www.ccgarmory.com/wafa.html

"Warhammer Fantasy
We are no longer permitted to sell games workshop products via online shopping cart due to GW policies regarding internet sales. "

If i remember correctly GW has a beef with other companies who are not approved retailers selling or reselling their product. Not to say it still doesnt happen but they do crack down on who can sell their stuff every once in a while.

Gitz

Interesting. I wonder if it will apply to sales of unopened products through Ebay storefronts.

Seems to only be relevant for CCGArmory?

Other web stores still seem to be selling GW products? Maelstrom, for instance...

pumpkin said:

I suppose it would depend on if they're an approved vendor or not, or if they've gained enough volume of sales to be caught.

I think the 'approved vendor' is exactly why they may be having issues. Who knows, perhaps they were selling GW product at a discount (which GW does not allow, though there are some exceptions) and they have had their selling status revoked.

Ebay storefronts should be ok i'd imagine as they can argue that they are selling personal property. Not sure, it starts getting really fuzzy since GW keeps pretty tight about their policies. I just know a few of them from conversations with the Independent Retailer liason back when i was with GW.

Gitz

A few years ago GW cracked down. As far as I know, only GW is actually allowed to sell & list prices online (although maybe there's an 'approved vendor' concept). The majority of (if not all) other places are legally restricted from doing so. The "legal workaround" is for those vendors to provide a document/catalog with prices (not directly listing them online) and require faxes or phone calls to order GW products from them. It's a restriction for online sales, and phone/fax orders are still ok.

I think GW's beef is just with online discounters (which I don't like, either). They just want people to adhere to the prices they set, and brick-and-mortar shops adhere to.

Steel Rabbit said:

That is exactly the concept behind the crack downs. I heard that mentioned around the office numerous times.

Gitz

they still offer the 20% discount on fax and e-mail orders; its just wierd. It doesn't make an sense?!

This isn't a new policy, it has been in place for many years now. As stated, the only place where you can go online, browse models, and purchase GW products via an online shopping cart is the GW site itself. All other retailers cannot use a shopping cart and cannot post images of figs with discounted prices. Technically, eBay retailers can't use pictures of GW product in their listing either.

The War Store (for example) still does a very good amount of GW business, you just have to browse on GW's site and note the SKU, then you can call, fax, or email an order and they'll give you the discount off retail. You have to do the math yourself to figure out what you are spending, but Flat rate shipping of $5 means it's not too hard. Not as convenient as an online shopping cart, but doable for the discount.