I am perturbed.
I walked into my local shop today intending to purchase a Falcon, however I noticed the price of $39.99 CAD and though that was a bit high.
I tried scrounging the internet but cant seem to find the MSRP of the Falcon in Canadian funds. Anyone know where I could go for that information?
Thanks!
Just order it. I think I paid $22 CAD for mine.
e.g.:
http://www.meeplemart.com/store/p/7862-Star-Wars-X-Wing-Millennium-Falcon-Expansion-Pack.aspx
Meeplemart is amazing, every other store in Toronto sells miniatures for 15 - 17 dollars, meeplemart? 11 dollars, get three for the price of 2.
Well the falcon MSRP is $30 USD, which is around $33 CAD. $40 CAD sounds like a ripoff.
Yeah, I know Meeplemart is an amazing deal, but I would like to try and support my local FGS.
Canadians do normally get screwed when it comes to the USD->CAD conversion when it comes to consumer products, so I just wanted to see if that was the case here as well.
As a local game store manager I would also like to say that does sound a little high but please consider when buying online that you are making it more difficult for your FLGS to warrant holding events for the game. What may be a couple bucks savings for you really hurts FLGS more than you would think. My opinion is a little bias though considering. I still would not pay more than MSRP for a ship to do so.
Not sure how reliable this is, but my copy of "The deaths of Tao" is 7.99 us, 9.99 Canadian. That comes out to about what you're seeing if that's the standard conversion. It's about 1.50 more, but that's probably to make it a nicer number than 37.51
Edited by AminarYou can buy cheaper online but buying online does not keep the doors open at your local gaming hang out. Selling at higher than MSRP however is not acceptable.
Yeah, I know Meeplemart is an amazing deal, but I would like to try and support my local FGS.
Canadians do normally get screwed when it comes to the USD->CAD conversion when it comes to consumer products, so I just wanted to see if that was the case here as well.
I also like supporting my local store.. but if they jacked the prices up I would no longer feel that need as they have become something I can't support. Possibly you could talk to them and get them to lower the price... or let them know you will be using an alternate service.. miniature market has them for 20 bucks USD.. With Nominal shipping.. It Is Still Cheaper Than 40 Bucks Canadian.
Having worked in retail, not gaming specifically but music, clothing and hardware, I can understand why it happens. It's all about volume discounts, and if the store is going for market share or sustainability. For market share, you go low on the price and hope you sell enough units to make up your margin (the difference between what you pay wholesale for the item and what you sell it for). For sustainability, you go higher on the price - so a higher margin - and sell fewer units but hope to make more for each one that you sell. It's a *very* difficult thing to manage day-to-day. Ordering more units and selling at a lower price also means more time spent ordering, unpacking, stocking and clerking the items too, all of which erodes your margin dollars.
Any small, local gaming store that I've seen that carries the SW:XW product here in Canada is around $33-38CAD for the Falcon or Slave-1 and around $15-17 for the smaller ships. Stores like Meeplemart, similar to Miniature Market in the US, go cheap into the $23 for the large and $11-12 for the small. Smaller local stores may have a niche market that they choose to cater to locally like Magic or Yu-Gi-Oh and get more of their revenue from that product, and carry the X-Wing product simply because they were told they "should" carry it, even if there was minimal demand for it locally.
It can be a tough call based on your individual finances to either support your FLGS where you probably get to play for cheap - or free - all the time on their tables but then paying a bit more for your minis, or paying less and ordering online, but having no where to play locally other than your buddies dining room table. Ignore your FLGS long enough and eventually you probably won't have a FLGS to worry about.
I am perturbed.
I walked into my local shop today intending to purchase a Falcon, however I noticed the price of $39.99 CAD and though that was a bit high.
I tried scrounging the internet but cant seem to find the MSRP of the Falcon in Canadian funds. Anyone know where I could go for that information?
Thanks!
In answer to this, you can find the US MSRP by following through the Catalog link on the FFG nav bar at the top of the page. The small fighters are $14.95US and the large ships are $29.95US. It is just a "Suggested" price, but any store is free to ask any price they wish for an item, and generally will increase it depending on how many different wholesalers it's gone through to get to them. If it's gone through more than one, that will easily account for a higher than average tag on the item.
There is no reason to EVER pay more than MSRP. Even at MSRP many products, especially gaming products have a 50% mark up. I bought some FOW items at a game store years ago and noticed afterwards on my receipt that I was charged more than MSRP. It was my last purchase and last time I ever set foot in that store. That store is no longer in business, I wonder why...
For what it is worth, the small fighters are sold at $20 CAD, while the starter is sold at $50 CAD.
It is really quite frustrating
For what it is worth, the small fighters are sold at $20 CAD, while the starter is sold at $50 CAD.
It is really quite frustrating
Similar to UK prices. £12 for smalls, £25 for larges and £30 for the core
iirc, that's roughly ~$20, ~$40 and ~$50 US.
so expensive over here D:
Heh in Ottawa the prices are as follows:
English boxes
Comic Book Shoppe: Small ships $15, large $30, Starter $40.
Fandom II: Small: $13.99, large 28.99, starter 38.99
Boutique les Freres de Battalie (FDB): Small ships $15, large $30, Starter $40
Wizard's Tower: Small ships $15, large $30, Starter $40.
Multizone: Small ships $16.99, large $31.99, Starter $41.99
French boxes
Boutique FDB: Small $20, large $40
(I bought a couple of French blisters as when I started everything was sold out except for the French blisters. Doesnt bother most people I play with as Ottawa/Gatineau is super bilingual).
Now you can get a "Carte fidélité" (Loyalty Card) at Boutique FDB for 10% off all purchases at the cost of 20$ a year. (My wife and I buy all kinds of stuff, so we always save way more than 20 bucks a year).
So ya, I always buy my stuff from my local store.
For what it is worth, the small fighters are sold at $20 CAD, while the starter is sold at $50 CAD.
It is really quite frustrating
If it makes you feel better, the store I play at charges about those prices too. There are 2 stores in a mall close by that sells their X-wing minis for more than that.
For what it is worth, the small fighters are sold at $20 CAD, while the starter is sold at $50 CAD.
It is really quite frustrating
For Ontarionians you can go to www.germangames.com . They are based in Kitchener and have a flat $10.00 shipping fee to anywhere in Ontario. And they sell X-wing close to online pricing.
Well then perhaps I am raising much ado about nothing. I figured being a small market out here in Eastern Canada was screwing us.
Ahh well, thanks for the heads up all! Much appreciated!
Well then perhaps I am raising much ado about nothing. I figured being a small market out here in Eastern Canada was screwing us.
Ahh well, thanks for the heads up all! Much appreciated!
Something else to consider is how involved is this store in the gaming community. I don't mind paying a few dollars more for a ship because I'm playing in the store every week either for fun or in a league (which the store does provide the prizes).
There are 2 game stores here in Winnipeg I regularly hit up and one bookstore, and one comic shop. The cheapest place is also the furthest away from me. On average, the small base ships go for $14.99 to 15.99 at GameKnight games. The Large base ships go for $29.99. The closest store to me (which has also been around the longest) - Pendragon games and books sells the small bases for between 14.99 to 18.99, and the large base ships for 30.99 to 32.99.
The one bookstore I bought at (McNally Robinson) had most of the small ships going for 16.99-19.99, and the large bases going for around 32.99. I noticed though that in the last 2 weeks they hiked the price BIG time on the Falcon selling it for 37.99, and the main core set for $50! I bought my Falcon there just after Christmas, but only because I had a gift card, so it only cost me $16 at the time.
There is one other store here that is fairly active, but I'm not sure how much they are selling for. GameKnight seems to be the best priced, but when I factor in gas, it's probably cheaper for me to walk the 2 blocks to Pendragon. Gameknight sold the Aces expansion for $29.99. When I pre-ordered it, they thought it might be as high as $35.. luckily it wasn't.