Can anyone remember a time where GW had a sale?

Through all my years in this hobby, I can't recall a single time where GW had a sale or put an item on clearance. Even things that were to be discontinued (like the metal models that were replaced when Finecast was released) were never discounted. They were simply shipped back to GW and never to be seen again.

Does anyone remember an instance where GW put something on sale/clearance?

 

My local gamestore has, but that was before GW changed some of their policies I think. I have never seen GW themselves make a discount though.

 

I have seen local gamestores have sales plenty of times, but GW proper? Not that I recall, but I suppose that would go against their whole "cash for the cash god" mentality.

 

I've seen local gaming stores have plenty of sales and even permanent clearance sections. But it never seems like GW discounts any of its stuff, even when discontinuing it.

With GW, prices only ever seem to go in one direction... up.

 

The synapsid has a point! The mentality of GW has never leant it selves to any discount or sales of any kind

 

I agree, it seems like they would rather recall and discard/destroy an item rather than sell it off quickly at a reduced price point.

 

One of my FLGS always has a Warhammer miniatures sale around Christmas, 20% off... how they do it I don't know, since another FLGS I visit never gives discounts on Warhammer stuff because GW policy they say. Oh well, I know where I am around Christmas

 

There is a game store I can drive to ( FNRLGS ) that sells all Warhammer (40K also) at a standard 75% of MSRP, all day every day.
(NRL = Not Really Local)

 

Does anyone know how much FLGS' have to pay for GW products? 50 percent?

 

Do you mean at a FLGS or GW?

 

No. Never seen one. It's not exactly a bad thing though. And It's not uncommon among quality or luxury products. The idea behind it is simple.
Take a deal like McDonald's dollar burgers that get crappier each year, Subway's $5 foot long boosting freshness with well, quality and freshness a 5 out of 10 at best. They're just shooting themselves in the foot a little bit. They can in theory raise their prices like Arby's old 5 for $5 that is now something like 5 for $5.99+. But that didn't work out very well for them. Do you remember the 5 for $5? ever hear of their new deal, "choose five" or whatever it is? Nope. No one cares about it.

Could you imagine if GW regularly released products at a higher price and lowered them after they were a few weeks old? Then lowered them again after a year? Pretty much everyone would be waiting for at least the first price drop. They are quality items that are meant to be worked on for hours and kept for many years. If they had yearly Christmas sales, everyone would wait for Christmas to buy. The typical Warhammer hobbyist has a pretty good amount of WIP and unpainted models to hold out for sale prices. Just like hunting for Friday night pizza deals, they'd be creating a new standard. The average price would just have to go up. Just like the pizza shop's Friday deals raise their regular prices. They have a % food cost that they need to be making regardless of sale prices(GW % cost of goods). In the end, the the average price would be the same. And if everyone/most people wait, the sale price would become the current price. Most high end cars, clothing lines, and other quality companies fallow the same no sale model just as strictly. If Lamborghinis were cheaper for Christmas, their customers base would just wait till Christmas to buy, and their Christmas price would become their regular price. And the price isn't a factor. Qduba has a rewards program with no sales and JimmyJohn's has neither. They have a dollar sub day. But that is for promotions. They don't make money off that. And they both actually push quality and claim to be "fast casual" in an attempt to distance themselves from the fast food chains. The reality is, companies don't take the hit for COGs (cost of goods) ever. That phone you get with a two year contract, included in your contract and you pay for it monthly. Take that free drink/meal on the airplane. You bought it with your ticket. Etc.

As far as returning the old models rather than having a clearance, ties into quality. If they have a better quality model for you, that is the one they want you to own. Again, it's a product you are spending time on and keeping for years with their name attached. They provide only the highest quality models, oop is unacceptable for sale at any price.

I'm not saying GW's prices or business model is fair to the consumer, or isn't in general a crooked and evil company. But the no sale pricing isn't an issue. I'm not saying they are either. But I have heard a lot of bad stuff.

 

3rd parties still had to buy the product first, so yea, that's still profit.

 

Back when White Dwarf was monthly and was not a pure sales catalog the subscription version came with a monochrome publication Troll Trader[?] and it offered specials. Not exactly sales, but it would have bundled deals, direct order only specials, and bit parts on offer.

 

That's cool.

White Dwarf now is an atrocious publication in my opinion. I heard it was really good though back in the day.

 

I still have a giant Bristol board-sized ad for Mail orders during Christmas 2000.
Core games were $110 CAD.
Battalions/Battle Forces were $115 to $130 CAD.
Codices were $20 CAD.
Army Books were $28 CAD.

EDIT
Each free item was around $30 CAD.

 

That was back before i got into warhammer(2004)