I saw this post elsewhere on the forum, and felt that my response would not fit with that topic. Thus, a new topic. Here's the quote I saw:


I totally agree with this. I also live in Canada, and I no longer buy from GW or any other Canadian supplier. This isn't (just) because of currencies, I would be able to understand that. Everything is marked up here, even after the conversion. Someone in the UK might be able to buy a two thousand point army for £300. Someone in Canada would spend the same amount of money; about $450 CAD; and still have to pare that army down to around 1500 points. I wonder about the reason for this. Is it because of some inefficient shipping processes or something? Surely this can't be justified. The little tiny cynic inside of me is angry.

Though, I am honestly curious. Is the extra cost shipping? Where are the miniatures produced?

So I've just resigned myself to the tremendous ordeal of ordering online from now on. The price is just far cheaper, even including shipping. Where do you guys order from? Shipping costs and location are really of no concern to me, as I plan to order in large quantities from now on. Discount and reputation are everything to me.

Its the same here in New Zealand - Take the new plastic Fell Beast for example, shelf price here $115 NZD, the old metal ones $120? Now at Maelstrom you can get one for 31 pounds fifty and that equates to about $68 NZD!!!! Given that Maelstrom has free posting worldwide makes it a no brainer.

It's the same with any of the stock from Maelstrom - GW prices here are rediculous and frankly have stopped me buying much from there at all. I tend to buy most of my mini's off the local auction site and only if I really have too will I buy anything from GW. The only thing is that Maelstrom don't/can't stock every GW item, some of them are GW order only!

I have ordered from Maelstrom before, they are very good and I have never had any problems.

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Live to share, share to live.

The pound is VERY weak at the moment, probably down more than 30% relative to the Australian dollar when compared to historical values. GW have not adjusted their prices to compensate for the different exchange rates - in fact, they have continued to inflate their prices, though the % increase is likely the same in the UK as well. This naturally makes purchasing models from any retailer in the UK much cheaper.

If you are interested in a retailer in the UK, I have only had dealings with Wayland Games personally, but my shipment arrived safely and within a few weeks. Their prices are much cheaper than GW, and with the favourable exchange rate I managed to save even more.

Taxes. Canada has quite high taxes, in order to fund the welfare, health care, etc, as well as various other taxes like carbon tax, which means most things cost more in Canada then they do in many other countries.
Though I feel that the taxes are justified I have been ordering from maelstrom as the free shipping helps a lot since I live in Thailand, though when I move back to Canada I'll probably order from wayland games as the prices are a lot better so that despite the additional cost of shipping it should be cheaper then maelstrom.

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“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” -Romans 5:8

Interesting. I know that things in Canada are generally more expensive, from food to entertainment. I'm generally happy to pay this extra price because I support the causes mentioned. However, I wasn't aware that this cost did not apply to products bought directly from other countries. That seems like an odd loophole. I thought that the government used duties in such situations.
I also thought that Europe in general had higher taxes, as well. Higher than the US, at least. Yet GW miniatures still cost more in the US than in the UK. Can taxes really explain all of the price differences?

After looking at Maelstrom games after I saw it mentioned it this topic, I'm never going to buy from GW again, it's SO much cheaper online.

BTW I'm in Canada.

Luminary,

There are duties charged, but if I recall correctly, there's a certain threshold under which they don't bother (ie $20 or something). I'm not certain though, and maybe it depends on the class of item being imported.

Another problem we have in Canada, at least compared to items manufactured in the US is the changing dollar. Books are a good example from a few years ago. When $1 Canadian was only worth about $0.66 US, the suggested retail price of books in Canada went up relative to the American price. However, once our dollar started to climb again, companies were slow to change it because a) there is a fair bit of lead time between when the books are created and when they hit the shelf and they can't react too quickly, and b) if we're already willing to spend more, then why not charge it? Now we're almost at parity with the US, but I expect paperback books are still listed along the lines of $6.99 US or $10.99 CAD. (I haven't really paid attention lately though, so this is a guess.)

Ehzed