WampusCat43
Explorer
Exactly. Adventurers Vault 2 (retail) $29.95 + $5 PHB = $34.95, plus whatever else you happen to buy while you're at their booth.
Amazon $19.77 + $23.07 = $42.84
Amazon $19.77 + $23.07 = $42.84
$5 4E PHB @ GenCon!
- Thread starter Rokes
- Start date
Barastrondo
First Post
Speaking as someone who'll be working the booth of That Other Company at GenCon, it's clear that WotC fears the release of Geist.
Okay, I'm kidding. In all seriousness, it looks like a shrewd move to me. Seeding the market with more cheap PHBs is a clever thing to do, even if most people who'll buy them at GenCon with the "with any additional purchase" rider are going to be passing them out to friends. That's a neat viral trick.
As for whether it "screws Paizo" or not, I actually doubt this is a move that would prevent people from picking up the Pathfinder hardcover. The buy-in for Pathfinder is $50, which tends to price it a little bit out of "impulse buy." People looking to get Pathfinder at GenCon are likely planning on it already. The cheap PHB with an additional purchase seems much more aimed at the impulse buyer. I would say that Paizo would be hurting from this only if they were relying on undecided gamers and impulse buyers for their sales, but they've done a great job of establishing a guaranteed market for what they're selling.
Thanks to Edition War, plenty of people have been more and more inclined to make up their mind about whether they're "on one side" way before Pathfinder's formal debut. I doubt that this move is going to change anybody's minds; it looks to me less like a move to try and undercut someone else's sales and more a way to encourage people to spread around exposure to 4e. A lot of the truly undecided gamers, or those who think Edition War is silly, might be inclined both to buy Pathfinder and take advantage of WotC's offer. And then swing by our booth for a copy of Geist!
Madness, I know.
Okay, I'm kidding. In all seriousness, it looks like a shrewd move to me. Seeding the market with more cheap PHBs is a clever thing to do, even if most people who'll buy them at GenCon with the "with any additional purchase" rider are going to be passing them out to friends. That's a neat viral trick.
As for whether it "screws Paizo" or not, I actually doubt this is a move that would prevent people from picking up the Pathfinder hardcover. The buy-in for Pathfinder is $50, which tends to price it a little bit out of "impulse buy." People looking to get Pathfinder at GenCon are likely planning on it already. The cheap PHB with an additional purchase seems much more aimed at the impulse buyer. I would say that Paizo would be hurting from this only if they were relying on undecided gamers and impulse buyers for their sales, but they've done a great job of establishing a guaranteed market for what they're selling.
Thanks to Edition War, plenty of people have been more and more inclined to make up their mind about whether they're "on one side" way before Pathfinder's formal debut. I doubt that this move is going to change anybody's minds; it looks to me less like a move to try and undercut someone else's sales and more a way to encourage people to spread around exposure to 4e. A lot of the truly undecided gamers, or those who think Edition War is silly, might be inclined both to buy Pathfinder and take advantage of WotC's offer. And then swing by our booth for a copy of Geist!
Madness, I know.
Last edited:
renau1g
First Post
As an aside, as I'm sure many of you all know, the actual print cost of a hardcover book is not very much. I'm sure they're still making some money off of the $5 books and hoping to draw some new players who might hold out against 4e for whatever reason (no need to bring up edition wars). If they pick up a DMG and can buy the PHB for $5 they might. If it only costs $30 to get in the game, again, more likely to try the waters.
Crothian
First Post
Not only is there nothing to complain about it, this is something to celebrate. In price wars the consumer usually wins!
Mistwell
Crusty Old Meatwad
Each supplement book sold at GenCon is at a much higher profit margin than those same books sold through Amazon or another distributor, including a book store.
So if they can convince people to buy supplement books directly from them rather than from a retailer, they make a lot more money on those sales.
By selling the $5 PHB only if you buy a supplement directly from them, my guess is they make more money on this, net.
So if they can convince people to buy supplement books directly from them rather than from a retailer, they make a lot more money on those sales.
By selling the $5 PHB only if you buy a supplement directly from them, my guess is they make more money on this, net.
Mouseferatu
Hero
I strongly doubt it. While cover price is a hefty mark-up from cost--to cover things like distribution, the book sellers, etc.--it's not that big a mark-up.
While it's entirely possible that WotC isn't losing money on each PHB sold at $5, thanks to the size of the print runs they can manage, I doubt they're making much, and it might actually be a loss-leader. In addition to generating buzz, the benefit comes from
A) Potentially adding more gamers to the market with such a cheap buy-in, and
B) Potentially generating more sales of other, full-price books that people are buying in part to get the $5 PHB. (Because with those books, selling at GenCon is a much more profitable consideration than selling through channels.)
Edit: And I completely misread the post to which I was replying, and wound up making the same argument. D'oh!!
Last edited:
If you ask most people from WotC/Paizo, I am sure that they would say that they hope that PRPG/4E does really well, because they realize that anything that brings new people to the RPG hobby, be it 4E, Pathfinder, WoD or any other RPG is of benefit to the hobby as a whole.
coyote6
Adventurer
If I were going to Gen Con this year, I'd probably be in that madness club. Though I might be picking up Exalted books rather than Geist. But who knows?
Oh, forgot to mention -- I'm not even playing D&D 4e! Still, if there was another WotC book I was interested in (e.g., the Eberron book with the poster map), I would totally toss in a 4e PH for $5. If nothing else, I'd share it with friends, hoping maybe someone would decide to start a game.
