Price-Sensitive Gamers

[Zaruthustran]

So, are you a price-sensitive gamer?

No. I'll buy what I want, regardless of price. But, when I do buy, I'll choose to buy it at a discount.

To clarify: price does not determine *what* I buy, but it does determine which retailer I choose to buy it *from*.

Examples:

1. Book of Vile Darkness with a list price of $33, selling for $23 at Amazon or $2 at Bob's Discount Game Store. I won't buy it.

2. Song & Silence, list price of $20, selling for $18 at Bob's and $13 at Amazon ($7 used). I'll buy it, and I'll buy it from the guy selling it used on Amazon.

On the other hand.... I'm not willing to spend $40 on the LotR game, but if it was offered at $5 I'd probably pick it up.

-z

 

[Felon]

Well, I paid $40 for D20 Modern, knowing full-well that it was going to be part of the SRD and thus, in essence, FREE. I guess that I can't be too much of a spendthrift

 

[jgbrowning]

yes

yes i am. i have pretty much an unlimited budget, but i dont buy a lot of stuff.

most of it doesn't interest me.

also, certain books that i am interested in... Alchemy & Herbalists, Guildcraft, Nyambe, MMII, ELH... are too expensive for me. I don't have them and wont buy them until i find 'em at a half-price store or if i wait so long and i cant find them.

one the other hand... something that i wasn't interested in suddenly gets dropped to half-price.. i take a much closer look.

joe b.

 

[Rhianni]

It really depends on the quality vs price.
I dont mind buying little dinky 20 page books if they are around $10 but has something in it that is useful. Likewise the Forgotten realm bok was about $40 and IMO filled with good stuff.
I'm glad I bought the DMG for $20 cause I dont think its worth anything more. Players handbook is worth about $30 to me.
My point is to me it is a balance of cost vs worth.

 

[Chitsu-Otoshi]

On the whole, I think the quality has matured like a wine. I don't mind paying todays prices if it still caters for the original gamer in means.

Taco Bell - MAKE A RUN FOR THE BORDER!!!!

 

[tburdett]

I make half that, and I gladly pay $40 for high-quality products. Don't you get much more than an hour's use out of a book?

Without a doubt, yes. However, gaming is a hobby, and hobby expenditures are a luxury. Other opinions may vary.

To put things into perspective, I am the type of person who see's an automobile as basic transportation. I could afford a new car with many extras, but choose to drive my 75 Dodge Dart (with a nice low milage V8) until I can no longer maintain it. I am only 5 years older than this car and sometimes I think it will outlast me.

I don't try to force this thinking on my wife, however, and she has a newer Honda Odyssey.

 

[mmadsen]

Price sensitivity goes two ways. Most people have commented on whether they'd continue to buy products at a higher price. Would you buy more products at a lower price? Much more?

 

[trancejeremy]

I'm pretty price concious. I only buy stuff at full price that I really really really want. Otherwise I usually buy on ebay or somesuch.
I usually spend about the same amount $20-30 or so a month, but on ebay, my money usually goes farther.

Atlas games's damaged book sales probably doesn't do that well, because most of their stuff can be had on ebay for less , and just used, not damaged.

 

[Voadam]

I have a ton more ESDs and pdf products than print d20 and I have a lot of print products. I have bought a lot of books that I only had a mild interest in and there was a great sale at the time (50% off). Ultimately I want it all, but I feel better about getting something if it is not that expensive or I really really want it.

 

[RyanD]

In an old thread, Ryan Dancey (or someone quoting him) said that he'd like to see just how much gamers would be willing to pay for a high-end gaming product. Forgotten Realms sold even better than projected, and it was a $40 book.

Let me summarize my opinion on this matter:

For most products, there is a range of prices normally used by publishers, which vary about about $5 +/- for a given class of product (cover type, page count, color interior, etc.)

My opinion is that there is very little price sensitivity within each combination of product class and price range, so publishers might as well price at the top of the range vs. the bottom of the range - they will net more money virtually every time, without losing many (if any) actual sales.

I also belive that until the past two or three years, many products were flat out underpriced without gaining an increase in sales as a result. The only reason a publisher should price a product below the top of the standard price range is if that publisher belives that a lower price will increase total net income. As far as I can see, for non D&D publishers, there is no business case that supports the hypothesis that they will do so.

I further believe that there is a large, untapped market for even more expensive products which cater to people who have the disposable income to spend provided that the higher priced "premium" items live up to their price points. Taking existing content and just raising the price can work under certain circumstances (limited, leatherbound RPG core books, for example). But nobody has yet attempted to make a very expensive RPG product targeting mainstream RPG players that just happens to be $50 to $100. I believe that when those kinds of products are attempted, they will reveal the existence of a very interested market.

Finally, I believe there are cheap, low price point items which serve as gateway products, bringing new people into the hobby. These products are typified by not relying on hobby game or comic book stores as their primary point of sale - people who shop in those locations are already vested in the hobby and don't need the low price points to induce purchases.

Ryan