D&D 5E Holy Ham Hocks, Batman!!!

[Gorg]

I was just on E-bay, looking to see what D&D stuff I could find, and couldn't help but notice: THE PRICES!!!

Copies of the newer 5E books were utterly, obscenely expensive! Like $200-400 expensive!! WTF,O???? These are brand new books, Like Tasha's.

Do they really cost that much in stores? These weren't bidding wars out of control, either- this was the direct buy it now price on new listings.

 

[commandercrud]

Scammers gonna scam.

 

[D1Tremere]

I was just on E-bay, looking to see what D&D stuff I could find, and couldn't help but notice: THE PRICES!!!

Copies of the newer 5E books were utterly, obscenely expensive! Like $200-400 expensive!! WTF,O???? These are brand new books, Like Tasha's.

Do they really cost that much in stores? These weren't bidding wars out of control, either- this was the direct buy it now price on new listings.

What you are seeing is people selling the exclusive retail cover versions. The normal cover versions are below retail on most E-Bay listings, but I would usually recommend just getting them on Amazon or at a local store.

 

[TwoSix]

I was just on E-bay, looking to see what D&D stuff I could find, and couldn't help but notice: THE PRICES!!!

Copies of the newer 5E books were utterly, obscenely expensive! Like $200-400 expensive!! WTF,O???? These are brand new books, Like Tasha's.

Do they really cost that much in stores? These weren't bidding wars out of control, either- this was the direct buy it now price on new listings.

Don't buy on Ebay? Tasha's is US $34 on Amazon, and I know they have it at my local game store for US $50.

I mean, it's not a PS5. You can snag one pretty easily.

 

[dave2008]

I was just on E-bay, looking to see what D&D stuff I could find, and couldn't help but notice: THE PRICES!!!

Copies of the newer 5E books were utterly, obscenely expensive! Like $200-400 expensive!! WTF,O???? These are brand new books, Like Tasha's.

Do they really cost that much in stores? These weren't bidding wars out of control, either- this was the direct buy it now price on new listings.

Why are looking on E-Bay? Here are the core books on Amazon:

Tasha's was $34 and I get typical retail prices at my local game store. No need to pay hundreds for one book.

 

[billd91]

eBay's greatest contribution to humanity is to expose how some people just have too much disposable income (or really bad spending priorities).

 

[GreyLord]

There's another thing that may be going on if it's not the collector's version.

It has occurred on Amazon, though Amazon has tried to quell it (it still happens on Amazon).

Ebay hasn't done anything to stop it as far as I know.

In order to pass money from certain...we'll say...criminal enterprises...selling items occurs.

Let's say you want to pass on $500 you gained, or $5000...you get an item that normally is $25 or $50 and then put it up for sale at 10x- 100X the amount. Reasonably, no one who is actually wanting the item will buy it as they will realize they can buy it cheaper elsewhere. Thus, it is relatively safe from being bought by those who you don't want buying it. AT the same time, the party you WISH to buy it, buys it and thus you get the transfer of money. In theory, if you needed to pass $20,000 you sell 100 of these at $200 each, or even $500 each.

For something easily available for cheaper, you don't get others buying the item disguised for transferring money, and you can sell as many of them as needed to pass on as much money as you want.

 

[Dire Bare]

I was just on E-bay, looking to see what D&D stuff I could find, and couldn't help but notice: THE PRICES!!!

Copies of the newer 5E books were utterly, obscenely expensive! Like $200-400 expensive!! WTF,O???? These are brand new books, Like Tasha's.

Do they really cost that much in stores? These weren't bidding wars out of control, either- this was the direct buy it now price on new listings.

While you are probably seeing auctions for the limited-edition covers . . . .

You'll see this sort of thing occasionally on both eBay and Amazon. Products that you can easily get elsewhere, sometimes even on the same site for a reasonable price, with outlandish prices in the hundreds. Why? It's a mystery to me, but I've always assumed the sellers are shady and hoping someone who isn't too bright decides to take them up on their ridiculous offer.

Never click "buy" on anything online without doing at least a little bit of price-comparison first!

 

[Gorg]

I was mostly just looking for lots of old edition stuff. Not collector quality, just stuff to read and play through that I don't have. And perhaps some extra PHB's and DMG's in case we ever want to actually play a new game in that edition- so I can loan them out, and not lose MY copy, if they grow legs, lol.

Those books were just at the top of the list for D&D products, and I suffered a near fatal case of pucker just looking at the prices... I was thinking is this really what WoTC is charging for them? Or is someone trying to bend some random stranger over. Or is the collector's market this insane... ( I play- or TRY to anyway- Guitar, as well. You should see the stupid prices collectable instruments fetch these days. They call em lawyer guitars- new or old guitars, priced WAYYYY out of the reach of anyone who'll actually PLAY them. Gibson, I'm looking at YOU!)

 

[dave2008]

I was mostly just looking for lots of old edition stuff. Not collector quality, just stuff to read and play through that I don't have. And perhaps some extra PHB's and DMG's in case we ever want to actually play a new game in that edition- so I can loan them out, and not lose MY copy, if they grow legs, lol.

Those books were just at the top of the list for D&D products, and I suffered a near fatal case of pucker just looking at the prices... I was thinking is this really what WoTC is charging for them? Or is someone trying to bend some random stranger over. Or is the collector's market this insane... ( I play- or TRY to anyway- Guitar, as well. You should see the stupid prices collectable instruments fetch these days. They call em lawyer guitars- new or old guitars, priced WAYYYY out of the reach of anyone who'll actually PLAY them. Gibson, I'm looking at YOU!)

If your looking for old books (pre 5e), your best bet for price is probably to see if they are offered as print-on-demand at the DMsGuild:

1e PHB (PoD)
2e PHB (PoD - softcover only)
3e PHB (PDF only)
4e PHB (PDF only) - DMG is available PoD