and France

 

Intra company stock movements dont incur tarriffs I think

[Osteoclast]

3 hours ago, acrozatarim said:

This seems a kinda baffling price change. I don't usually pay a lot of attention to Polish finance/economy news despite living in Wrocław, so i havent heard if theres something wrt imports or regulation that'd just affect Poland in particular, but I can't see any major shifts in the GBP-PLN exchange rate that might explain it.

If anything, the strengthening of the zlotly to the pound (about 9% vs last year) would’ve acted against a price increase I’d’ve thought. 

[Matrindur]

Just a random thought, could they do staggered price increases? So instead of every region at once do it over multiple months instead. That way there wouldn't be as big of a outcry as usual. But would mess up the currency conversion even more so no idea.

[RWJP]

12 minutes ago, Matrindur said:

Just a random thought, could they do staggered price increases? So instead of every region at once do it over multiple months instead. That way there wouldn't be as big of a outcry as usual. But would mess up the currency conversion even more so no idea.

Theoretically they could but I would have thought they'd do it by region if they did that. Eg "US and Canada", then "UK and Europe", then "Australia and New Zealand", rather than just one country at a time.

Also, staggered price increases might actually cause more outcry. Right now with one mega price increase for all regions in March, you get a big outcry which slowly fades out after a few weeks.

If you had one price rise affecting one region in March, then another affecting a different region in June, then another in September, you'd have a more constant state of outcry!

[Bryan Blaire]

I don’t think GW cares much about the outcry so long as the cash continues to flow…

 

The increase in value parity between the two currencies may have led to a lower % increase over what GW had been planning to have, or it may simply have been a “We get more for the same amount? Let’s do it!” type concept for the decision making - who knows, I know I wasn’t in the room for it.  This really stinks for the Polish GW hobby participants no matter what though.

[Kastor Krieg]

10 hours ago, RWJP said:

A question for any Polish Fraters, have there been any recent changes in your taxation or import laws that might explain/account for this. The fact it's specifically Poland being affected makes me wonder if something has changed there.

Nope, this is pure GW.

[The Praetorian of Inwit]

Other companies do get plenty of criticism. GW probably doesn't get as much blow-back as some others. It perhaps just feels that way as this is a GW focused site. 

 

I do wonder how far GW can push prices though. At some point the prices are going to stop new blood entering the hobby and when that happens the hobby starts to die. 

[MegaVolt87]

Hoping there are another freeze on OZ/NZ prices, we missed the last lot I think. There really should not be as big a gap in pricing regionally. It feels like regions like OZ/ NZ subsidize other regions prices, especially UK prices. 

[Orion]

4 hours ago, MegaVolt87 said:

Hoping there are another freeze on OZ/NZ prices, we missed the last lot I think. There really should not be as big a gap in pricing regionally. It feels like regions like OZ/ NZ subsidize other regions prices, especially UK prices. 

UK maybe, but otherwise AUS isn't much worse than the US, if at all.

It's super case by case though. Plenty of stuff is significantly cheaper in Australia. 

Random examples from front page of GW
Belakor: 243AUD (~154USD) US prices $160+TAX
Stompa: 176AUD (~112USD) US price $140+TAX
Ûthar the Destined: 69AUD (~44USD) US price $40+TAX
Nagash, Supreme Lord of the Undead  184AUD (~117USD) US price $140+TAX

 

This isn't cherry picking, this is just what is on the front page.

3/4 models were significantly cheaper, the votann dude after tax would be like $43USD, so you save $1 in the states.

[MegaVolt87]

32 minutes ago, JayJapanB said:

UK maybe, but otherwise AUS isn't much worse than the US, if at all.

It's super case by case though. Plenty of stuff is significantly cheaper in Australia. 

Random examples from front page of GW
Belakor: 243AUD (~154USD) US prices $160+TAX
Stompa: 176AUD (~112USD) US price $140+TAX
Ûthar the Destined: 69AUD (~44USD) US price $40+TAX
Nagash, Supreme Lord of the Undead  184AUD (~117USD) US price $140+TAX

 

This isn't cherry picking, this is just what is on the front page.

3/4 models were significantly cheaper, the votann dude after tax would be like $43USD, so you save $1 in the states.

 

I agree, you are being a bit selective. You picked models GW inflates for everyone. The big difference is in the bread and butter units like the Mk VI tac squad. $140AUD, if I paid the US price, that would only cost me 125.53, let's say $126. Saving $14 is a decent saving that increases as you need multiple boxes. If you are paying more  than 10 percent tax (OZ GST), my savings are less, otherwise I am saving more if you pay less than the OZ GST. 

 

That's GW direct, if I can get a US LGS/ online based seller, that's a further 10-20 percent on top I can save (US LGS discount etc). Even with postage via third party shipping I save money by buying from the US. Your US prices at GW direct and US LGS is still cheaper than here in Australia. I saved a lot of money buying mk III tac squads shipped here from the US and that was not long after the last price increase GW did that OZ missed. 

Edited September 7, 2023 by MegaVolt87

[Orion]

42 minutes ago, MegaVolt87 said:

 

I agree, you are being a bit selective. You picked models GW inflates for everyone. The big difference is in the bread and butter units like the Mk VI tac squad. $140AUD, if I paid the US price, that would only cost me 125.53, let's say $126. Saving $14 is a decent saving that increases as you need multiple boxes. If you are paying more  than 10 percent tax (OZ GST), my savings are less, otherwise I am saving more if you pay less than the OZ GST. 

 

That's GW direct, if I can get a US LGS/ online based seller, that's a further 10-20 percent on top I can save (US LGS discount etc). Even with postage via third party shipping I save money by buying from the US. Your US prices at GW direct and US LGS is still cheaper than here in Australia. I saved a lot of money buying mk III tac squads shipped here from the US and that was not long after the last price increase GW did that OZ missed. 

If you pay California taxes 7.25% on the $126AUD you get $135, so a saving of $5, not $14.
If you pay Australian taxes (which technically you should be) of 10% on the $125AUD you get $137.50, so a saving of $2.50 or 1.8%

1.8% wow

Like, it's nothing compared to the massive differences I pointed out before.

And Australian sellers have 21% off warhammer too. I found a MKVI tactical squad for $105AUD

 

And if your answer is "I don't pay tax" then how is that GW subsidising?

Sure there might be some cheaper stuff in the States, but it's hardly everything. Or even most things?

[MegaVolt87]

22 minutes ago, JayJapanB said:

If you pay California taxes 7.25% on the $126AUD you get $135, so a saving of $5, not $14.
If you pay Australian taxes (which technically you should be) of 10% on the $125AUD you get $137.50, so a saving of $2.50 or 1.8%

1.8% wow

Like, it's nothing compared to the massive differences I pointed out before.

And Australian sellers have 21% off warhammer too. I found a MKVI tactical squad for $105AUD

 

And if your answer is "I don't pay tax" then how is that GW subsidising?

Sure there might be some cheaper stuff in the States, but it's hardly everything. Or even most things?

 

Look at it this way then, using the mk VI box as an example again, with the OZ price, for US price parity with OZ US price would have to be $91, $11 US more than what you currently pay. How does that price sit with you as a US customer? 

Edited September 7, 2023 by MegaVolt87

[Orion]

1 minute ago, MegaVolt87 said:

 

Look at it this way then, using the mk VI box as an example again, with the OZ price, for US price parity with OZ US price would have to be $91, $11 more than what you currently pay. 

US Prices do not include TAX

140 aud 

subtract 10%

= 126 aud

 

126aud = 80usd

 

There is no mental gymnastics going on here, and I used the example you picked.

It's just exchange rate + GST 

[MegaVolt87]

23 minutes ago, JayJapanB said:

US Prices do not include TAX

140 aud 

subtract 10%

= 126 aud

 

126aud = 80usd

 

There is no mental gymnastics going on here, and I used the example you picked.

It's just exchange rate + GST 

 

When GW increases the prices our numbers will look much different then, guess we wait till Oct. If the prices were not wildly different, regional pricing would not have been implemented in the first place. GW is cartel pricing at this point.