Ptolus at Amazon?

[Bobitron]

Hey Marcel

Normand! Mon ami!

 

[ShinHakkaider]

I didn't mean it that way. Sorry if it came across like that.

I just get annoyed with people who refuse to buy something unless it is below the suggested retail price. It often has nothing to do with what they can afford and everything to do with feeling they got a deal.

...


OK, now explain to me how this is bad again?

 

[Bobitron]

My personal opinion is there is a big difference between someone who looks for deals so they can afford to feed their kids/afford a nice house and someone who does it so they can get a feeling of satisfaction at having twenty dollars more in pocket than the last guy who bought the item. In sales I found it was much more of a adversarial game people play than any real need to save money.

If I go to a store, I expect to pay the price the product is valued at by the market. I don't create an artificial 'need' for a price of 10-20% less than retail so that I can afford to buy more toys. Nor do I look at stuff in a local store then cross-shop it with any other retailer, online or in a LGS, to find a better price.

It's not a big deal. I know plenty of people who I consider friends who are like that. I just find it annoying. Sure, I get satisfaction out of getting a deal. But I know people who will show me something they bought and the first thing they say about it is 'I only paid $30 and it was $50 at Jim's Dungeoneering Shop!'

 

[ShinHakkaider]

There is nothing wrong with that. But expecting to get a discount on everything is not the same thing. It sounds like people seem to believe they have a right to get it at a much lower price..

I'm not seeing that at all.

I'm seeing that people have budgets or whatever and want to get the book at discount if possible. In my case, if I can't get it at a discount then I'm not buying the book. Simple. It's not that I can't afford the book I totally can. But if I'm gonna spend $120, It'd be great if I I could get Ptolus and another book or item for that price, which would have definitley been the case had I been able to pick it up at Amazon.

Now, I'll spend my cash on something that isnt Ptolus. From the looks around here it seems like Monte wont need my money anyway. I mean people shouldnt jump all over D00d, for trying to do what he thinks is right, at the same time time people should jump all over thier peers for trying to find a cheaper way to *BUY* their RPG books.

Note: My latest copy of Dungeon just arrived in the mail, and theirs a full page ad for Ptolus in there. It looks sweet, but instead of buying it Ive just made the decision to renew my subscription to Dungeon instead, some thing that I know that I'll get more use out of...

 

[Treebore]

It's their book, their choice. Monte has stated what he is doing and why, he's being very upfront about it. It's good to see someone take a stand and try to help the local stores. Could he have done more by not offering pre orders? Sure, but there is nothing hypocritical about not doing that.

I understand it is their book and their choice. Just like I am the customer, and it is my choice to buy or not to buy. Just like I am a consumer and it is my choice to complain or to not complain. So I choose to voice my dislikes and why I dislike them, plus I even throw in possible resolutions. Just like it is my choice to shop where I want, or don't want to shop.

We all have choices, and we have to live with the consequences of whatever choice we make. My consequence is to never own Ptolus. Monte's was to tick me off and have to listen to my complaints. If he even knows about and reads this thread, because I haven't said anything on his boards.

 

[The Shaman]

My personal opinion is there is a big difference between someone who looks for deals so they can afford to feed their kids/afford a nice house and someone who does it so they can get a feeling of satisfaction at having twenty dollars more in pocket than the last guy who bought the item. In sales I found it was much more of a adversarial game people play than any real need to save money.

I've observed this as well - the wealthiest people I know tend to also be the most strident bargain-hunters I know.

Hmmmm...maybe there's a connection there...?

Oh, and Bobitron and Barak, haven't you guys got some donkeys to run down?

 

[Bobitron]

Oh, and Bobitron and Barak, haven't you guys got some donkeys to run down?

Hell no. I'm not chasing a donkey unless so ordered. I have a great picture in my head of Normand running across the rocky hills of Algeira chasing a mule.

You check out the Ptolus stuff yet, Shaman?

 

[Barak]

I've just read an interesting story about that. Basically a bargain-hunter that gets seriously burned by the true "connaisseur" who ends up getting the real good deal.

True, the so-called "nouveau-riche" tend to be terrible bargainhunters. Terrible in the sense that they are always doing it, and usually bad at it.

I think this is rarely relevant in this thread, however. Amazon is hardly a little known site where you can get good deals. It's well-known, -always- offering a "deal", and easy to use. The bargain-hunter you portray would be too busy buying books there to post on here. And uninterested because it's too easy for him.

The point is, Amazon offers books at unbeatable prices, or pretty much. On the other hand, they offer no frills, there's no LGS "atmosphere", obviously no tables to game at, and, as far as I know, do not offer snacks. If you use all that from your LGS -and- buy at Amazon, then yeah, you might be a villain in a D20 game. If you really don't care for any of the extras offered at the LGS and -still- but your stuff there to "support" it, for some reason, you might be, IMHO, weird. If you don't use the LGS and buy at Amazon, well I think you're alright.

 

[JustaPlayer]

I've observed this as well - the wealthiest people I know tend to also be the most strident bargain-hunters I know.

Well, you know the old addage. A penny saved is a penny earned. The deal with wanting to get stuff cheaper is more a one of better lifestyle. I don't care if I cost Joe more than it costs me. I just want to get the very best price on anything. It doesn't matter if it's a car, house, TV, or book. The less you spend on any one thing, the more you get to spend on something else you can get for cheap as well. It all comes down to increasing personal wealth through finding the beast deal.

 

[JustaPlayer]

I think this is rarely relevant in this thread, however. Amazon is hardly a little known site where you can get good deals. It's well-known, -always- offering a "deal", and easy to use. The bargain-hunter you portray would be too busy buying books there to post on here. And uninterested because it's too easy for him.

The true bargin hunter knows how to get something on Amazon on the cheap. Find items that are marked wrong on retail (warlords: Master Codex and World Atlas. Both retail for 49.95 not 39.95) You can bet it will be fixed when they find it. And then there are the deals when they have sales like the Buffy Vamp Hunter series sets for $20 they had recently. Or how I got my Shadizar boxed set for $15.