Tracking sales.

[Aberzanzorax]

A bit tired of the endless debate as to how well products are doing and which are doing better than others, I decided to look into whether it was possible to discover actual data beyond that which we have.

Here's what I found:
Sales Rank Tracking for Author Book Sales on Amazon | NovelRank

This is a free, no login required sales tracker of sales on amazon. It tracks rankings over time, so we get more than just the "blips" that we observe. Today I put in the following books and urls for it to track:

Rules Compendium 3e 078694725X
Player's Handbook 3.5 0786928867

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game 1601251505
Pathfinder Bestiary 1601251831
Pathfinder Bestiary 2 1601252684
Pathfinder Bestiary 3 (release in November) 1601253788

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box 1601253729


Dungeons and Dragons Core Rulebook Gift Set 4e 0786950633
Dungeons and Dragons Player's Handbook 4e 0786948671
Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide 4e 0786948809
Monster Manual 1 0786948523
Monster Manual 2 078695101X
Monster Manual 3 0786954906
Rules Compendium 4e 0786956216

Dungeons and Dragons Essentials Red Box 4e was attempted, but it wouldn't let me as it was not a book.
Heroes of the Fallen Lands 0786956208
Monster Vault (not allowed)

Neverwinter Campaign Setting: 0786958146


EDIT: ADDED NOVEMBER 2 (none of these were already being tracked):

Dark Heresy RPG Core Rulebook: 1589944542
Rogue Trader RPG Core Rulebook: 1589946758
Deathwatch Core Rulebook: 1589947789

Dragon Age RPG Set 1: 1934547301
Dragon Age RPG Set 2: 1934547441
Dragon Age Gamemaster's Kit: 1934547328

Shadowrun 20th Anniversary Edition: 1934857319




I have no idea how good the site is, or what the quality of the information will be, but we can see how this experiment goes.

Feel free to add your own books (and please let us know their titles and 10 digit isbns so we can look into them later as well).

 

[prosfilaes]

I tossed in the D&D PHB 3.5 (0786928867), which is currently beating both the Pathfinder PHB and the D&D PHB 4 on amazon.co.uk. It'll be interesting seeing patterns in the future.

 

[Zil]

This is a free, no login required sales tracker of sales on amazon. It tracks rankings over time, so we get more than just the "blips" that we observe. Today I put in the following books and urls for it to track:

....

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box 1601253729

....

Dungeons and Dragons Essentials Red Box 4e was attempted, but it wouldn't let me as it was not a book.

Funny that it allowed you to enter the Pathfinder Beginner Box but not the Essentials Red Box. They're both boxes after all.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

I thought the same thing!

I wanted a direct comparison, ideally.


I suppose it's some library/dewey decimal sorta issue that complicates matters. I just know I tried and it wouldn't let me, saying it was a game, and not a book...while all of it, really, are books and games.


Like I said, I tried. I wish it had worked.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

Wotc is now promoting the "Hero's of the F..." as core, so it might want to include those, as well as the Rules Compendium.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

Good ideas. Updated.

 

[Pour]

Any progress on this sales tracking front? I'm not even interested in comparing PF and 4e, I just want to see how well or poorly the Neverwinter setting is selling, given its largely stellar reviews. Then maybe compare sales within 4e itself, see what was hot and what was not.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

I'll say this...

It's been a VERY tiny dataset so far...just a week or two, depending on what sourcebooks were tracked when.

This is going to require time/patience for any kind of results, for whatever their merit is.


But, I'll also add that the Neverwinter setting hasn't been added as of this point (as far as I know). I'll add it now for your curiosity...

...EDIT: but as I just added it, it's already being tracked!

Maybe in a week to a month to two months we'll have some good data.




But, the point is...the whole utility of this is to track over time... so the more time we have, the better the data.

 

[Pour]

Ah, whoops, forgot to mention I added it a day or two ago hehe. I didn't realize it only began tracking from that point on, even though that makes perfect sense... damn, I was hoping for instant gratification. Well, I'll keep my eye on this thread then.

EDIT: I do notice, checking on it now, its ranking has improved by as many as 200-800 books (I forget the exact previous figure).

 

[Pour]

Oh I also added Call of Cthulhu 6th Edition, 3rd edition WHFRG core set and Witchlight Fen tiles last night.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Call-Cthulhu-Horror-Roleplaying-Lovecraft/dp/1568821816/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314251620&sr=1-2"]Amazon.com: Call of Cthulhu: Horror Roleplaying in the Worlds of H. P. Lovecraft, 6th Edition (9781568821818): Sandy Petersen, Lynn Willis, John Snyder, Paul Carrick: Books[/ame]

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Warhammer-Fantasy-Roleplay-Core-Set/dp/1589946960/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314251430&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Core Set (9781589946965): Fantasy Flight Games: Books[/ame]