Thread: GWs new policies result in Miniwargaming.com's store closing

Originally Posted by RealGenius

Yeah, but now GW is making Alliance (or trying to make them) enforce the no bits/no sprues policy. I wonder if the GW Distributors have the direct limit of $500 as well?

I don't think it will put the bits places out of business, but it puts more pressure on them. At the very least they are still allowed to buy the bits at retail and part them out. And like others have mentioned, eBay. Try as they might, GW can't prevent you from reselling things you bought at retail.

I think the intent of GW here is to attack the bitz stores indirectly by going after their Brick and Mortar fronts. If GW can prove/link/or otherwise 'feels' like a brick and mortar store is supplying a discounted rate to a bitz store, they will simply choose to stop doing business with that brick and mortar store -- which they can technically do.

They aren't going after Alliance and I don't think they are expecting Alliance to enforce that policy. They are going after independent retailer fronts with the Trade Agreement/Contracts they have in order to attack the online backend.

The margins for ordering as a direct distributor from GW are generally better for the retailers than ordering from another 3rd party distributor like Alliance. So much so, that it's almost not profitable to order from Alliance if you're already working with GW.


But this is all conjecture and hearsay. I mean, I've only worked in the retail side with GW, met the miniwargaming guys in person, understand how Bitz stores operate, have seen the actual numbers/margins on all of theses things, worked directly with Alliance and have a business degree.... What do I know?!

I want to get that Chicken Lawyer from Futurama to comment on this Policy change. That would be awesome.

Originally Posted by AdamHarry

I think the intent of GW here is to attack the bitz stores indirectly by going after their Brick and Mortar fronts.

Couldn't a store pay retail for boxes and then break them down to bits? I thought GW just didn't want the reseller price for bits.

If GW had bits again, that would be nice, but their bits service was never as good as the alternatives.

Originally Posted by RealGenius

Couldn't a store pay retail for boxes and then break them down to bits? I thought GW just didn't want the reseller price for bits.

If GW had bits again, that would be nice, but their bits service was never as good as the alternatives.

Yes, but there are two things wrong with that as a business model:
1) Margin on purchasing retail
2) the Volume of boxes

I'll address the 2nd issue first:
The amount of boxes you would need to purchase retail would send up a flag to GW (or it wouldn't be worth it as a business). For example, if a store orders 20 boxes of Dark Vengeance as a one time purchase from GW, that probably won't send up a flag. if they did it every week, for a month or two, that probably would.

At retail that's $100 per box...plus taxes, so you're ordering just over $2175 worth of stock per week. which means you'd need to break that down, kit it out, (shipping and packaging etc) and sell over $2175 in bits to recoup that. You'd basically need to be able to sell that entire box of stuff for $125-$150 to make a profit after supplies and labor. And that's not counting all the competition and market saturation etc... But this is just one example.

Point is you'd have to move a lot of stuff for it to be profitable, and even then you're looking at razor thin margins IF you're buying at retail.

Which brings me to my 1st point: The margins are paper thin if you're paying retail. The investment required to get started at retail, plus the amount of storage you'd need, work/labor you would need and organization you'd require just doesn't seem worth the return on investment. It's feasibly possible if you have free labor or you're doing it in your spare time, but that is a whole other ball of wax. If someone had a business model based on that (free labor) then I could see it working...for a while.

Oh and I almost forgot, and Brandon can back me up on this, about the 2nd point: If GW FEELS like you (the retail store) is supplying one of these online stores with merchandise, they will just choose not to sell you stuff. Which if they play connect-the-dots long enough they will figure it out.


TL;DR -- Yes, a store could pay retail. But it would not be reasonable in the long run.

What kind of shocks me is GW has no business sense here or thought. The online stores should be the last thing they worry about. The size and capacity that these stores get limits them. That is why other business don't worry about them. Let them go because you just sell more produt in the long run. The fixed cost that come with these groups get so high that they don't function.

Originally Posted by Darkwynn

What kind of shocks me is GW has no business sense here or thought. The online stores should be the last thing they worry about. The size and capacity that these stores get limits them. That is why other business don't worry about them. Let them go because you just sell more produt in the long run. The fixed cost that come with these groups get so high that they don't function.

So "GW the distributor" shouldn't care. because yes, GW will sell more product in the long run via the 3rd party online stores.

The Problem is "GW the retailer" thinks they are fighting the "evil online stores that steal business from your FLGS" -- this is evident from the letter Matt of Miniwargaming was reading. The problem is that it's not the Online stores killing the FLGS, it's the pricing hikes....and other things. Look I could write a white paper on this move. It's just bad business. They are an old company. That's the problem. This is 2013. not 1987. change with the technology or sink.

I feel bad for the online retailers, but I've bought most of my 40K stuff from eBay, and will probably continue to do so, unless it's a solo, or small unit. Then I'll just buy it from DL to support them.

Originally Posted by AdamHarry

So "GW the distributor" shouldn't care. because yes, GW will sell more product in the long run via the 3rd party online stores.

The Problem is "GW the retailer" thinks they are fighting the "evil online stores that steal business from your FLGS" -- this is evident from the letter Matt of Miniwargaming was reading. The problem is that it's not the Online stores killing the FLGS, it's the pricing hikes....and other things. Look I could write a white paper on this move. It's just bad business. They are an old company. That's the problem. This is 2013. not 1987. change with the technology or sink.

I would love to read that white paper.

ETA: Post 666 I'm so metal!!!