Pathfinder 1E Is this supporting Paizo???

[GreyLord]

Well, I'm all in with the beginner's box. I saw it for pre-order on Amazon for soemthing like $23.09, so I just pre-ordered two of them. They are supposedly going to be delivered nigh the end of November (just in time for the Thanksgiving RPG fests?).

I can't believe they are that cheap though. Is Paizo making money from that sale or is Amazon just using their power to force Paizo to offer it that cheaply?

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Amazon doesn't have the power to force them to sell their products at a loss. Paizo probably gets around 40% of the MSRP from Amazon, the same as they get when they sell it to a distributor who sells it to a retailer, who sells it for full price. If they don't make a profit selling it at 40% of MSRP, they're going to know that going in-- and they're not going to publish the product at all.

Of course, if you don't mind paying full price, they get 100% of the MSRP when you buy it from their own website.

 

[Walking Dad]

It just seems that selling it for $23.09 is either still profitable for Paizo and Amazon, or it is a kind of advertisement to get more interest into the game (which is part what the box is about, garnering new/more interest).
I don't think that Paizo is getting shorthanded in this deal.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Amazon may be relying on volume - selling more boxes at a lower price.

The Auld Grump

 

[billd91]

Amazon may be relying on volume - selling more boxes at a lower price.

The Auld Grump

That is generally the case. If you notice, the discount for a product tends to be deeper right at release than a couple years later. They're banking on new products selling their highest volumes right at release and trying to attract that volume, even at a lower per unit profit. Once sales slow down, they raise the per unit profit by lowering the discount.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

I don't think that Paizo is getting shorthanded in this deal.

I don't claim to have any intimate knowledge of Paizo's finances or business strategy, but as a non-Hasbro RPG publisher, I seriously doubt that Paizo can afford to use a product as a loss-leader. I don't think WOTC could have done it pre-Hasbro, either.

 

[Walking Dad]

I neither. But maybe selling it for the lowest price that they have no losses to attract more customers? Maybe.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I neither. But maybe selling it for the lowest price that they have no losses to attract more customers? Maybe.

I think that it depends on expectations for how many folks will pick up the Core.

But then, I suspect that profit on the Core is also fairly low, or was in the initial run.

I think that Paizo may be taking more of a razors and razor blades approach - that profits are higher on the Adventure Paths (blades) than on either the Beginner box or the Core (razors).

The Auld Grump

 

[IronWolf]

The Amazon price on the Beginner Box was awesome. Still waiting for mine to show up from them, but as long as it is here by mid-December I can give it away as a birthday gift to IronPup. In some ways I hope it only shows up a few days before his birthday so I don't have to make my Will Save to keep from giving it to him early!

 

[thundershot]

I don't understand what the big deal is. It's 34% off. The Core Rulebook is 37% off. The Bestiaries, Ultimate Magic, Ultimate Combat, and GameMaster's Guide, are all also 34% off. Amazon doing discounts like that is nothing new... That's how I've bought my RPG books for years. I remember when 3E first came out, the books were $19.99, and I think I got them off Amazon for $13.99 or something like that. Long story short: Amazon usually has great deals.