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.

 

[delericho]

I don't have a particular problem with this. As they note, prices have been basically steady since 2014, which is a relative age ago.

I just wish anything beyond the Core Rulebooks was actually worth the purchase. But the truth is that almost none of my D&D books (of any edition) have really justified their sticker price.

 

[R_J_K75]

$60 for a 192 page book with Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants. Certainly doesn't seem to bode well for the 2024 release of the new edition of the core books, which will probably be significantly more expensive.

 

[Retreater]

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.

I agree with all that. There's art, layout, and other costs. The printing itself I've seen as around $4. If we want to say the cost of the entire operation is going up, that's fair. But the physical cost of just printing a single book (on their scale) is relatively low compared to the cost overall.
But, for me, no 5e book is worth the prices we're being quoted.
At their recent quality standards, I'd be hard pressed to pay $65 for a WotC book if it came with a $50 bill bookmark.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

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.

This right here. I hope all the smaller companies will do the same, now that the biggest company has announced price increases. I am sure a lot of them who have stayed at the $50 price point are barely staying afloat.

 

[Steve Conan Trustrum]

People are going to complain about price increases no matter how much or how little, regardless of what they're going to get in return. I once had someone tell me they weren't going to buy my products because if I truly loved the hobby, I'd sell the product at cost and not worry about making any profit.

And stuff like what's in the attached image is far too common:

 

[teitan]

And this means I’m out of D&D. That’s not inflation. That’s just a big price increase. Mostly because now that I have a mortgage and a child I can’t afford it and have to prioritize. I have enough.

 

[Parmandur]

And this means I’m out of D&D. That’s not inflation. That’s just a big price increase. Mostly because now that I have a mortgage and a child I can’t afford it and have to prioritize. I have enough.

No, it's not inflation, it's significantly less than inflation. Inflation since 2014 has been 28.1%, this is a 20% price increase. You do you, but thisnis hardly abnormal. Heck, the price increase is less than the price of a burrito.

 

[Velderan]

And this means I’m out of D&D. That’s not inflation. That’s just a big price increase. Mostly because now that I have a mortgage and a child I can’t afford it and have to prioritize. I have enough.

$50 in January 2020 is the equivalent of $58.80 in May 2023 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, so a $10 price hike is pretty much inflation just over the last 3 years especially when you consider books will probably stay at that $60 price point for another decade.

Edit: Sorry, I meant April 2023.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I never said that. I hope they're making a profit, I like the game. You can download the core rules for free and each core book costs less than a dinner for 2 at a decent restaurant if you get drinks. If money is an issue, have all the players chip in and it's dirt cheap for the number of hours of entertainment you get.

Provided the books in question provide said entertainment.

 

[Micah Sweet]

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.

Agreed. Really, WotC should just say that.