Warlord becoming the next GW?

[Pzkpfw_Steve]

Local MSRP for bolt action infantry box is ~$40 CDN .  why then am i asked to pay 60 CDN on their new website?  if local stores are selling it to me(at least until Warlord adjust their wholesale price) for 40 CDN and presumably making a profit, why then does Warlord feel the need to make an extra $20 CDN off me?

[wmyers]

Or they may be matching local MSRP. Since no-one knows for sure it seems odd to assume some sort of cynical commercial motive

I was not referring to local game shops, but in regards to Warlord’s pricing.

An assumption may be “odd”, but my observations are not based upon assumptions.

Take Wargames Factory, for instance.  Warlord approached Wargames Factory (WGF) and Ghost Studios (same China based company) and negotiated a deal where Warlord would be the sole distributor of WGF sets.

Yet, it was not as simple as that.  Warlord set their own price point which was roughly twice that of WGF.

It did not stop there.  They manipulated the set up of the sprues to ensure even greater profits.

The modern spec forces set had 8 bodies. Warlord thought this would mean too few sprues being sold so they had WGF alter the sprue by taking off 4 of the bodies and replacing them with bases.

Not just twice the price, but also half the figures (so really 4 times the price!).

That’s just one example.

[pixelgeek]

Local MSRP for bolt action infantry box is ~$40 CDN .  why then am i asked to pay 60 CDN on their new website?  if local stores are selling it to me(at least until Warlord adjust their wholesale price) for 40 CDN and presumably making a profit, why then does Warlord feel the need to make an extra $20 CDN off me?

Has anyone emailed Warlord to ask?

[wmyers]

Has anyone emailed Warlord to ask?

It would be interesting to see Warlord’s response.

Please feel free to do so and let us know.

[Pzkpfw_Steve]

I was not referring to local game shops, but in regards to Warlord’s pricing.

An assumption may be “odd”, but my observations are not based upon assumptions.

Take Wargames Factory, for instance.  Warlord approached Wargames Factory (WGF) and Ghost Studios (same China based company) and negotiated a deal where Warlord would be the sole distributor of WGF sets.

Yet, it was not as simple as that.  Warlord set their own price point which was roughly twice that of WGF.

It did not stop there.  They manipulated the set up of the sprues to ensure even greater profits.

The modern spec forces set had 8 bodies. Warlord thought this would mean too few sprues being sold so they had WGF alter the sprue by taking off 4 of the bodies and replacing them with bases.

Not just twice the price, but also half the figures (so really 4 times the price!).

That’s just one example.

also Similar to GW.  I remember when they slowly crept the price of LOTR plastic boxes up, and when the reached the breaking point for prices, they instead took one sprue(half the figures) out of the box.  a decade later they doubled the prices and re-added the lost  figures in the box. What a Great deal!! 
they did the same things to Eldar plastic Dire Avengers as well.

Has anyone emailed Warlord to ask?

when it first happened another Canadian on the Bolt Action FB group did email. a week later when asked he said he never heard back.

[Norm]

Local MSRP for bolt action infantry box is ~$40 CDN .  why then am i asked to pay 60 CDN on their new website?  if local stores are selling it to me(at least until Warlord adjust their wholesale price) for 40 CDN and presumably making a profit, why then does Warlord feel the need to make an extra $20 CDN off me?

I'm not sure it is as straight forward as that. Most of the the resellers (in the UK at least) are going with 20% discounts as part of the intense on-line competition here. That sort of discount ensures minimal margins and is only sustainable on high volume turn over.  Some traders are able to get an extra discount by being a tier 1 trader, meaning they have to buy volume off Warlord and have most of their range in stock, but to compete, these are discounts are often being passed on, but none of hese traders have the infrastructure costs of an outfit like WG.

Even at a Wargame show where Warlord is trading, their product is full price, while everywhere else in the hall, the discounters are there. It would seem reasonable to assume that the basic running costs of WG, their research and development costs, stocking costs of each item that needs a several thousand manufacture run and staffing levels and future viability all bring a more 'realistic' cost that WG are asking, rather than the one man band type seller who is simply moving product on and to convert into coin as fast as possible.

On the boardgame side of things, i have spoken with a retailer who is selling at high discount, so that on a £72 game, they are making £3, that model is simply not viable in the longer turn, but today, he is at least making sales!  but we want our wargame supply to be there forever, we are not a short term hobby. He also sells WG and so I guess similar applies.

[Lowtardog]

Personally some of their gear is really nice, so if I want it I get it, I say go second hand, eBay, reseller then their website. However if I have and do buy direct. Not sure why all the hand wringing, there's enough options out there to buy their or others product. Their business model is just that a business decision and for good or bad their profits will out as to whether successful or not

[Ultravanillasmurf]

@wymers - I am not sure your description of the Wargames Factory story is complete, I am sure there was a full description of the whole Wargames Factory business debacle(s) prior to Warlord's involvement somewhere else on this forum.

Overall their (WGF) business model was not sustainable. I bought one each of their zombie and survivors boxes, and that would probably be all I needed.

Whether Warlord made their money back on the deal is another matter (I have made my opinion of the Project Z debacle elsewhere on this forum).

[tuco74]

(I will say I definitely regret getting the warlord membership which seemingly doesnt work with most sales and feels like a bait and switch when they went from a free armoured car in the first month to sprue samples.)

Thoughts? Am I spot on/being too pessimistic?

I am generally a Warlord fan, although I rarely buy from them direct. The membership scheme did seem badly thought out from the off though. You had to spend a lot to get the benefit of the discount and there didn't seem to be any choice in what freebie you received each month. It perhaps would have been more appealing if there had been a small monthly fee <£5 that entitled you to a discount and some sort of points system you could cash in.

They also seem to have got into the habit of rushing development of games. I'd be annoyed if I spent £50 on a starter set and had to download an errata within a week. That said I paint much more than I play so that hasn't affected me directly.

[wmyers]

@wymers - I am not sure your description of the Wargames Factory story is complete, I am sure there was a full description of the whole Wargames Factory business debacle(s) prior to Warlord's involvement somewhere else on this forum.

Overall their (WGF) business model was not sustainable. I bought one each of their zombie and survivors boxes, and that would probably be all I needed.

Whether Warlord made their money back on the deal is another matter (I have made my opinion of the Project Z debacle elsewhere on this forum).

It’s true I did not go into everything.

Like Lonnie and Nancy and the rest being let go.

Or of how the deal also included Warlord’s access to Ghost’s moulding.  (Check out the sprues for the newest Warlord plastics (Crimean War)  - you will note they are made by WGF.

WGF sets’ price point was not as high as others and Lonnie told me he thought they could be a lot higher based on how much GW could charge.

There was a lot of anti China business sentiment about WGF products and complaints about shallow details on the first sets.

Warlord doesn’t seem to mind the details as they released the Vikings and Saxons.

Warlord did not release the lines that competed with their ancients.

There’s always more, but how much do you really need to dig up?

[wmyers]

Personally some of their gear is really nice, so if I want it I get it, I say go second hand, eBay, reseller then their website. However if I have and do buy direct. Not sure why all the hand wringing, there's enough options out there to buy their or others product. Their business model is just that a business decision and for good or bad their profits will out as to whether successful or not

Absolutely!

[FreakyFenton]

http://www.warlordgames.com/announcement-price-adjustments/?utm_source=Warlord+Games+Newsletter&utm_campaign=5f1b77441c-Warlord_Games_News_24_January_2020&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b7e928b4ed-5f1b77441c-133096241&mc_cid=5f1b77441c&mc_eid=e6a6e9b79c


More price adjustments inbound, the price increases on the Napoleonic boxes are hefty.

[Atheling]

http://www.warlordgames.com/announcement-price-adjustments/?utm_source=Warlord+Games+Newsletter&utm_campaign=5f1b77441c-Warlord_Games_News_24_January_2020&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b7e928b4ed-5f1b77441c-133096241&mc_cid=5f1b77441c&mc_eid=e6a6e9b79c


More price adjustments inbound, the price increases on the Napoleonic boxes are hefty.

So, and I don't know the answer to this question; has the price of producing plastic miniatures gone up?

[mcfonz]

Correct, they charge me in SEK because I live in Sweden at an exchange rate 15% higher than the market rate

Whilst it still doesn't equate for all of it, you know that market rates are not what are paid though? Most places - banks, currency exchanges, post office either charge a rate for changing it or give you a slightly worse rate. Very few places change currency for free, if any.

[traveller]

Whilst it still doesn't equate for all of it, you know that market rates are not what are paid though? Most places - banks, currency exchanges, post office either charge a rate for changing it or give you a slightly worse rate. Very few places change currency for free, if any.

Yes...and that is 2% in currency surcharge by Mastercard...