Mini costs to go up in the US? – OnTableTop – Home of Beasts of War

Mini costs to go up in the US?

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September 12, 2018 at 5:34 pm #1266182

horati0nosebl0wer
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Current tariffs in the US on Chinese goods have made me wonder about the market. I’ve only now come to think how much it might affect the mini related hobby as so much volume comes from there. International trade in tin had the affect of price hikes on minis when Indonesia bumped up the price of exports by 300%. Reaper posted on their site about the increase and developed their Bones line in response.

With the back and forth on trade issues I think that Kickstarters that originate in the US might be affected if they manufacture in China. Considering Kingdom Death and other producers of resin it might be less of a blow but there is a lot of business that is done overseas. The knockoff Chinese recasters look to potentially make money with quick sales and maybe claiming manufacture outside of the PRC but the quality is always a question.

I see some potential side effects in that GW might increase their prices yet again to bolster their profit margin, more artisinal sculpting projects will come up and offer us greater ranges to apply paint to, HeroForge might take off more with the stl file sales and a home printing market increase is likely. Beyond that, if people are willing to buy 3D printers then they might be in the market for airbrushes as the cost is not dissimilar.

Overall I’m a grand font of mostly useless knowledge prognosticating and predicting possible futures. Anybody else have some thoughts on this?

September 12, 2018 at 7:14 pm #1266212

turbocooler
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What will drive costs are not so much as the Tariffs, which I do not believe have any impact, but due to a booming economy in much of the world but especially the USA, the demand on the input material used to make games is going up.

Paper, ink, plastic, resin and the components of pewter are all going up. This is not to mention that as oil goes up so does the price of shipping and transportation. Labor shortages are leading to increased wages. Wages in China have been going up in general.

IMHO, tariffs will do little, but costs will be going up due to other factors.

September 12, 2018 at 8:13 pm #1266264

moonunit
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GW Miniatures are manufactured in the UK. With the pound being a lot less against the dollar are you not seeing cost benefit in the US?

September 13, 2018 at 2:03 am #1266367

turbocooler
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I left GW Miniatures a long time ago. I am not a 40K gamer nor do I own any GW games. I do pledge a few KS and I have been seeing shipping costs going up. The only benefit I have seen is the US dollar is stronger than the Canadian Dollar and many of us were able to get deals purchasing from Canada. However, that has started to turn as well as Canadian prices have also been going up. I see a lot of metal miniatures at $6 and going up and many plastic in the $3 range. There used to be a few sellers on eBay that used to be my go to for Reaper metal miniatures but they no longer have the same discounts.

On the plus side the higher costs will make me more discriminating in what I purchase and will mean I will purchase much less going forward.
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