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.

 

[Digdude]

A lot less overhead in digital for them equals higher profit. If only the writing would get better, id pay the increased cost. Im on the fence.

 

[Retreater]

Information insufficient for googling.

Citation still needed.

So if I spend the time to actually find the quote, put a link to the specific part of the livestream video, will it matter to you if someone with RPG publishing experience tells you what he thinks the printing cost is? Are you just going to say "he's got bad blood about WotC, is more of a PF2 supporter, etc.?"

If you are actually interested, I'll take the time and do it. If you're not, then I won't take an hour searching for it.

 

[aco175]

I feel like there probably shouldn't be billion dollar businesses.

I'm reminded of this scene from Austin Powers.

A billion dollar business is not what it used to be.

 

[Oofta]

So if I spend the time to actually find the quote, put a link to the specific part of the livestream video, will it matter to you if someone with RPG publishing experience tells you what he thinks the printing cost is? Are you just going to say "he's got bad blood about WotC, is more of a PF2 supporter, etc.?"

If you are actually interested, I'll take the time and do it. If you're not, then I won't take an hour searching for it.

I also question the $4, but I don't see how it's all that relevant. The actual printing is not the biggest cost by far. The PHB is for sale on amazon for $26 right now, but that doesn't count Amazon's 40% cut after costs are deducted (that's for paperbacks, I don't know if that applies to game books). WOTC has shipping and overhead, there are setup and maintenance costs that are likely not in that $4 price. So they make maybe $10 per book sold for $6 profit (if the $4 is accurate). Not bad for a long tail profit but not exactly exorbitant either.

If you don't want to pay it, don't buy the book.

 

[Zaukrie]

We aren't talking enough about that Phandelver cover....

 

[Velderan]

I feel like there probably shouldn't be billion dollar businesses.

Not a fan of WotC, but if them charging more makes it easier for smaller publishers to up their prices without too much pushback, I don't completely hate the price increases.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

a folio (or whatever a bundle of pages is called)

Signature.

 

[Stormonu]

Ouch. I remember the days of buying my 1E DMG (at Toys-R-Us) for $18, and not getting the Monster Manual because the DMG & PHB alone were “expensive”.

I fully understand the price increase to pay for the increase in costs in everything, but sometimes I wish we could go back to the likes of non-glossy paper with just black & white interiors and more line-drawing art.

I am glad I decided I’m not switching to the new ruleset, hopefully with my existing books, this just reinforces I need to hang onto those books I’ve already got and get the most use out of them that I can.

 

[Parmandur]

Remember! None of these books are necessary and homebrewing is free!

Sure, none of thisnis necessary, these are luxury goods. I want them.

 

[Parmandur]

Ouch. I remember the days of buying my 1E DMG (at Toys-R-Us) for $18, and not getting the Monster Manual because the DMG & PHB alone were “expensive”.

I fully understand the price increase to pay for the increase in costs in everything, but sometimes I wish we could go back to the likes of non-glossy paper with just black & white interiors and more line-drawing art.

I am glad I decided I’m not switching to the new ruleset, hopefully with my existing books, this just reinforces I need to hang onto those books I’ve already got and get the most use out of them that I can.

$18 I'm 1981 is $62 in 2023. So, you paid more at Toys R US than you would for a DMG in 2024.