The Price of RPGs: You think the US is bad...

[Derulbaskul]

In australia the price in the shops is about 1.5x US prices (once you've done the conversions)

ie 3.5 core books are $60 Australian (AUD) which converts to roughly $45 USD.

Most people I know that are really into RPGs get them online...

Bubbalin,

Where do you order from online? At the moment, I try and buy things on my frequent trips to Singapore where things are unbelievably cheap (as in, less that the USD retail converted at the relevant exchange rate) thanks to their stuffed economy. However, I wouldn't mind trying an online source if you could recommend one.

TIA.

 

[Thanee]

One question about WtoC's books in Europe:

Do they have a single price for all countries using the Euro, or do prices vary from country to country?

More like varying price from store to store, city to city.

There is no fixed rate.

Only ISBN tagged books (usually german productions) have a fixed price stamp on them. Imports can be priced freely (within reasonable limits, of course), AFAIK.

Also, (Ok, two questions ) if you buy an WotC book in Europe, is it printed in Europe? I've always assumed so.

Depends...

The german translations are - of course - printed here.
The original versions are printed in the US and imported.

There is a large WotC distributor in belgium (I believe the Magic the Gathering cards are printed there). That's where the store I buy from receives their copies of the D&D books from (they get them in huge shipments from the US and probably distribute them over large parts of europe, altho that's more of a guess).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Snoweel]

In australia the price in the shops is about 1.5x US prices (once you've done the conversions)

ie 3.5 core books are $60 Australian (AUD) which converts to roughly $45 USD.

Most people I know that are really into RPGs get them online...

Tell me about it...

What annoys me is that in the past year, the Pacific Peso (Aussie dollar) has gone through the roof compared to the $US yet the prices for US printed gaming books has remained the same.

Another case of charging $x for a product because you can? And who gets the difference? The importer? The FLGS?

 

[MerricB]

In australia the price in the shops is about 1.5x US prices (once you've done the conversions)

ie 3.5 core books are $60 Australian (AUD) which converts to roughly $45 USD.

It varies in Australia. Where I am, I can get the books for $50 Australian. (Less, with my discount). That's from my FLGS.

MilSims carries the core books for $50 Australian each. (US $37.50).

Cheers!

 

[S'mon]

Mongoose books seem to cost at least as much in UK as they do in USA - £15 for the Quinntessentials, £30 for Conan. Slaine was about £25 AIR.

 

[Jonny Nexus]

What about Mongoose books? I remembered having cringed when I saw the price of a thin Judge Dredd Rulebook at ... what, $40 (US)? Must be cheaper in England, if not also overseas.

Mongoose books used to be printed in the UK, but I believe that they are now printed overseas. Generally, a UK RPG company is going to pick the printing option that will enable them to have the lowest price in the United States, since that is where they will sell most of their books.

I know for certain (having attended a talk by James Wallis) that the original Hogshead (WFRP etc) used to print and warehouse their books in the US. This was because US distributors expect the RPG company to pay for all transportation, whilst European distributors expect only that the RPG company will pay for transportation to an East Coast port (i.e. the distributor expects to pick up the tab for shipping across the Atlantic). So if you printed in UK you'd end up giving UK distributors a discount they weren't expecting while also giving US distributors an *extra* bill that they equally weren't expecting.

As regards prices in the UK:

* We have the same editions as books in the States (i.e. we don't have separate local print runs).

* There will only be a US price printed on the book. The UK price will simply be a price sticker that the shop have put on. (This is true even for Mongoose books).

I can't give an exact conversion guide, but my copy of OGL Horror (bought around the start of the year) had a list price of $39.95 and a "shop sticker price" of £24.99, which equals $1.6 = £1. I think that is a reasonably conversion rate.

(Software used to be notorious for having a one to one conversion rate. So if the American English version of a word processing program cost $200 then the British English version would cost £200. This was despite the fact that the "localisation" you were paying for consisted only of putting a British English dictionary on it and changing the default units to Metric - they didn't even reformat the default templates, so they all had margins of 3.17 centimetres).

 

[masque]

Hmm - I'm surprised that US rpgs cost more overseas - the dollar has been pushed low-ish to try to boost exports. I know Japan has tried to keep the yen around a constant amount with the dollar (so not to hurt Japanese exports to the US), but Europe has let the Euro go up and up and up. Which is why I can understand a german RPG being very expensive in Japan (or outside the EU), but US books should be quite cheap in Europe.

In Japan, it's a translation and demand issue. The way translations, as far as I know, are done here is to break the book up into chunks and a different person translates each one. They are then squished back together. It gets books done quickly (especially the huge ones, like Harry Potter), but you have to pay all the different translators. This is also a reason books translated into Japanese sometimes have very good translations in one part and one that confuses the issue in another.

As for demand, children are encouraged to specialize: to do one thing and do it well. This usually excludes roleplaying, especially as kids also spend lots of time in juku/cram school. I should know, I teach at one. There's a girl named Ayane who stays from 5:30 to 9 for 3 nights a week, and then goes home and sometimes studies until 4 in the morning. With her club after school (I forget which one), it doesn't leave time for much else. I feel RPGs need large chunks of time to play well, and that really isn't available for most people (vast amounts of study, or vast amounts of work).

Low demand, many skilled laborers = high prices.

That, and the imported German RPG... I expected it to be expensive, but over US$150 for 120 pages, times four, plus the 300 page base rulebook (price indeterminate)... I nearly had a heartattack right there. I was certainly worried about leaving fingerprints.

 

[bubbalin]

Bubbalin,

Where do you order from online? At the moment, I try and buy things on my frequent trips to Singapore where things are unbelievably cheap (as in, less that the USD retail converted at the relevant exchange rate) thanks to their stuffed economy. However, I wouldn't mind trying an online source if you could recommend one.

TIA.

Sorry, I don't personally do that much. no credit card.
but tell me where you get things from in Singapore and roughly how much you get them for. I would appreciate that since I have relatives there.

 

[bubbalin]

It varies in Australia. Where I am, I can get the books for $50 Australian. (Less, with my discount). That's from my FLGS.

MilSims carries the core books for $50 Australian each. (US $37.50).

Cheers!

Yeah, but you have to pay for postage if you're elsewhere in the country.
And you need to find the bargains...



Also aren't WotC books printed in China?

 

[morbiczer]

Situation in Hungary

The situation here in Hungary is simply terrible. There are only two (not so) FLGS in Budapest which deal in foreign (= American) RPGs. For all that I know, these are the only two in the whole country.

A dollar cost currently about 210 forints (our currency) but prices in both shops are always simply calculated by multiplating the dollar cover price by 300. This means that books are about 1,5 times more expensive here. Plus one should take into consideration that wages are much lower here than in the Western Europe or the US. This makes buying RPGs quite an expensive hobby here.

There are hungarian translations for a few WotC books (3.0 core books, FRCS, 3.0 splatbooks, some modules). These are much cheaper (about the same price as in dollars), but the translations are awful.

But the main problem aren't really the high prices, but the bad availibility. The newest WotC book which I could buy currently would be Complete Warrior form last autumn. And virtualy no stuff from non-WotC.

I would order online which would be much cheaper even if I have to pay the transport cost from the US to Hungary, but I don't have a credit card (no job - no credit card). Hope this changes soon!