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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Michael_R_Proteau" data-source="post: 3755696" data-attributes="member: 48658">Another thing to consider in the cost is that boxed sets historically have high rates of damages and returns from the bookstore market that buys products on a returnable basis (as opposed to the hobby market that does not). Damaged returns from chain stores like Borders, B&N etc. on boxed sets is somewhere around a quarter to a third of units shipped ot them, which means those units net 0 profit for WotC and MSRP has to be raised to account for such predicted shortfalls on products of this nature. Damages are usually pulped or discarded with onl;y a cover or side of the box returned to establish credit by the retailers (all those books with their covers shorn off). Hardcovers and siftcovers have a much lower rate of returns (and a much longer shelf-life) than boxed sets, so do not eat into print run profits as much. As someone said, the Basic Set was essentially a loss leader and/or experiment ot see if market conditions changed with boxes. With bookstore retailers and Amazon buying on a returable basis, the risk of potential loss on such a product is higher than on the hardcovers, and that potential risk has to be covered by an inflated MSRP on the product. $60 for a boxed set is a low low estimate, especially considering the MSRP of the boxed sets from 3rd party publishers over the last 2 years has been higher than that and have had no minis or minature scale maps in them. Even considering the costs of printing a smaller print run for the 3rd party publishers, I would say that an MSRP of  $60 for a product with contents like you described is way too optimistic. $75 would be my lowest estimate, and that is I think wishful thinking. A starter for DDM has 8 approximately 7-8 minis, 2 maps, a rulebook and a d20, and has retailed for $20. At 3 times that price, you are more than tripling the number of minis involved, more than tripling the number of maps, and adding an adventure, and all the other mateirals you mentioned. I don't see it happening. I might snag it if it did, but I don't see it happening at that price point. -M</blockquote>

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