Stop the Games Workshop Price Gouging Now.

Greetings, my fellow war gamers. I know this isn't one of the most important issues on this site. Hey, it's probably the least important one. But it is still happening, and, as insignificant as it is, it is putting thousands of Americans and Australians out of pocket thousands of dollars every day. Yes, ladies (all four of you) and gentlemen, I'm here to talk about the outrageous price gouging Games Workshop is undertaking. For those of you new to the scene, let me explain I you what price gouging is. Price gouging is when a group, individual or company charges more for a good or service than they rightfully should, especially to a particular group other than another.

What Games Workshop is doing is charging its Australian and American customers more than its UK customers, then trying to hide it under the exchange rate. It might not be immediately clear what is happening when you go to purchase something off the Games workshop website, especially to someone less versed in the exchange rates than I. For example, Mortarion costs UK customers £85, whereas he costs Australians a whopping $230. On fist glance you might dismiss that, thinking, "The Australian Dollar has been tanking for a while now, and it was only worth about 50p to start with, so that is perfectly reasonable." Right? WRONG! The REAL exchange rate of GBP to AUD (At the time this article is written) is 1:1.71. This means that each pound is worth only a dollar seventy. So if you look at the same price again (85-230 - a 170% markup) compared to the exchange rate, things start to get complicated. By all rights, Mortarion should cost Australian customers 85 + 70% dollars, right? And anyone that finished grade six maths would know that 70%•85 is 59.5. Therefore, the kit should cost 85 + 59.5 (144.5) AUD. NOT 230 AUD. And 144.5/230 is 0.6282. So Games workshop is ripping off its Australian customers by a factor of 62.82%. Another thing you may be thinking now is "Hey, isn't there some sort of tax involved is bringing stuff down under from overseas? Therefore there SHOLD be a markup, stupid Australian guy!" Right? WRONG! Although I do like the way you think, you are incorrect. In Australia, we have to pay something called GST (Goods and Services Tax) which is a tax on all "luxury" i.e. nonessential items (Like plastic toy soldiers). But that tax is only 10%, not 62.82%. I also doubt Games workshop even pays this tax themselves (they probably hand it down to their retailers.)

I haven't even talked about America, and don't know enough about the laws and situations there to right any kind of comprehensive article on it, but from my rudimentary understanding of it, Americans aren't being ripped off nearly as much as Australians. The exchange rate from GBP to USD is 1:1.35 Mortarion costs 140 usd, where in all rights it is supposed to cost 85+ 35% USD. As we all know, 35%• 85= 29.75. So the real Mortarion price in the good old US of A should be 85+ 29.75(124.76) USD. The reason I say a can't comment more o. This is because I don't know anything about tax laws in the USA.

So, to sum it all up, games workshop are being money- grubbing gits and complete scumbags, and trying to hide it all under the "exchange rate" bubble. So, this is a call to arms. If you don't support huge international behemoths scamming people out of their money, sign below an share this petition. Share it to your warhammer Facebook group. Tell your friends at your local LGS about it. Spread the word to all, and let Games Workshop know that we will not just give in to their crooked under-the-table loophole schemes.

So, what do I actually want? I want games workshop to change their prices outside the UK so we all pay less. If they did this, and Mortarion was really 144 +10% AUD,($148.40) they would still be making Huge profits. An I mean huge. So please, Games Workshop, change your prices. Give us Australians a "fair go" and charge us about 80% more in dollars than pounds, and it would make everyone happier. If this happened you would sell TONS more kits in the USA and Austalia, and have a happier fanbase.(when this petition gets enough signatures, we will present it to Games Workshop and ask then to change their ripoff pricing scheme. )



-Angry Aussie Bloke