"Brexit Impact on Games Workshop?" Topic

Did/does it make better economic sense now to order from the U.K. rather than your home country?

Is this hurting Games Workshop U.S., Games Workshop Australia, etc.?

You can not buy from outside UK, which is why in Australia everything is three times the price of the UK.

Not going to happen, GW's software detects where you are and applies Geo-blocking, directing you to their 'local' corporate store.

Non-GW retailers though may see some benefits unless GW adjusts their US/AU etc. retail pricing to reflect the currently diminished Pound.

Hmmm, seems like an excellent marketing opportunity for certain individuals residing in the UK, and with access to a Paypal account and Royal Mail.

I suspect that just might create a new job or three for various individuals, or a part-time, lucrative "hobby" for others.

GW will simply adjust the currency exchange to their advantage. Something like 50 bucks to 1 Pound …

Cannot buy GW product in Europe from outside of Europe. GW 'fixed that' some time ago.

However with manufacturing based in the UK, then it costs them 'less' in the equivalent dollars or Euros to produce. However the costs of running their US and European operation go up in equivalent pounds. Since the contribution on GW product is 67% then I think they lose on that one.

Expect a price rise anyway since costs of importing materials, shipping and power will all rise in the UK due to the fall in value of the pound.

Yes the summary of my analysis is that Brexit is going to cost GW more than it gains.

I thought GW and Warlord set their prices in dollars irrespective of the exchange rate. Hence the US/UK/EU selection on their website. From an exchange rate perspective, this should be a gain for them. They would collect stronger dollars. From a practicality perspective, people are going to shop for a bargain elsewhere,

Not much difference, I expect.
Just selling 1-&-7/64 of an inch figures, same as usual.

They'll charge all you guys extra just for the pleasure I'm sure.

"I thought GW and Warlord set their prices in dollars irrespective of the exchange rate."

Thats right because they will have an arm of GW in that country. Paying all the costs of rent and staff in the local currency. So those costs will not change. In the UK we can expect the costs of materials and energy to increase as it costs more to buy them in. So there will not be much gain for GW from a weaker pound.

"From a practicality perspective, people are going to shop for a bargain elsewhere,"

Well those of course would have Substitute products. That only applies if people are willing to go down the non-GW route.

I thought there were buyer services to avoid the restrictions on out of country sales. These were popular in the 1980s and 1990s.

Nope. GW terms and conditions say that they will not supply anyone in the EU who supplies outside the EU. They tell the customers that this is a precaution to make sure that they are getting genuine GW product. Likewise the banning of new product sales on eBay.

Of course it all makes perfect sense to GW as they want customers to buy direct from them at full price.

IMHO it is an illegal policy as it is a restraint of trade. From the Competition act 1998

"Subsection (1) applies, in particular, to agreements, decisions or practices which—

(a)directly or indirectly fix purchase or selling prices or any other trading conditions;"

Whilst the product could be being sold outside the UK, it is a restraint on a business within the UK to sell to whom it likes. So would fall within the terms of the act, But hey what happens in wargaming is not likely to get the government worried.

There is "Too big to fail", and "Too small to worry about".

In GW's financial reports they list earnings and earnings in a constant currency. So this time I think we'll see earnings go way up, but earnings in a constant currency will be flat or down.

From what I understand, their worldwide operations account for about 70% of their business and their UK operations around 30% (I'm sure these numbers have fluctuated since I last read one of their reports), so if the pound is down, then the majority of their revenue will be in currencies that are up and when they bring that money home, they'll get more pounds in exchange for them.