For years now, Games Workshop has regularly made use of 'available while stocks last' or 'Limited Edition' models, books and artefacts. There's no doubting the financial success of such sales tactics, but is it all sunshine and roses?
Don't get me wrong - I'm not arguing for a second that their shouldn't be Limited Edition stuff. In fact, I would suggest I'm making a case for the opposite. It would be massively hypocritical of me to do anything else seeing how much love I have for anything remotely 'Collector's Item'.
But there is no denying that Geedub are getting it wrong. Time and again, whatever Limited Edition offering they have is sold out within an hour or two, with listings appearing on Ebay mere moments later.
For a company that says it prides itself on great customer service, how exactly is this providing customers with great service. It seems very much aimed at fulfilling their bottom line, and not much else.
'Solar War', a gorgeously leatherbound book that marks the real start of the Horus Heresy's invasion of the Solar System sold out within minutes, at £50 a pop. There were eBay listings up immediately, and if you try to grab one now it'll set you back around three times that price.
Take the Sabbat Worlds Crusade stuff that was released toward the end of last year. The map that was released sold out in under two hours. I remember this particularly, because I really wanted one, and after a few phone calls to various stores and GW customer services, discovered my only chance was to drive the 4 hours to Warhammer World. Maybe, they said, I would get there before it opened so I was early enough in the queue to still buy one. Though no-one knew for sure how many would be going on sale.
They rectified that mistake eventually - two more batches of maps went on sale in the following weeks (and now mine sits pride-of-place in my hobby cave). Maybe the most compelling case, though, is one of the most recent. The Indominus box, full of brand new Necrons and Primaris that accompanied the 9th Edition launch, was a limited release. Initially, we were told, there would only be one batch, and despite assurances that there would be enough for everyone, it sold out rapidly online, then those delivered to stores followed swiftly behind.
In response (and to their credit), GW decided to offer up a 'made to order' period to satisfy the many customers who didn't get one, and didn't want to get fleeced for one by the scalpers. And this makes my point:
When GW announced the second run, many Local Games Stores reported cancellations of up to 30% of their pre-orders of Indominus. 30% that were headed for resale by cretins who wanted to capitalise on those who couldn't be spamming refresh at 10am on a Saturday.
And whilst someone is clearly going to miss out - they wouldn't be called Limited Editions otherwise - GW needs to strike a better balance. Making customers who genuinely want this stuff pay a scalper three or four times its value is NOT good customer service, period.
The solution has already been tried, and GW have made better sales from it. Instead of ordering a batch of a few thousand of whatever the Limited Edition is, sell it as a 'made to order' product with a longer fulfillment time. Leave it on sale for a week or two, and let people who aren't available every Saturday, or who are waiting for payday etc order theirs too. Keep our hobby in the hands of those who are so clearly enjoying it, not those who want to exploit us for a quick profit.
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