D&D General D&D Book Prices Are Going Up

WotC announced today that D&D books will be increasing in price this year.

Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants will be $59.99 as a preorder and $69.99 thereafter. These will apparently come as physical and digital bundles, so you won’t need to buy the D&D Beyond version separately.

This space is dedicated to communicating clearly and transparently with our players- even when the topic isn’t particularly fun. Since the release of the 2014 D&D core rulebooks, we’ve kept book prices stable. Unfortunately, with the cost of goods and shipping continually increasing, we’ve finally had to make the decision to increase the price of our new release print books. We're committed to creating high-quality products that deliver great value to our players and must increase our prices to accomplish that.

This will go into effect starting with Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants and new releases after Glory of the Giants. Digital pricing is unaffected by this MSRP (manufacturer's suggested retail price) increase, as digital products don’t need to be printed or shipped. The increase also doesn’t impact backlist titles. While we can’t promise that there will never be a change to the prices of digital products and backlist titles, we have no plans to increase either.

Players who purchase the Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants digital-physical bundle through Dungeons & Dragons store can get the bundle for $59.95 for the entire preorder window, which is consistent with our current digital-physical bundle pricing. After the preorder window closes, digital-physical bundle prices will go to $69.95.

 

[Bedrockgames]

I still think they've missed the real money. a 10 dollar a month sub with access to everything,is like selling a book a year to everyone if you assume half of the money is maintenance on the web site. There are 13.5 million est DND players. if 1 million of them bought a sub that's 120 million dollars a year minus maintaining the server's and apps. Plus you have the Whales all together to buy the "cool" stuff like dice. the company only cleared 221 million last year. Imagine if they got that to 1/4 of all the players.

After the OGL thing, a lot of people are still looking for alternatives to WOTC D&D. So I think by raising the prices one thing they are potentially doing is creating an opening for less expensive competitors to swoop in. Generally they do have an advantage here in that they can afford to keep their prices lower than other companies due to volume. Also when prices go up, RPG books are the kinds of things people will stop buying if wages are not keeping up with price increases adequately. I know for example that I buy a lot less stuff these days that isn't necessary (simply because it costs more to buy food, to drive, etc). When milk prices go up, people still need milk. So they will buy it unless it starts becoming a choice between milk and other nutrient sources. When game prices go up, people don't need to buy games. I am not saying prices should never go up. But I do think in the present situation raising prices is delicate. It isn't as simple as us publishers saying "we just had to raise prices" and people will understand.

 

[abirdcall]

After the OGL thing, a lot of people are still looking for alternatives to WOTC D&D. So I think by raising the prices one thing they are potentially doing is creating an opening for less expensive competitors to swoop in. Generally they do have an advantage here in that they can afford to keep their prices lower than other companies due to volume. Also when prices go up, RPG books are the kinds of things people will stop buying if wages are not keeping up with price increases adequately. I know for example that I buy a lot less stuff these days that isn't necessary (simply because it costs more to buy food, to drive, etc). When milk prices go up, people still need milk. So they will buy it unless it starts becoming a choice between milk and other nutrient sources. When game prices go up, people don't need to buy games. I am not saying prices should never go up. But I do think in the present situation raising prices is delicate. It isn't as simple as us publishers saying "we just had to raise prices" and people will understand.

The numbers have shown that the people who care about the OGL are few in number.

D&D grew substantially in Q1 2023. If the 'boycott' had an effect it was a small one.

Those players are going to move on regardless of the price.

 

[Oofta]

WotC doesn't do most of their distribution, though, AFAIK. They wouldn't have to "send half a dozen" books to very many retailers, they'd have to send a few thousand each to a dozen distributors, at a larger discount, with the promise to pass it on.

Since those distributors are taking their own cut it doesn't really make a difference how that part of the business is structured. Distribution to individual FLGSes is still going to be more expensive.

It might not be. They certainly sell directly to Amazon, whereas they sell to distributors who sell to us, taking a cut. (I don't know what a distributor's margin is, but I suspect that it's not great). Still, I doubt that it would be impossible for them to do.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a particular fan of Amazon, WOTC or any other large corporation. But the reality that Amazon, and selling product through Amazon, for large numbers of sales is more efficient. Efficient doesn't mean good of course, but companies don't really care about that. I also don't know what kind of profit margin they have selling either way, just pointing out that we can't assume WOTC can get the books to an FLGS anywhere near the same overall cost when selling through Amazon.

I do my best to support my FLGS and try to find things there when I'm looking for a physical book or game. But I'm also not sure how much good will giving them a price cut would generate all that much good will either. We just don't know how important FLGSes are to WOTC's overall business plans or what the actual margins are.

 

[mamba]

That’s what I said.

then I do not understand your reply (unless it was intended as a confirmation?). It sounded like you meant the increase is $20, not $10

Apparently I am not the only one who understood you that way

...? The MSRP for a hardcover is $59.95 now, , my FLGS has it available for $54 with a preorder sale. Amazon will be cheaper. There is no $20 increase.

 

[mamba]

Printing in China for a company like Paizo probably still makes sense because they're printing less books, so ocean freight isn't going to be as costly as it would be for WotC shipping a larger print run.

per book it will still be more shipping cost, not less

 

[mamba]

when amazon and other sellers sell for less than msrp they do it as loss leaders. Doesn't affect Hasbro's cut.

that is not how loss leaders work… If Amazon gets the book for $20 from WotC and sells it for $30 instead of $50, they still make a profit. I doubt they ever sell it below their purchase price

 

[Bedrockgames]

The numbers have shown that the people who care about the OGL are few in number.

D&D grew substantially in Q1 2023. If the 'boycott' had an effect it was a small one.

Those players are going to move on regardless of the price.

I am not convinced of this. I do think people were more forgiving of it than expected. But I also think peoples attitude towards WOTC has fundamentally shifted

 

[Oofta]

I am not convinced of this. I do think people were more forgiving of it than expected. But I also think peoples attitude towards WOTC has fundamentally shifted

As far as I can tell most people either never heard about it, didn't care, or have let go. For myself I can say I don't trust them any less to have my best interest at heart because I don't think corporations ever have my best interest at heart.

If they provide a product I find worthwhile I'll purchase it. Unless a company is doing something truly horrendous or objectionable, most people will do the same.

 

[BovineofWar]

Huh. Since we've been discussing printing costs and economies of scale, I thought this was an interesting blurb from Jeremy Crawford:
So many new D&D books are coming in 2024, no printing company can handle them all

5e sales have been way bigger than previous editions, so the 2024 anniversary edition is going to take a staggering number of trees...

 

[Oofta]

Huh. Since we've been discussing printing costs and economies of scale, I thought this was an interesting blurb from Jeremy Crawford:
So many new D&D books are coming in 2024, no printing company can handle them all

5e sales have been way bigger than previous editions, so the 2024 anniversary edition is going to take a staggering number of trees...

That's an issue most companies could only dream of. Kind of indicates how important selling physical books still is for them.