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You get a *free* pdf when you subscribe to the print edition.
I second this.....
Also, as STAFF(the powerful, important kind) have said before, how do you do a coupon like that in a manor that is:
a) simple enough to implement and
b) complex enough that the code won't appear on teh *net* in 5 mins time, leading to huge PDF sale losses?
Answer both of those to Paizo's satisfaction, and I'll be really surprised if you don't get your wish.....
Or get a Subscription.... :)
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also, they can't do this for just the online purchases, as this would alienate the brick and motor stores, as there is no way for paizo to gain the email of these people. They cannot be put in the books because
1) They could be taken from the book by someone browsing.
2) If they wrapped these items to prevent #1, it would also prevent new buyers from browsing the books and seeing the magnificent art and maps, as well as the superb writing skills.
Munin, if you subscribe, you get a substantial discount off the cover prince (for the APs), and a free PDF. If the problem is a financial limitation, then it certainly doesn't make sense to buy both the print and PDF, no matter the discount on the PDF (unless it is also free), since the subscription would be cheaper. (And don't bring up shipping, because you're already talking about buying the print edition from Paizo, which would need to be shipped.)
So I'd argue that there isn't lost revenue, since it doesn't make that much sense to buy the PDF on top of the print edition if your limit is financial.
Munin has an interesting point. My situation is different but I agree with his motivation. I love the pathfinder products and have bought every issue as it has appeared on the shelves of my favorite gaming stores. My players (I'm running 2 groups - 1 in RotRL and 1 in CotCT) have gotten into it so much that they have purchased the map folios for me, 2 campaign setting hardbacks, and some accessories - like the crit and fumble decks (very fun).
AND YET, I will NEVER get a subscription as I live in a very rural area and have had too much lost via the mail to risk the trouble. Still there are times I'd love to have access to the pdf without having to rebuy my entire hardcopy - just for a picture or 2 to show my players now and then without letting them glimpse any secret stats. Also, this supports my gaming store a bit and I always thought this was a good thing (as many having trouble staying above water).
I am certainly not without alternatives - like scanning pictures I want to share .. or retyping letters with twists appropriate to my own campaign story lines ...
Good products - keep them coming ;)
Just my 2 cents
-Rose
I agree with Munin. I did subscribe because our group was(is) running the Second Darkness AP and it is nice to get the pdf for maps and such. But we are moving to Red Hand of Doom for are next module so I dumped the sub. Why? Because I don't know what happens after Red Hand and I didn't want to pay to have a product I wouldn't use. So I see a module that looks interesting and might be good for a one shot there is no reason for me to buy it on Paizo.com as I can get it cheaper at my FLGS/Amazon and I will have it faster.
So why I understand that Paizo can't sell the hard copy for less then the MSRP they offer no incentive to buy a module or two from them directly...except of course their outstanding customer service which is nothing to shake a stick at (or a rod of wonder).
So in closing, maybe Paizo doesn't care if non-subscribers get their goods at other retailers. And for me, that is ok. Subs are a great deal, and I am certain that I will be back soon.
Director of Brand Strategy
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So in closing, maybe Paizo doesn't care if non-subscribers get their goods at other retailers. And for me, that is ok. Subs are a great deal, and I am certain that I will be back soon.
I think Paizo wants people to support local retailers and Amazon and what have you. If their distributor gets more orders from retailers for Paizo product, they will, in turn, order more from Paizo in the future. While Paizo makes 100% of the profit from something sold through their own store, they still make money from sales through other levels of the distribution chain, and the total volume of sales is what grows the business, not just what they can sell themselves.
It doesn't matter why non-subscribers exist, only that they do. The only question, I repeat, the only question Paizo needs to ask is this: Do we want to make $19.99 per issue off these folks or do we want to make more?
Can anyone tell me why the answer to that question should be something other than yes?
It could just be that this is not a automatic "make more money" idea. That there are costs associated with it that make it less (or not) viable as it would be be just as likely to lose Paizo money. I believe the costs could include a drop in subscriptions, reduced sales from Amazon and brick and mortar stores, and whatever is needed to be spent to maintain this system.
Do the costs outweigh the profits? I don't know. But I don't think it is as simple as, "do you want to make more money?"
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Director of Brand Strategy
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I think it's just that simple, actually.
As it stands, unless I want to subscribe, I have no reason to ever purchase a print copy of a product from Paizo's store. Why should I? I can just go to Amazon and get it cheaper, and with free shipping.
But Paizo does make money if you buy it at Amazon. They make money because Amazon has to get the book from Diamond. Diamond has to get the book from Paizo. If a significant number of people buy Pathfinder or Planet Stories from Amazon or Barnes & Noble or Mom & Pop's One Stop RPG Shop, Diamond notices the demand increase and orders more of the next book from Paizo. Or reorders the one that's selling so well. So when Paizo ships out those books to Diamond, how are they not getting money from that? It seems that your line of reasoning assumes that Paizo only gets your money if you buy the book from them.
I edited the post the OP made at 3:04 P.M. on 3/1/09. Please do not use our messageboards to point people toward online locations where they can illegally acquire copies of our product. Bad form. Carry on.
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Director of Sales
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To address your point, Munin, I really have to reiterate what the other posters have said.
We value all of our customers. I have to say that first and foremost. We love our subscribers and our single-volume purchasers on the site and people who get Paizo stuff from Amazon and people who get it from their FLGS. We love making this stuff, and we want to continue doing so forever. Therefore, we have to make decisions which enable us to continue. This means supporting our main lifelines and our main lifelines are our retail sales and our subscriptions. Our subscription numbers inform the size of our print runs, so that we can get enough books to serve our subscribers, retail, and our warehouse.
One of the main ways we incentivize subscriptions is through the free PDF. To offer a free or discounted PDFs to non-subscribers will de-incentivize subscriptions and ultimately hurt our business as a whole. We initially explored ways of providing the PDFs at the retail level, but ultimately (as explained by the posters above) found it to be unworkable.
I'm not saying that we will never do this, but at this point and for the foreseeable future, retaining free PDFs as an incentive to subscribe to a Pathfinder line is our best bet in the long run.
Thanks,
cos
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I think it's just that simple, actually.
As it stands, unless I want to subscribe, I have no reason to ever purchase a print copy of a product from Paizo's store. Why should I? I can just go to Amazon and get it cheaper, and with free shipping.
Do you really think this has anything to do with supporting your local FLGS or throwing a bone to Amazon?
Here's a thought:
Why not add an if/then routine to the Paizo online store? If the customer is not a subscriber, then direct them to an additional page which says something like, I dunno,"Hey! We noticed you're about to purchase the print edition of blah blah. Why not take advantage of this One Time Offer! Click here now and pick up the pdf copy at 50% off?
Oh! and by the way, if you subscribe, you get the pdf for FREE!."
Oh boy! A bargain! Who can resist a bargain? Ain't Paizo grand?
It doesn't take a sale from anyone, because the customer is on your store site anyway. Is this hard? Will this not generate extra revenue?
Ah nuts, just forget about it. I've got some Scrub's episodes to catch up on.
Hope the comedic genius of Zach Braff helps to cool you down a bit, Munin. Tensions always run high before Scrubs.
Cosmo sure tells it like it is, though. I doubt I would unquestioningly subscribe to the entire Pathfinder line like I do now if every customer could get a similarly cheap PDF with each single book purchase. Offering the free PDF to subscribers is one of the things that keeps me as a subscriber, even though I might hate drow or not want to play desert campaigns, or ever even directly use the Pathfinder adventure paths as anything other than great inspiration for my own adventures.
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Perhaps a simpler solution would be for paizo to simply offer more coupon codes to the web store.
The infostructure might not be there yet.. but what about instead of a booster pack of item cards, paizo gives the customer a 1 use non-expiring (or at least multimonth long) coupon. Kinda like the christmas card paizo sent out 2 years (?) ago. The coupon codes don't even have to be unique.. could be 1 use, per address/account. Obviously the coupon code would have to change regularly for new coupon periods, but that's no big deal.
This way if customers that are not subscribers have an incentive to come back... and if they are a subscriber.. well, incentive to buy something extra.
Personally I like the booster pack, but it'd change things up.
I miss my subscription because of the free pdf. I agree with russlilly.
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I am always amazed at people who do not subscribe because they do not want a particular adventure path or a module or something else.
As someone who did not pick up a lot of what I would have liked in years past (at usually a much greater cost for OOP stuff) I subscribe to everthing. I do not want to find out there was an article or something else that I really want that is in a past issue that is OOP.
Remember that the first adventure path is already going out of print and the others will follow. A few months ago The Skinsaw Murders was going to $50.00 a copy until it was reprinted and I believe that Paizo does not plan to reprint anymore.
I may not want to play a desert AP but it may be that the desert AP will have some great ideas or monsters or an article on genies that I really want.
I know the APs are designed to give us something to play but I see the whole book more like a combination of Dungeon and Dragon Magazines. I would not stop my subscription to one of those just because I find that I do not want an issue on the drow - there are other things of interest.
I saw subscribe and overall you will be pleased...