Topic: Print Version and Pricing

[Defendi]

All right.  As I approach a print release, I've been spending a lot of time thinking about pricing.  Since I plan on selling through Amazon and POD costs more than a large run printer, my profit per book on Amazon will be smaller than most of you might think.  However, I can't practially price less on Lulu.com than I do on Amazon, so Amazon is my price focus for figuring out how much I need to charge.

So.  The first book will be available on Amazon for d20 only, and only in softcover.  255 pages or so.  The interiors will be black and white.  So, barring Amazon discounts, which I can't control, how much is that book worth to you (if it were in your game system).

Problem is, I rarely buy roleplaying books anymore.  I get the ones I use most for free.    So my pricepoint sense is shot.

I noticed that Shadowworld MA was going for 34.95 or so, and it's about the same length.  Is that about what you'd expect?  Too high?  Looking for 29.95 instead?  Less?  More?

Honest opinions needed from people who still buy books and have a customer's sense. 

[Michael Petrea]

I'd pay $30-$35 for the EoH CS book.  A little less maybe for the follow-up source books since they are smaller.  $8-$12 is normal for adventures I think.

[Defendi]

I don't intend to do the adventures seperate, so the 35 would be for The Echoes of Heaven Campaign Setting/The Throne of God.

I haven't run numbers on product 2 and on.  I'll check comperable products when the time is right.  If all else fails I'll post another one of these quesitonaires.  My goal was to make the same amount for the later products as the first, but I think that puts the price too high (like 28 or 29 dollars).  Agian, haven't run the numbers, so even that's a guess.

[Defendi]

I don't have a final on the hardbound version, either.  They cost me $12 more, but they won't be on Amazon, so I can eat some of that. 

[markc]

  I am very selective on what I buy and I am a price hunter as opposed to the old see it and buy it days. But for retail I think somewhere in the $15-$25 doller range after discout from amazon would be doable. IMO right now you want to make money but also have a cheeper price point untill you can pump up your volume. Also the cheep price point will draw a lot more people in with the way gas and other prices will be going [IMO]. For the modules seperatly I would say around $6.95 to $9.95 but again try and be cheeper and better than other publishers. IMO that is how you get ahead and make people want to buy you out for your market share. But you also have to eat and feed others so that also has to work into the equation.

Good Luck
MDC 

[Defendi]

Cool.  More datapoints, people. 

No seperate adventures for now.

[darb]

I think the going price for comparable books is definately in the $35 range.  I think that is a good place to start thinking about your price point for your product, call it $29.95 if you really want to beef up volume, 39.95 to get a few extra bucks (but then I think your PDFs are worth a bit more than you are charging so maybe I'm a bit off that way)

[Defendi]

Thanks!  I definately see your point on the PDFs.  The reason mine are so low is that I feel 1)  All pdfs are overpriced.  2)  I have almost no cost in making them, and I'd feel dishonest charging more.

I actually wanted to set them at $3, but that is below the minimum checkout on RPGNow.  Plus, everyone else's are so inflated, in my opponion, that if I set them too low, it looks like I'm dumping a crap product.  So I comprimised. 

I just explained that so that you'd know that your price sense isn't off.  Given the prices of other PDFs, mine are way below norm.  The campaign setting would normalling go for 17-20 dollars on RPGNow, I think.

Then again, I'm selling better than 60% of all the other products, so I think it's working.  .

[Mungo]

Hi,

I don't know about other products, but from my gut feeling I would not pay more than 29.95 (yes, the 5 cents are important....).

And I think your price is too low. Perhaps its ok for #1 to get new people hooked to your work, but otherwise you are selling yourself below your value.

BR
Juergen

[Defendi]

Okay, so if you feel strongly enough about it, I suggest you all hold an intervention.  Start a thread and convince me to raise my PDF prices.  I'd be interested to see if there's any who disagree.

One final note, though.  I don't think I'll have any way of discounting print products for preexisting PDF customers.  So realize that if you buy both when they release, you'll be paying the print price plus the PDF price.

Okay, I'll be interested in seeing what happens. 

[Mungo]

What you could do is giving the pdf for free to pront customers. They just have to send you a copy of the bill and you send them a download link...

BR
Juergen

[Defendi]

Yes, and although there may be some hiccups in that, I'm willing to do it.  The problem is that each book will come out in print months, maybe a year after it comes out in PDF.  It's the ones that buy the PDF first that I'm talking about.

Amazon has a method of upgrading to print +pdf for like 2-3 dollars.  RPGNow has a button for linking the two.  It's the books on Lulu that might have a problem with this, but I'd send a free pdf to someone who proved they'd bought the print version. 

But that's not the worry.  It's the people upgrading from PDF to Print that I'm talking about. 

[Mungo]

Hi,

Can you send people a voucher for the print version if they send you a copy of the bill for the pdf? It would mean you have to do this manually, so I guess practicability also depends on the number of purchases you expect...

BR
Juergen

[Defendi]

Not through Lulu or Amazon sales.  It MIGHT be possible through RPGNow sales.  I've never looked.  I do doubt it, since they subcontract to Lulu.

[Defendi]

I just checked on RPGNow.  I can't do it there either.

[Michael Petrea]

I have almost no cost in making them, and I'd feel dishonest charging more.

convince me to raise my PDF prices

I hope your time is worth something.   

That's kind of funny.  Even though I get the discount coupon everytime to help you bump up sales I was thinking about paying full price next time just because I would buy it anyway and I feel like I am ripping you off.

[Defendi]

Ah, I love you guys.  

If you REALLY feel like you need to do that, buy them all twice and give one set to a friend.  It will help my stats.  

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

For a comparison, the RMC Spell Law is 264 page or so, and ICE is selling it for $35, and that is currently considered to be on the low end of the industry price bracket for that size of a book.

[markc]

I also think it is important to realize that a ot of the products I have seen latle are bad. ie a lot of inflated pages and not a lot of good campain material. So IMO the pg count vs $ is not a good one, a better one is usefulness vs bloat. Now I do now own the RMC-SL but I use most of if not all of RMSS-SL so IMO this is a value book. OTOH I varry rarly use the RMSS and a 10 foot pole so that is not as valuable to me.

On the PDF pricing, I agree that they are very overpriced for what you get in most cases. And I do not see that changing anytime soon.

BTW, I did pay full price for my iniatial product eventhough I had a coupon as I like to suport products thik this. But lately since I have moved and my bis has declined do to the move I have used the coupon but have pimped the product to many more people. So I guess it works out.

MDC

[Thom @ ICE]

I'd go $29.95, but if the financials don't work for you at that point - go to $32.95 - try to avoid going above there. When people feel they paid a lot for a product it almost doesn't matter how good the product is, they'll have a hard time believing they got their money's worth.

Thom