Pyro Stick:
Just got this email from Maelstrom. I read about the place that some companies will no longer be allowed to sell internationally but the rumours were dismissed but i guess they were true.
Hi there,
It’s a sad day for us here at Maelstrom Games (www.maelstromgames.co.uk) for we have the unpleasant task of informing all of our Rest of the World customers that Games Workshop will no longer allow us to sell their products to you
GW NO LONGER ALLOWING US TO SELL TO ROW CUSTOMERS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Games Workshop’s new Terms and Conditions, which come into force on the 31st of May 2011 restrict the sale - among other things - of all of their products to the European Union, although there are a couple of countries (such as Norway and Switzerland) that are geographically within Europe but not in the EU that we can still sell to.
The full list of countries that we can sell GW products to is as follows:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
Obviously this means that all of our faithful Games Workshop customers from the Anglosphere - Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States - as well as those from Brazil, Chile, Peru, Russia, Japan and South Korea (apologies for those countries I have missed out) will now miss out on our superb service and cheap prices, but I’m afraid the terms and conditions of our contract with Games Workshop mean that we have to say goodbye.
Maelstrom Games
Does anyone know why Games Workshop would do this? I wonder if it will affect every company selling GW products internationally.
aka_mythos:
Its region control, much like how DVDs, blueray, and video games are released with different encoding in different parts of the world to allow the manufacturer stronger control of their market. In this instance GW doesn’t want Maelestrom selling to the rest of the world because in areas like Australia and Asia GW really bumps up the price more than anywhere else and their sales in those regions were down because people could simply order for half the price from companies like Maelestrom. Now GW can insist people in those regions pay their ridiculous prices.
Pyro Stick:
Its region control, much like how DVDs, blueray, and video games are released with different encoding in different parts of the world to allow the manufacturer stronger control of their market. In this instance GW doesn't want Maelestrom selling to the rest of the world because in areas like Australia and Asia GW really bumps up the price more than anywhere else and their sales in those regions were down because people could simply order for half the price from companies like Maelestrom. Now GW can insist people in those regions pay their ridiculous prices.
aka_mythos
imo people will just resort to places like ebay. Forcing people to pay premium prices isnt going to make them very popular.
aka_mythos:
The thing is with their high margins GW doesn’t need to be all that popular. While people can resort to ebay or amazon, the savings they get there will never be as good as they were getting from Maelestrom. I think its a bad idea on GW’s parts, but GW’s never been in the business of learning from their mistakes.
Willmark:
And GW wonders why their sales are meh? Not suprised by this.
Baggronor:
I think its a bad idea on GW's parts, but GW's never been in the business of learning from their mistakes.
Well, to be fair, just because we don't like it, doesn't mean its a mistake. Their goal isn't to please people, its to make money. In that respect, I think its self-evident they don't make many mistakes, otherwise they'd have folded long ago. But yeah, its painful for overseas customers :~
Jumbster:
And people like me who live in Brazil?
Here there is no shop, dealer or representative of GW and if we buy them direct in the U.S. we have to order so many things to make it worthwhile that is almost impossible to continue in the hobby if the person is not rich for our padrons.
We are very dissapointed…i hope Wayland dont follow the same way.
sory about the terrible english.
good luck to all.
Pyro Stick:
And people like me who live in Brazil?
Here there is no shop, dealer or representative of GW and if we buy them direct in the U.S. we have to order so many things to make it worthwhile that is almost impossible to continue in the hobby if the person is not rich for our padrons.
We are very dissapointed...i hope Wayland dont follow the same way.
sory about the terrible english.
good luck to all.
Jumbster
Waylands facebook page is where i first heard this rumour. Ill let you know if they have to stop selling internationally as well.
aka_mythos:
Well, to be fair, just because we don't like it, doesn't mean its a mistake. Their goal isn't to please people, its to make money. In that respect, I think its self-evident they don't make many mistakes, otherwise they'd have folded long ago. But yeah, its painful for overseas customers :~
Baggronor
I realize that just because we don't like it, that doesn't make it a mistake. I do however think this is a mistake. In some countries GW's mark up is too drastic for the majority of gamers. Its a mistake because I think a large enough number of players will either drop out of the hobby because of the cost prohibitiveness or switch to non-GW alternatives in those countries.
warh:
this is terrible for a big part of the world 
Glimpse the Void:
Where do they get off claiming the IP for all miniature war games? They did not invent orcs, elves, dwarves, or strategy games. This company makes me sick…
G.2:
I live in Australia, and this affects me directly. I for one am really unhappy with this decision (I am choosing my words carefully), and GW has lost me as a fan. I will still buy from Maelstrom as they are awesome.
I am off to do some Maths tutoring and calm down.
wallacer:
I feel sorry for young gamers. Not all of them have wealthy parents.
I guess the big winners are the peole who make fringe Games like Dystopian Wars, Malifaux and Flames. They probably aren’t too upset over this.
Personally, i’ll just get my brother in the UK to send stuff to me.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the months ahead. If sales nosedive in the australasia/east asia region then GW may sit up and take notice (assuming of course that GW care about sales outside of Europe and the U.S.
Necrotique:
Where do they get off claiming the IP for all miniature war games? They did not invent orcs, elves, dwarves, or strategy games. This company makes me sick...
Glimpse the Void
Exactly. Tolkein invented the "orc" as we know it today. I find this disgusting as the prices here in Australia are already disgustingly high for GW products. Ah well. Hi ho, hi ho, eBaying I shall go.... :mad
:cheers
Baggronor:
I realize that just because we don't like it, that doesn't make it a mistake. I do however think this is a mistake. In some countries GW's mark up is too drastic for the majority of gamers. Its a mistake because I think a large enough number of players will either drop out of the hobby because of the cost prohibitiveness or switch to non-GW alternatives in those countries.
Mm, true. It does seem like a really stupid move now that they're doing the switchover to resin
and raising
all their prices again.
nitroglysarine:
To be honest I’m now looking at my old empire army as a long term investment.
People will end up (imo) buying the older models on eBay to play with and the newer models might just fail to sell in large numbers.
I’d far prefer to spend £10 on a box of broken old models, and do them up than spend £8 on a box of 5 resin models.
Yup, sad. But eBay will get more trade from this!
Jumbster:
I find something to make us just a little bit unhappy. The new cost of GW Hybrid miniatures.
41-60 COMMANDER DANTE £10.50
53-60 LOGAN GRIMNAR £14.50
55-61 THE EMPERORS CHAMPION £9.50
48-63 SPACE MARINE CHAPLAIN WITH JUMP PACK £10.50
44-60 DARK ANGELS COMPANY MASTER £10.50
48-61 SM LIBRARIAN IN TERMINATOR ARMOUR £14.50
53-61 NJAL STORMCALLER £14.50
41-61 ASTORATH THE GRIM £12.50
43-60 ABADDON THE DESPOILER £14.50
43-61 HURON BLACKHEART £10.50
50-61 ORK WARBOSS WITH ATTACK SQUIG £14.50
50-63 ORK BIG MEK £14.50
50-65 ORK PAINBOY WITH GROT ORDERLY £10.50
46-61 ELDAR AUTARCH WITH POWER WEAPON £10.50
46-62 THE AVATAR OF KHAINE £22.50
46-63 HARLEQUIN DEATH JESTER £10.50
46-64 HARLEQUIN SHADOWSEER £10.50
47-61 COMMISSAR YARRICK £10.50
47-63 IMPERIAL GUARD LORD COMMISSAR £9.50
51-61 TYRANID ZOANTHROPE £15.50
51-63 TYRANID TYRANT GUARD £15.50
51-64 TYRANID HIVE GUARD £15.50
51-65 TYRANID BROODLORD £15.50
57-61 BROTHER CAPTAIN STERN £14.50
57-60 LORD KALDOR DRAIGO £14.50
57-62 CASTELLAN CROWE £10.50
57-63 INQUISITOR COTEAZ £10.50
45-60 DARK ELDAR ARCHON £9.50
45-64 LELITH HESPERAX £10.50
45-63 URIEN RAKARTH £10.50
45-61 DARK ELDAR SUCCUBUS £9.50
56-60 TAU ETHEREAL WITH HONOUR BLADE £9.50
83-62 CHAOS EXALTED HERO £9.50
83-63 CHAOS KHORNE EXALTED HERO £10.50
86-60 EMPIRE CAPTAIN WITH HAMMER & PISTOL £9.50
92-60 WOOD ELF HIGHBORN WITH GREAT WEAPON £9.50
84-60 DWARF LORD WITH HAMMER & SHIELD £9.50
84-61 DWARF RUNELORD WITH GREAT WEAPON £9.50
90-60 SKAVEN WARLORD £9.50
90-61 QUEEK HEADTAKER £10.50
90-62 DEATHMASTER SNIKCH £10.50
91-61 VAMPIRE LORD £9.50
89-60 GRIMGOR IRONHIDE £10.50
89-62 BLACK ORC BIG BOSS £10.50
87-60 CARADRYAN £10.50
85-61 DARK ELF ASSASSIN WITH TWO HAND WEAPONS £9.50
81-60 MALAGOR THE DARK OMEN £12.50
10-61 URUK-HAI WITH CROSSBOWS £14.00
10-62 URUK-HAI BERSERKERS £14.00
08-61 GOTHMOG (PELENNOR) £20.50
05-60 ELROND AND GIL-GALAD £15.00
10-60 SARUMAN AND GRIMA £15.00
02-60 GANDALF THE WHITE £20.50
04-60 ARAGORN (THE BLACK GATE) £20.50
04-62 THEODEN (HELM�?TS DEEP) £20.50
04-61 BOROMIR (ITHILIEN) £20.50
09-60 SULADAN THE SERPENT LORD £20.50
08-62 THE DARK MARSHAL (RINGWRAITH) £20.50
05-61 DAIN AND BALIN £15.00
97-60 SKULLTAKER £14.50
48-40 MARNEUS CALGAR AND HONOUR GUARD £36.00
48-41 SPACE MARINE TECHMARINE WITH SERVITORS £25.50
55-40 BLACK TEMPLARS SWORD BRETHREN SQUAD £25.50
48-42 SPACE MARINE STERNGUARD VETERAN SQUAD £25.50
48-43 SPACE MARINE VANGUARD VETERAN SQUAD £25.50
53-40 CANIS WOLFBORN £30.00
43-40 NURGLE DAEMON PRINCE £21.50
43-41 CHAOS SPACE MARINE RAPTORS £25.50
43-42 DEATH GUARD PLAGUE MARINES £25.50
50-43 BOSS ZAGSTRUK £14.50
50-40 GHAZGHKULL THRAKA £22.50
50-41 ORK TANKBUSTAS £25.50
50-42 ORK BIG MEK WITH SHOKK ATTACK GUN £23.00
46-41 ELDAR RANGERS £20.50
46-42 ELDAR DARK REAPERS £23.00
46-44 ELDAR STRIKING SCORPIONS £23.00
46-40 ELDAR FARSEER AND WARLOCKS £20.50
51-42 TYRANID LICTOR £15.50
51-40 TYRANID HIVE TYRANT £36.00
51-41 TYRANID PYROVORE £21.50
45-40 DARK ELDAR INCUBI £23.00
45-41 DARK ELDAR MANDRAKES £20.50
56-40 TAU SNIPER DRONE TEAM £23.00
83-42 ARCHAON THE EVERCHOSEN £30.00
83-43 CHAOS LORD ON DAEMONIC MOUNT £22.50
83-41 CHAOS DRAGON OGRE SHAGGOTH £36.00
86-41 LUDWIG SCHWARZHELM £22.50
86-40 KURT HELBORG £22.50
82-41 THE GREEN KNIGHT £22.50
82-40 KING LOUEN LEONCOEUR £30.00
92-42 WOOD ELVES TREE KIN £30.00
92-40 ORION KING IN THE WOODS £22.50
92-41 WOOD ELVES TREEMAN £36.00
84-40 THOREK IRONBROW £36.00
84-41 DWARF GYROCOPTER £23.00
84-42 DWARF BOLT THROWER £23.00
90-40 SKAVEN WARPLOCK JEZZAILS £30.00
91-40 VAMPIRE COUNTS VARGHULF £21.50
91-42 COUNT MANNFRED £22.50
91-41 VAMPIRE COUNTS BLOOD KNIGHTS £61.50
88-41 KROQ GAR £40.00
89-44 GOBLIN SPEAR CHUKKA £18.50
89-43 SAVAGE ORC GREAT SHAMAN ON WAR BOAR £15.50
89-41 ORC WARBOSS ON WYVERN £40.00
89-42 GOBLIN ROCK LOBBER £23.00
89-45 GORBAD IRONCLAW £30.00
89-40 AZHAG THE SLAUGHTERER £55.00
85-41 DARK ELVES REAPER BOLT THROWER £18.50
08-40 THE DARK LORD SAURON £25.50
08-42 GULAHVAR THE TERROR OF ARNOR £30.00
08-43 MORDOR TROLL CHIEFTAIN £25.50
02-40 THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING £37.00
97-42 FLAMERS OF TZEENTCH £15.50
Well, just to resume, here in Brasil the battalion boxes of hybrid/metal became 137% more expansive then before.
Good business this of the GW!
Grimstonefire:
I imagine a lot of people will be trying to order through a person they know in the EU/US and have the postal address different to the invoice address.
Presumably that would not be against the rules as the sale originates from a country they sell to.
nitroglysarine:
I imagine a lot of people will be trying to order through a person they know in the EU/US and have it redirected.
Grimstonefire
I for one would be happy to act as a conduit.
Although will the shipping site still work if you are on an non-uk isp?
not to sure on the workings of using a site from another country, but I recall someone mentioning you can block some countries from it.
But in that case I guess you could get someone to order it for you in the uk, receive it, then re-post it.
Pyro Stick:
I imagine a lot of people will be trying to order through a person they know in the EU/US and have it redirected.
Grimstonefire
I for one would be happy to act as a conduit.
Although will the shipping site still work if you are on an non-uk isp?
not to sure on the workings of using a site from another country, but I recall someone mentioning you can block some countries from it.
But in that case I guess you could get someone to order it for you in the uk, receive it, then re-post it.
nitroglysarine
You can always use a site like http://hidemyass.com/ to circumvent an ip blocking.