Pathfinder 1E Lost Cities of Golarion

[Mercurius]

I just got that dreaded notification from Amazon that I thought was reserved for Wizards of the Coast products, that a pre-ordered book's release date was pushed back - Lost Cities of Golarion has gone from December to January and now all the way to July (!).

Anyone know what's up? That's a pretty huge push-back. Unfortunately for me it was one of the Chronicles that I have been most looking forward to getting.

 

[Zil]

I just got that dreaded notification from Amazon that I thought was reserved for Wizards of the Coast products, that a pre-ordered book's release date was pushed back - Lost Cities of Golarion has gone from December to January and now all the way to July (!).

Anyone know what's up? That's a pretty huge push-back. Unfortunately for me it was one of the Chronicles that I have been most looking forward to getting.

Strange. Mine was shipped from Paizo last week (Jan 13th). Something wrong with the distribution between Paizo and Amazon?

 

[Mercurius]

Hmm...maybe. Good to know, thanks - I might just have to bit the bullet and buy it somewhere other than Amazon; it is hard to, though, with Prime.

 

[James Jacobs]

"Lost Cities" hasn't been pushed back at all. My guess: Amazon forgot to order from their distributor, or didn't order enough, and rather than get an accurate resupply quote they just guessed July. That type of thing seems to happen semi-regularly... it's frustrating.

 

[Treebore]

My copy of Lost Cities was in my mail box day before yesterday. Along with my two map products.

 

[Mercurius]

"Lost Cities" hasn't been pushed back at all. My guess: Amazon forgot to order from their distributor, or didn't order enough, and rather than get an accurate resupply quote they just guessed July. That type of thing seems to happen semi-regularly... it's frustrating.

Yeah, I imagine so. And yes, this has happened fairly regularly recently with Paizo products. For example, the demon book was pushed back a month and then I was surprised to see it in an LGS. Unless Amazon doesn't prioritize pre-orders, I doubt it is them not ordering enough as I tend to pre-order most RPG books and had both of them (and a bunch of Chronicles books coming up) on pre-order months before the publication date.

Anyhow, I canceled my Amazon order and ordered from Buy.com...I probably should have supported an LGS instead, but A) I'm a poor teacher with children and B) the closest LGS is about 45 minutes away.

Out of curiosity, and while I have a Paizonian here, does it matter to Paizo in terms of profit where a customer buys a book from? I would imagine that you have a higher profit margin if people order direct, but does it make a difference whether it is a chain bookstore, a big online outfit, or another online retailer? The reason I ask is that while I have to watch my own budget first, if it better serves a company that I want to support (like Paizo) if I spend, say, $20 at a LGS vs. $16 at Buy.com or $14 at Amazon, I might try to spread the wealth around a bit, or at least in situations like with Lost Cities where my usual place of purchase (Amazon) couldn't get it as soon as I wanted it.

 

[Glade Riven]

Subscriptions and PDFs probably have the highest profit margins, followed by their own online store. PDF distribution is pennies per unit (if that)compared to print products.

 

[Mercurius]

OK, this sucks. I canceled my pre-order with Amazon because of the July date then placed an order with Overstock.com, which said that it was available. Now they're saying the same thing, as is Buy.com!

I'm trying to cancel my Overstock order but it is proving difficult - usually there is an option to cancel but for whatever reason there isn't, even though the release date is supposedly July 12! I chatted with a customer rep who said he would send my request along to a "Special Representative" to try to cancel my order, that it should be fine but it would take a couple days. What a hassle.

James, you might want to look into this. I imagine that I'm not the only hominid that has tried ordering this book from one of those big three stores. If I had an LGS closer to me I'd just pick up a copy but the nearest one is 45 minutes away. If the cancellation goes through I'll either look online or just wait until next time I'm near an LGS. I also looked around at a few RPG sites and everyone I checked (FRPGames, Miniature Market, CCG Armory) still has it listed as a pre-order.

 

[Gorbacz]

OK, this sucks. I canceled my pre-order with Amazon because of the July date then placed an order with Overstock.com, which said that it was available. Now they're saying the same thing, as is Buy.com!

I'm trying to cancel my Overstock order but it is proving difficult - usually there is an option to cancel but for whatever reason there isn't, even though the release date is supposedly July 12! I chatted with a customer rep who said he would send my request along to a "Special Representative" to try to cancel my order, that it should be fine but it would take a couple days. What a hassle.

James, you might want to look into this. I imagine that I'm not the only hominid that has tried ordering this book from one of those big three stores. If I had an LGS closer to me I'd just pick up a copy but the nearest one is 45 minutes away. If the cancellation goes through I'll either look online or just wait until next time I'm near an LGS. I also looked around at a few RPG sites and everyone I checked (FRPGames, Miniature Market, CCG Armory) still has it listed as a pre-order.

How about just buying it from Paizo?

 

[Mercurius]

Because I'm on a limited budget and $20+shipping is a lot more expensive than $13.59 from Amazon - I don't know how much Paizo charges for shipping, but that's probably a $10+ difference!