Pathfinder 2E Release Day Second Edition Amazon Sales Rank

[gss000]

Just to track sales over time:
Best Sellers Rank: #10,942 in Books
#3 in Pathfinder Game (#1 is a generic fantasy gaming book)

Yes, in the last month or so it's fluctuated a lot, but never higher than the 7000s and sometimes into the 13000s. It's at the point where slight changes in sales could make it go up and down several thousand ranks. We can definitely say there's a decline evident on Amazon based on where it was this time last year or even early this year, although maybe people are now going directly to Paizo or FLGS to support them in the pandemic. Or the price change is hurting the casual buyer who may look for deals on Amazon.

What's interesting is there a few occasions during the last quarter that Call of Cthulu had a higher sales rank. In isolation, that doesn't mean much. If that happens more often, then I think we start having a more interesting conversation.

Edited for typo

 

[Green Onceler]

Though it is getting closer and closer.

Interestingly, PF1 is declining faster than PF2 is climbing. I wonder were those extra PF1 players are going?

Since P2 dropped, I've branched out into Call of Cthulhu and, recently, the Alien RPG.

I still play P1 too, but these two new (to me,) systems are both much more appealing than rebuying a bunch of Pathfinder books.

 

[dave2008]

0.6% growth for PF2 vs. 0.62% decline for PF1 seems about the same to me, which is better news for the company. Otherwise, it could be a sign the brand is losing market share.

Yes I misread the Q1 results and thought PF2 had only grown .5%

 

[Porridge]

It looks like PF2e continues to make slow but consistent growth on Roll20.

Nice data!

I'd be interested in seeing similar data for more PF-friendly platforms, like Fantasy Grounds and Foundry. My sense from the Paizo forums is that newcomers are consistently steered toward one of those two options (especially Foundry), so those stats might better reflect what the change in PF2 players looks like. (But Roll20 data is much better than no data at all!)

I wonder were those extra PF1 players are going?

Here's a result from a recent Reddit poll that caught my eye:

This is hardly a scientific poll, but even considered in broad outlines, it suggests that about as many PF2 players are coming from 5e as from PF1. So if PF1 play decreased by about 0.6% and PF2 play increased by about 0.6%, this would suggest it's unlikely that all of the PF1 players just switched to PF2. Rather, it suggests that only half of the 0.6% increase in PF2 players was players coming from PF1, with the other half coming from some other system. That in turn would suggest that only about half of the 0.6% decline in PF1 players was them moving to PF2, with the other half moving to some other system.

 

[Porridge]

Yes, in the last month or so it's fluctuated a lot, but never higher than the 7000s and sometimes into the 13000s. It's at the point where slight changes in sales could make it go up and down several thousand ranks. We can definitely say there's a decline evident on Amazonnased on where it was this time last year or even early this year, although maybe people are now going directly to Paizo or FLGS to support them in the pandemic. Or the price change is hurting the casual buyer who may look for deals on Amazon.

Yeah, Amazon's 40%(!) increase in the price of the PF2 CRB at the start of August is very frustrating from the point of view of trying to use these stats to track PF2's popularity.

Insofar as you want to use Amazon ranking as a gauge of overall sales, you want Amazon's price to be relatively stable. Or else changes in rankings might be entirely due to changes in Amazon’s pricing (drawing sales from other places as the relative price decreases, or losing sales to other places as the relative price increases).

Oh well. If Amazon's new PF2 price stays relatively stable for another 6-12 months, we might be in a position to see through the noise and start tracking trends again...

 

[JFranklin3000]

Yeah, Amazon's 40%(!) increase in the price of the PF2 CRB at the start of August is very frustrating from the point of view of trying to use these stats to track PF2's popularity.

Insofar as you want to use Amazon ranking as a gauge of overall sales, you want Amazon's price to be relatively stable. Or else changes in rankings might be entirely due to changes in Amazon’s pricing (drawing sales from other places as the relative price decreases, or losing sales to other places as the relative price increases).

Oh well. If Amazon's new PF2 price stays relatively stable for another 6-12 months, we might be in a position to see through the noise and start tracking trends again...

Plus the 1st printing selling out so there was at least a bit of time where it wasn't as available as it normally would be (sold out at publisher is of course very different then sold out everywhere)

 

[Mistwell]

Yeah, Amazon's 40%(!) increase in the price of the PF2 CRB at the start of August is very frustrating from the point of view of trying to use these stats to track PF2's popularity.

Insofar as you want to use Amazon ranking as a gauge of overall sales, you want Amazon's price to be relatively stable. Or else changes in rankings might be entirely due to changes in Amazon’s pricing (drawing sales from other places as the relative price decreases, or losing sales to other places as the relative price increases).

Oh well. If Amazon's new PF2 price stays relatively stable for another 6-12 months, we might be in a position to see through the noise and start tracking trends again...

From Oct 10 to Dec 31 it bounced between $54 and about $47, and now stabilized at $42.50 for the past month or so. However there is a third party seller on Amazon selling them new for $32 + $4 shipping for a total of $36.

It will never be totally stable, as no books are totally stable. Paizo can adjust the price somewhat, but Amazon can also adjust the price based on their algorithm. The best you can say is at least Amazon-based adjustments tend to track fairly closely with the same adjustments they make for other RPG products.

 

[darjr]

What are the perspective rankings now?

 

[Mistwell]

Tashas: #147 in all books
5e DMG: #354 in all books
5e PHB: #371 in all books
5e MM: #404 in all books
Xanathar's: #612 in all books
5e Core Book Gift Set: #791 in all books
Candlekeep Mysteries (pre-release): #1,007 in all books
5e Essentials Kit: #1,120 in all books
Volo's Guide to Monsters: #1,131 in all books

Pathfinder 2 Core Book (P2): #11,627 in all books
Pathfinder Advanced Players Guide (P2): #14,313 in all books
Pathfinder Beginner Box (P2): #20,273 in all books
Pathfinder Beastiary (P2): #26,004 in all books
Pathfinder Beastiary 2 (P2): #26,159 in all books
Pathfinder Core Rulebook Pocket Edition (P1): #28,478 in all books
Pathfinder Gamemastery Guide (P2): #32,064 in all books

 

[Hussar]

That's unfreakingbelievable that the core three for 5e are still that high. Wow.