Just pre-ordered 3.5 from Amazon

[Qlippoth]

I may have to kick a few more gaming dollars Amazon's way ... though Buy's extra 10% discount (usually with free shipping as well) is pretty tough to beat.

Unfortunately, buy.com periodically lifts their free shipping offers--meaning you add $2.35 to each book's price (after adding taxes). Ironically, it's brought me back to the FLGS I shopped at weekly for years...

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Unfortunately, buy.com periodically lifts their free shipping offers--meaning you add $2.35 to each book's price (after adding taxes). Ironically, it's brought me back to the FLGS I shopped at weekly for years...

That's when I order from Amazon.

 

[TalonComics]

Actually it helps gaming in the long run to get the product to more people thus perpetuating the hobby. Lets be real here.I feel ,it hurts you as a store owner because they're stealing your business. Wal Mart stole mine, I have rent and kids and a car payment so any money I can save and still have a hobby is all right with me.

Wal-mart doesn't add anything to our hobby. All they do is cash in on something they think they can make money on. Wal-Mart doesn't sell untested product until it's been proven as viable in smaller stores first. M:tG, Pokemon, and comics are all things that started out in gaming and comic stores and were picked up later by W-M, and in some cases dropped, when the fever died down.

Wal-Mart won't even sell D&D books in their stores, which to me, would at least make me feel like they're supporting our hobby to some extent.

I'm sorry, but I just think what Wal-Mart is doing is just trying to steal from legitimate businesses who actually care about the future of the hobby.

Wal-Mart just doesn't care and I'll never be convinced otherwise.

~D

 

[Gizzard]

Wal-mart doesn't add anything to our hobby. All they do is cash in on something they think they can make money on.

But I don't think WalMart itself sells D&D books? It's only their online arm, which is walmart.com. And this online arm seems to operate under a different business model than traditional WalMarts. Can someone confirm having seen D&D in a physical WalMart?

-- a slightly different tack --

Anyway, for fun, I was trying to figure out how the big online discounters are doing financially. My long term fear is that Walmart.com will happily take your money now, but if belt-tightening is necessary there the first things to go will be small-volume items like RPG books.

I wasn't having much success. It seems that Buy.com and Walmart.com both were publicly traded up until the Internet Bubble burst. Buy.com has gone private again, WalMart.com seems to have been spun back into WalMart - though I still don't see any financials for it in the latest quarterly report. If anyone has any tips on how to research this, please help!

At the end, I have to look only at Amazon, which is publically traded. Over the last 4 quarters they've posted these results -10M$, +2.6M$, -35M$ and -93M$. The one profitable quarter is Christmas, of course.

The question I have in mind is whether or not these big discounters can continue to do business as they have been. The obvious problem would be that if they manage to drive a fair number of FLGS's out of business before deciding that they shouldn't be in the RPG business....well, that wouldn't be good for the consumer!

 

[TalonComics]

But I don't think WalMart itself sells D&D books? It's only their online arm, which is walmart.com. And this online arm seems to operate under a different business model than traditional WalMarts. Can someone confirm having seen D&D in a physical WalMart?

The question I have in mind is whether or not these big discounters can continue to do business as they have been. The obvious problem would be that if they manage to drive a fair number of FLGS's out of business before deciding that they shouldn't be in the RPG business....well, that wouldn't be good for the consumer!

Correct, so far they have not and I doubt they ever will sell the books in their stores.

Your last paragraph is exactly my biggest fear and quite frankly *is* already happening through out the US.

~D

 

[Technik4]

Sorry Derek

I was going to order through Talon, but this month I had to buy a car and I may be moving next month, so money is tight. I was debating whether or not to get 3.5 at all, when a friend sent me the "share the love" email via amazon. It gives an additional 10% off because someone else bought the item in question already. So I got all the books for $56.62, free shipping (Im willing to save $5 and wait a few extra days).

Technik

 

[TalonComics]

Re: Sorry Derek

I was going to order through Talon, but this month I had to buy a car and I may be moving next month, so money is tight. I was debating whether or not to get 3.5 at all, when a friend sent me the "share the love" email via amazon. It gives an additional 10% off because someone else bought the item in question already. So I got all the books for $56.62, free shipping (Im willing to save $5 and wait a few extra days).

Technik

No worries, man.
I don't take it personally and I understand about trying to save money. Many of my friends have the same kind of issues when it comes to money. Doing the 25% off thing was a way I could help them out too as I wanted them to be able to get the books. Heck, in some cases I even do barter!

~D

 

[Zaruthustran]

Just to follow up:

I talked things over with the book buyer. Good news: the order is already placed, and she expects the books to be in Amazon's warehouse about a week before the books officially go on sale.

The "Monte Cook" as author is an error caused by bad information from the distributor (author, title, and other info comes over on an automated feed from the distributor). I've alerted WotC and they're looking into the problem.

I'm adding the 3.5 conversion download to Amazon. Starting July 28th, anyone who orders any WotC game book (and anyone who has ever ordered a WotC book in the past) will get the free 3.5 conversion document delivered to their Amazon.com Digital Library. Sure, you and I know that it's availabe on WotC's site, but some folks never go to WotC's site. Of course, most folks don't even know that every Amazon customer has a locker for digital goodies.

-z

 

[John Crichton]

Just to follow up:

I talked things over with the book buyer. Good news: the order is already placed, and she expects the books to be in Amazon's warehouse about a week before the books officially go on sale.

Sweeeeeeet.

So is there any chance I'll get my books on the 18th? It's a friday and it would be cool to have them for the weekend. I have overnight shipping on the order...

Either way, thanks for the info.

 

[d20Dwarf]

Zarathustran,

Can you tell us anything about the legitimacy of the VW promotion mentioned in another thread? The form has name, address, and email....I assume they credit your account based on email address?