Humble Bundle Pros and Cons for the Publisher

[Reynard]

Honestly, this is a question about how we value the work of our hobby. And, generally speaking, it is "way too little."

 

[Dire Bare]

Honestly, this is a question about how we value the work of our hobby. And, generally speaking, it is "way too little."

Disagree.

Certainly, when releasing new products, RPG books tend to be underpriced for the work and value put into them.

But these bundles usually offer older products that would otherwise struggle to see current sales. Or indie products that struggle to reach a wider audience.

And sales aren't a bad thing necessarily, they can be a great marketing tool that can lead to wider exposure, more fans, and more income!

As a customer, while these charity bundles aren't perfect, I do see them as a beautiful merger of charitible giving, spotlighting older or indie products, and giving publisher a way to boost sales, increase visibility, and feel good about being a part of charitable giving.

I think the NEW Shadowrun books should probably be priced higher . . . and I'm more likely to buy the newer books because I now have a pretty decent sized library of the classic titles from years gone by.

 

[cbwjm]

I've bought bundles that I'm a bit interested in the lore but I'd never buy otherwise, like modiphius books, I don't really like the 2d20 system but they have some good franchises. I think I got a good chunk of star trek adventures. Same with Conan, I think it was end of license or something so included everything they'd produced for a steal.

 

[Voadam]

The juxtaposition of the first paragraph and the second almost bowled me over!

You should do Bundles but you shouldn't do Bundles!

For publishers I recommend focusing on the point that I bought the bundles and put money in the publishers' accounts.

I have spent more on A5e through Bundle of Holding than I believe I would have otherwise, and I got more books from it than I would have otherwise so I consider it a win-win.

The annoyance at seeing something go on sale after I had already gotten it is there, but it is minor and not a grudge I hold against the publishers. I usually still get the bundle of holding and humble bundle bundles as most have enough to make it worthwhile for me anyway even if I have the core book already. At worst for a publisher I pass on the bundle as not offering me stuff I want even at the bundle price.

I just got the current full Fallout one for instance despite already owning the corebook and the current Shadowrun one even though I had probably half of the PDF sourcebooks in it already, the big adventures, the complete set of little ones, the conspiracy book, etc all were worthwhile enough on their own for me to get it.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I just finished doing a Bundle of Holding. Huge success for me. It was a Shadowdark bundle, and when I originally did the kickstarter last year, I did have a Shadowdark version of the book (along with a 5e version and OSE version). I made twice as much in the bundle of holding as I did with the Shadowdark backers in the original KS. For no extra work or costs on my end. That's a win.