The icing on the cake...

[Tenorikuma]

I should go talk to Ikeda San.

He's great. I actually compared the price on the Starter Set he sold me to GW UK's price with the cheap (pre-today) shipping, and it's about the same.

[kojibear]

I should go talk to Ikeda San.

He's great. I actually compared the price on the Starter Set he sold me to GW UK's price with the cheap (pre-today) shipping, and it's about the same.

Thats's good to know. Cheers TK.

Does anyone have an email address or phone number for Ikeda San. What is his forum name?

[Admiral-Badruck]

I have heaps of marines that are up for sale for cheap as chips

[Spevna]

That's a first. Now I feel almost as foolish as MIJ when he completely made up the plot of ''The Merchant of Vencie'

Almost?

There are certain things in life that are universally true, laws of nature if you will, dead certainties. Such things as planetary rotations, the setting of the sun etc. Here is another one to add to the list;

If you see GW making any kind of change in their company policy, it will in no way, shape, or form be to the benefit of the customer.

You may want to keep that one in mind Mr GW Fanboi

[Mike the Pike]

Yeah, the fantastic models they make, as a matter of policy, definitely provide no enjoyment whatsoever to the customers

Mind you, all this really means is that we are now back where we were about 2 years ago before "the golden times" following the Lehman(?) crash. Even Prim will have to rain in his spending

[Spevna]

Yeah, the fantastic models they make, as a matter of policy, definitely provide no enjoyment whatsoever to the customers

And GW have in no way, shape, or form benefited from that. Nope, not one bit. They brought out all those shiny new mini just to watch the nipples of gamers across the globe stiffen in geeky glee. The huge price and (now) shipping increases are all for your well being.

It is a bitter pill to swallow in my book. But there is some nice Kool Aid here to wash it down with .

[kojibear]

Can I just ask a question?

They, you know who (the true Voldemorts) are indicating that Japan's GW is being avoided by all its customers living in Japan.

Really? So most of the Japanese gamers buy from the UK GW site, too? Surely it must be the case or why go to the bother or charging through the roof for a few ex-pats living there?

If that be the case and all Japanese gamers are avoiding the Japan site, as a responsible company, would you not take it upon yourself to find out why this is so and take measures to rectify the situation in a way that will benefit both you and your customer?

I know why I avoid the Japan GW site:

1. They have no English service - sorry but I would prefer to order in my native language, it's easier and more efficient.

2. The prices are - Space Marine Army Box - UK Site 60 pounds / Japan Site 110 pounds (I think)

[Spevna]

Can I just ask a question?

They, you know who (the true Voldemorts) are indicating that Japan's GW is being avoided by all its customers living in Japan.

Really? So most of the Japanese gamers buy from the UK GW site, too? Surely it must be the case or why go to the bother or charging through the roof for a few ex-pats living there?

If that be the case and all Japanese gamers are avoiding the Japan site, as a responsible company, would you not take it upon yourself to find out why this is so and take measures to rectify the situation in a way that will benefit both you and your customer?

I know why I avoid the Japan GW site:

1. They have no English service - sorry but I would prefer to order in my native language, it's easier and more efficient.

2. The prices are - Space Marine Army Box - UK Site 60 pounds / Japan Site 110 pounds (I think)

^ Sensible and logical.

[kojibear]

I just checked how much the same Space Marine battle force would be back home on the New Zealand GW site - $215. This is about 106 pounds, which is about the same as the Japan GW price. Considering the distance, about double, either Japan has some serious import duty tax or they are just greedy?

[Primarch]

Really? So most of the Japanese gamers buy from the UK GW site, too? Surely it must be the case or why go to the bother or charging through the roof for a few ex-pats living there?

Actually all of the Japanese gamers I have met either order from FLGSs like Ikeda san OR have given up.

The shipping increase is for one purpose and one purpose only. To force you to buy locally. I posted a thread about it on Warseer and non-EU/US countries which DONT have a local GW presence haven't heard about it. If we lived in say South Korea, the shipping costs wouldnt have increased.

I already was buying locally thanks to Ikeda-san, but it's nice to have the option taken away with a hearty F#*% You! gesture from GW.

I just checked how much the same Space Marine battle force would be back home on the New Zealand GW site - $215. This is about 106 pounds, which is about the same as the Japan GW price. Considering the distance, about double, either Japan has some serious import duty tax or they are just greedy?

Basically GW set their internal exchange rates when the pound was doing well and never dropped it as it would have caused all sorts of problems with the independant retailers. Oh, and they can make double the profit. It's not that Japan is more expensive, just that the pound is in the gutter.
Australia DOES have high import taxes. Japan, to my knowledge, doesnt.

For nearly every other business in the world, if your business model is failing you, it's time to get a new business model. For GW it's time to shaft the consumer some more. They had 7 GW stores in Japan but now they are down to 2. (Guess opening them all in the same place was a bit dumb). But hey, after 5 years they finally updated the .JP homepage to look like the .UK homepage.

You know what? I'm sick of trying to be optimistic. The new models look awesome, there is some cool sounding stuff in the pipeline but I'm sick of it all. I've got some Necrons on order with Ikeda san at the moment. After that.....it's going to be a long time before I buy any more product either here or from home.
(Paint, Rulebooks and Black Library books being the exception here)

In the meantime I'm going to happily get on with my current Historicals kick thats going on, with side games of Malifaux, Warmachine and Cutlass. I have a tonne of stuff to work through and I hope that when you all see it on the tabletop that you decide to give it a try.

This is Prim, taking a Spevna Stance.