Pathfinder 2E Release Day Second Edition Amazon Sales Rank

[Mistwell]

The corona virus fears really seem to be slamming the sales of TTRPG books across the board. In the last 5 or so days PF2 core book sales have consistently slumped into the 7000s (currently 7037).

More shockingly, the D&D 5e players handbook has dropped out of the top 100 for the first time since I started checking several months ago (currently 225).

If the corona virus sticks around for over a year, as some are suggesting, I worry about the financial sustainability of most TTRPG companies. WOTC will survive, but I don’t know about anyone else...

Yeah as Darjr points out, Explorer's Guide to Wildemount is in the top 15-20 of All Books right now. It seems to have displaced PHB.

There also appears to be a MASSIVE increase in the sale of books for teaching kids at home, for various grades. I suspect sales of the PHB has not actually decreased much, I just think there is a really really big uptick in book sales at the moment for all the kids at home. Something like 90% of the books I am seeing in the top 100 were not in the top 100 just a few weeks ago. They're almost all scholastic books I've seen at my kids Elementary School book fairs.

 

[Porridge]

Yeah as Darjr points out, Explorer's Guide to Wildemount is in the top 15-20 of All Books right now. It seems to have displaced PHB.

There also appears to be a MASSIVE increase in the sale of books for teaching kids at home, for various grades. I suspect sales of the PHB has not actually decreased much, I just think there is a really really big uptick in book sales at the moment for all the kids at home. Something like 90% of the books I am seeing in the top 100 were not in the top 100 just a few weeks ago. They're almost all scholastic books I've seen at my kids Elementary School book fairs.

I really hope that’s it!

 

[Hussar]

I think that is the first time the PHB has been outside the top 100. With rumors that Amazon could stop deliveries it may become a large issue, but it should be temporary. Hopefully, smaller companies can make it through.

What's truly shocking is that a five year old RPG book being out of the top 100 on Amazon is a bad thing.

 

[dave2008]

What's truly shocking is that a five year old RPG book being out of the top 100 on Amazon is a bad thing.

Well, I surprising one at least.

 

[Maggan]

Kinda strange that a non-specific book is intermittenly being ranked as number one in the Pathfinder category. It's been jockeying for position during the week, sometime number one, sometimes number three.

 

[gss000]

Kinda strange that a non-specific book is intermittenly being ranked as number one in the Pathfinder category. It's been jockeying for position during the week, sometime number one, sometimes number three.

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I wouldn't look at list rankings like that. Amazon changes what's on each ranking from time to time. I would look more at absolute rankings based on a combination of daily sales and monthly sales, according to one site that translates ranks into book sales.

I think that is the first time the PHB has been outside the top 100. With rumors that Amazon could stop deliveries it may become a large issue, but it should be temporary. Hopefully, smaller companies can make it through.

It's not the first time. It's been there before, but I think it's been riding high after the last holiday weekend bump. I think what we're seeing with this and P2 products is a new release doing really well around the time of its lauch and pushing down basic book sales. Back in the day, new books always had very strong sales the first week and month and then declined. Wildemount and Gamemastery guide both surpased thier core books this month. The PHB has gained back some ground but will likely still fluctuate a bit and with Wildemount release, I think it will be at the top for at least a few weeks longer. The 5th ed books overall for the last week have pretty much held steady.

What has really surprised me is what's happening with the Paizo books. That's where coronavirus may have hit hardest (of the two brands). The core book is down in the 8000s and reached a new low in the 9000s. The Gamemastery Guide is also down in that 8000 range, too. That's a pretty big drop in a week. Maybe this is where shipping difficulties are hurting sales, or possibly people who are self isolating are mostly buying 5th ed because it's easier to find online games. I don't know if any stores buy stock on Amazon. Whether or not, Paizo Amazon sales, according to one calculator I use, are at the level where a few less purchases each day or month will push the ranking down.

 

[dave2008]

What has really surprised me is what's happening with the Paizo books. That's where coronavirus may have hit hardest (of the two brands). The core book is down in the 8000s and reached a new low in the 9000s. The Gamemastery Guide is also down in that 8000 range, too. That's a pretty big drop in a week. Maybe this is where shipping difficulties are hurting sales, or possibly people who are self isolating are mostly buying 5th ed because it's easier to find online games. I don't know if any stores buy stock on Amazon. Whether or not, Paizo Amazon sales, according to one calculator I use, are at the level where a few less purchases each day or month will push the ranking down.

I don't know this for a fact, but others have looked at the Amazon rankings and evidently it doesn't take a large change in volume (number of books) to drastically affect the rankings. So that big drop in the rankings isn't such a large drop in actual books sold.

 

[Shroomy]

I'm sure WotC is consoling themselves over the drop in relative sales of a 5-year old PHB with the sales of the Explorer's Guide to Wildemount (currently ranked #31 overall).

 

[JFranklin3000]

I don't know this for a fact, but others have looked at the Amazon rankings and evidently it does take a large change in volume (number of books) to drastically affect the rankings. So that big drop in the rankings isn't such a large drop in actual books sold.

Actually as I look through the top 100 I notice that there are a large number of books that are teaching aids for children on the list now. So panicked parents trying to find something for their kids to do well they are out of school might be at least part of the cause.

 

[Porridge]

Actually as I look through the top 100 I notice that there are a large number of books that are teaching aids for children on the list now. So panicked parents trying to find something for their kids to do well they are out of school might be at least part of the cause.

Yeah, I'm hoping that's at least part of the explanation. It's certainly true that RPG books sales rankings continue to go down across the board:

Wildemount: 146
D&D 5E PH: 316
PF2 Core: 10,353