Record Your Ptolus Pre-Orders Here!

[marionde]

Preordered yesterday morning (8/25).

 

[mcrow]

I have no problem with it being as much as it is. But the words "payment plan" and "gaming book" just seem odd together.

The other question is, is White Wolf the exclusive retailer of Ptolus? Will it be on Amazon or some other online retailers? If so, it's gonna be a lot cheaper.

I have not seen any info relating to this question yet. IMO I doubt we will see these on Amazon. Since they are special signed & numbered books it may be difficult, logistically, to sell through Amazon and such places. I think I did here someplace about being able to pre-order though your FLGS though. So who knows. It was not clear to me whether or not this is going to be limited print run or not so that would factor in. There was a blurb on the Ptolus website about the fact that there will be no other versions printed for Ptolus, so buying a less expensive version isn't likely going to happen. They will be selling it in pdf form so that you can buy it bit by bit. I wuess we will haev to wait and see.

 

[DreadPirateMurphy]

I put my order in. The general quality of anything from Monte and Malhavoc and the pre-order freebies make it worthwhile for me.

$120 seems a fair price for such a large, full-color, hardcover volume. Of course, I'm an adult with a full-time job...it would have been much more of a stretch back in college or earlier. Nevertheless, there should be no bitterness. Nobody is forcing anybody to buy it, and I don't see any problem with offering a payment plan for folks who want to spread out the pain a bit.

The real question is, will we start seeing Ptolus books in the Fingerhut catalog?

 

[Crothian]

I'm considering it at the moment.....

 

[JoeGKushner]

Am I the only one who thinks it's weird/sad/strange for a gaming book to be so expensive, people have to buy it on a payment plan?

Why are you threadcapping here? Don't we have a general Ptolus thread where people can make this type of observation as opposed to going into another thread dedicated to people who preordered?

Me? I may preorder it after I get the brakes on the old car fixed.

 

[reveal]

Why are you threadcapping here? Don't we have a general Ptolus thread where people can make this type of observation as opposed to going into another thread dedicated to people who preordered?

I apologize, oh cynical one, for making an observation. I'll just crawl back in my hole and hope to, one day, see the sunshine that is your eternal wisdom. :\

 

[Arnwyn]

I would pre-order it, if I didn't live in Canada.

 

[reveal]

I would pre-order it, if I didn't live in Canada.

Why can't your pre-order in Canada?

 

[Arnwyn]

Why can't your pre-order in Canada?

Because doing so miserably miserably fails a cost/benefit analysis. (Clarification: you only get all the pre-order benefits if you order through that website link that Monte provided, correct?)

 

[Jarrod]

Not going to buy it, but I think the installment plan makes a lot of sense, both from the point of view of the customer and from Monte's POV.

For Monte, I see three options:

1) Offer the book for sale in a year. This makes money off the people who would buy it then.
2) Offer the book for sale now, with a full-price preorder. This will make money off the people who would buy it in a year, and give him an early influx of cash from the preorders. However, there are probably not that many people who would give him $120 now for a book in a year without some serious incentives. He could discount the book for preorders, but then he runs into problems making a profit.
3) Offer the book for sale now, with a low preorder and the monthly payments. This way he gets the people from 1 and 2, and in addition grabs everyone who wants the book but can't/won't pay $120 in one shot. "It's only 10 a month!" managed to grab a lot of people. Not to mention, he also gets the advantage of an early influx of cash that is guaranteed consistent for a year.

From the buyer's POV, you can either pay 120 in a lump sum in a year, or trust Monte to save it for you. In return for giving him money early, you get extra benefits over someone who bought the book when it was released. Everyone wins.


I don't see it as "so expensive as to need an installment plan", I see it as "Monte knows economics and is trying to maximize his market." Good for him.