I am writing this in the hopes I can encourage all Australian (and NZ) players to act. If you are unhappy with the pricing structure that has been set for GW products and LotR &The Hobbit SBGs in particular, I would encourage you to write, or email, or phone (print is infinitely better) GW customer service and voice your concerns.

I need to emphasise that this needs to be done in a polite and businesslike fashion. Don't rant and swear and carry on, but tell them how disappointed you are that the products are continuing to skyrocket in price. If you are having trouble getting decent Finecast figures, mention that too, and include photos if you can.

GW needs feedback to supply to the UK, where the prices are set. The actual prices are out of their control down here. I have been told that by a member of customer service here in Aus. They do read these mails and forward them on to management in the UK for review. So we need to give them a polite and ordered series of messages to send back. If they don't know there is a problem as far as we are concerned, they won't try and fix it.

Give them your name and request that your concerns be forwarded to the appropriate departments for review and action. But please, be polite, your contact will be taken more seriously if its not a rant.

Give it some thought, and if you agree, send something along and reply to this thread. I have already been in touch with GW CS here. Add your voice to the chorus!

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Cheers
Athelas

Athelas

GW cannot lower the prices of Australia's products unless they close all branches of Australian stores.

The cost of living is too high in this country, every person who works for GW in Australia gets paid alot more than their UK equivalents.

The way global economics works, GW Australia, whilst part of a single company must be its own economic entity for taxes, insurance, market standing and expenses etc.

As a separate economic entity no company would sell stock that does not cover their base expenses (wages, rent, utilities etc) and when their stock comes from the UK the cost is inflated due to our governments taxes.

If you dislike GW's prices complain against the government not a company that is simply trying to generate more profit than loss.

Even saying this, I still buy from USA/UK knowing that in doing so GW Australia may eventually close altogether (which is probably the best way out of this)

Also, if you look at every forum the models are expensive in every country comparable to that country's minimum wage, they are not overcharged here its simply the Cost of living in Australia.

Lets just be thankful that they can't completely control imports and exports. (Although Finecast is neat stab at the 2nd hand market)

Travis

I hate to say that it is NOT the cost of living, that is a canard that has been going around for a long time now.

The best thing to do is to just buy from overseas, particularly from Britain as the shipping isn't as harsh as the US shipping.

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My LotR and 40k blog, Realm of Battle board, dwarves, gobs, space wolves and battle reports. http://simbattleboard.blogspot.com/

Agreed, the cost of living argument is a dead horse that's been well and truly flogged. Import duty on toys and games into Australia is 4.7%, sales tax is 10%. Don't blame the government for the colossal margin on GW product!

Phoenix, if your argument was valid, then the US retail prices would be on a par with the Australian retail as the US has GW retail outlets as well. The US retail prices are roughly equivalent to the UK retail prices to within a few dollars.

If you think the prices are fair, then by all means don't contact them, however, the fact that you buy from the US/UK says otherwise. Either way, please don't discourage other people from speaking up because of your opinion (which I acknowledge you are entitled to).

_________________
Cheers
Athelas

An Adult working in America has a minimum hourly wage of around $8 (7.62 AUD) and spends $6440 (6141 AUD) on groceries a year

For the UK the minimum wage is 6.2GBP (9.48 AUD) and 3120 GBP (4771 AUD) on groceries a year

In Australia its $15.59 (204% & 164% higher) and nearly $9000 (146% & 188% Higher) a year on groceries

Where as Warhammer costs you
Hobbit Boxset
205 AUD
125 USD (120 AUD) 164% Cheaper
75 GBP (114 AUD) 179% Cheaper

The increase in Price of Warhammer in comparable with the increase in wage and the increase in cost of Groceries
That is simply our cost of living affecting our retail, its an old story because unfortunately its true.

(These Averages and Wages are common information that is easy to find)

Look at Video Games, Movies, Clothing, Books, Electronics, Postage Costs, Mattress', Cars the list goes on...

By all means email GW, rant if you like. But dont be Stunned when nothing happens.

Athelas, how about a worded petition letter etc that Aus/ NZ gamers could add their name to?

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http://wargamingwithbarks.blogspot.com

I'm pretty sure that wargaming isn't designed to be a hobby for minimum wage earners. I could counter with maximum wage per country too. You haven't mentioned taxation differences, other cost of living differences...

This is an interesting article:
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2732638.html

And really, the main problem is our dollar doing so well now, the prices of overseas commodities don't change quickly enough to match our changing dollar. Which has doubled versus the US and UK in the last ten years. The prices in dollar value make sense against the old dollar value, but not the new. What we're seeing is nothing to do with living costs (obviously since we pay just as much more - often double - for downloadable content and other digital media too) but all to do with companies not adjusting their dollar sticker price down to match our better dollar value.

Our high cost of living is arguably because of this rather than some bizarre inherency. If all companies stopped gouging us we wouldn't have to pay so much and then wouldn't have a high cost of living. We're being denied a free market by Games Workshop, not letting us purchase from their UK store and have it shipped here. International law will catch up soon (the process has already begun for digital media).

The recent legal federal inquiries have found a lot, but are impotent to force action:
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/techno ... 24zpl.html

I agree that there's not much that can be done, but it's not really acceptable for GW or any other company to gouge us just because it's tradition.
http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/07/30/pri ... ience-see/

So thank you eBay and independant retailers who will ship to us still =)

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My LotR and 40k blog, Realm of Battle board, dwarves, gobs, space wolves and battle reports. http://simbattleboard.blogspot.com/

Some interesting reading there simmuskhan. Thanks for posting the links.

Some time ago I had the opportunity to ask GW customer service the question of why our prices are so much higher. I was frankly staggered by the response. The prices are fixed by GW UK, based on the 'expected' value of our dollar against the GBP. That's all.

I asked why the prices couldn't be adjusted now based on the current and ongoing strength of the Aussie dollar. The answer came that it was too costly to implement price changes based on the fluctuating value of the dollar, and that sooner or later, the dollar would fall back to its 'expected' value.

If that's not price discrimination in action, I don't know what it is...

@phoenix1986 I specifically mentioned not ranting in my original post. A calm and polite letter is bound to be taken more seriously than a rant.

@Barks I don't believe petitions carry as much weight as individually written messages. Certain business decisions are made at times based on the volume of customer feedback received about an issue.

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Cheers
Athelas