I decided to order a hardcover already instead of waiting for the RPG Subscription. Strangely, the book was $42 and the postage $41. I know I'm in Europe but is this really the case?
I mean, yikes!
(Still be buyin it of course, just not so cheerfully)
Yeah, I got similar shipping. It is a 5 lbs. book, and the shipping increases in cost almost exponentially with weight.
Hopefull the subscription lowers the price to soften the blow!
Amazon may really be the path to go in this case. It is offered for preorder there for about 36 Euro without any shipping fee - I guess this price is unbeatable.
Stefan
Amazon may really be the path to go in this case. It is offered for preorder there for about 36 Euro without any shipping fee - I guess this price is unbeatable.
Stefan
Yeah. If you just want the book, thir price can hardly be beat. But there's the free PDF to consider you get when you subscribe (unless they don't do that, at which case I'll probably order from amazon if at all).
|
Oh, the book will be cheap on Amazon, but enjoy waiting 1-5 months to get it. Amazon is totally unreliable when it comes to pre-ordering books.
Your not getting a deal, your investing in a future that might eventually role over into a source book weeks and months after the stores get it.
Come on folks, support your Friendly Local Game Store! Role-playing in general is hurting in terms of how games are making profits cause people are getting a little too stingy.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
|
Come on folks, support your Friendly Local Game Store! Role-playing in general is hurting in terms of how games are making profits cause people are getting a little too stingy.Sorry, but there's a difference between "a little stingy" and paying $90 for a $45 book. And I believe I also mentioned that there was no question of whether I'd be getting the book.
Still be buyin' it of course, just not so cheerfully
I was just confirming that the shipping price was accurate. The week before there was a thread about postage being miscalculated.
My FLGS is a Warhammer store with a space under a cupboard for some D&D stuff. I ordered the 4e boxed set from them - it was to be €75. When I came to pick it up they wanted €135 - I had to haggle to get it for €90, even though I had a fair price already agreed. I believe I already mentioned that too.
Living in the middle of the Netherlands there are not many game stores around. Hence my Pathfinder subscriptions. Hence my regular monthly bills which will multiply massively if I take the RPG subscription - and I do want the pdfs. So - pay $90 for a pdf and a book from Paizo, or $75 from my FLGS and another $30 or $40 for a pdf. THAT'S the dilemma I have, I'm not being stingy.
I´m considering ordering it via a German mailorder shop, www.dragonword.de. They have fair prices for the most part, and I´ve heard from others that they are reliable. I don´t know about shipping to the Netherlands, however - I guess it would be worth a question. According to their website, international orders will include postage and bank fees, but I´d guess that it might still be a lot cheaper than ordering from the US or via a store cheating you with the prices.
Stefan
Chief Technical Officer
|
Not really Gorbacz.
So long as you buy the book Paizo wins.
Buying directly from us is great—and subscribing is even better—but we need sales from game stores and book sellers too!
I'll also tell you that, while we normally price PDFs at 30% off the print edition price, the Core Rulebook PDF will be priced at a significantly higher discount than that. (We haven't determined the exact price yet, but it will be relatively low.)
I´m considering ordering it via a German mailorder shop, www.dragonword.de.
I used to order copious amounts of stuff from dragonworld, until they thought it would be a great idea to get b!#@!y with me.
Come on folks, support your Friendly Local Game Store!
Did you ever consider that not everyone has one?
There's a difference between being cheap and overpaying for a book you have to wait longer to get, all the while wasting time driving to the store just to have some clueless clerk on the other side of the counter?
I'd rather pay a lot less, get the stuff delivered to my home, long before the "F""L"GS could get the stuff for me. In the case of Paizo subscriptions, I'll also get a free PDF.
It's not that I'm poverty-stricken, but I know a lot of better ways to get rid of excess funds.
I´m considering ordering it via a German mailorder shop, www.dragonword.de.I used to order copious amounts of stuff from dragonworld, until they thought it would be a great idea to get b~&#!y with me.
What happened?
I probably will be ordering the book from Amazon too. EUR36 is a really nice price, compared to the USD90 from Paizo directly.
It is so good that I even can buy the pdf from Paizo while paying less.
|
|
Did you ever consider that not everyone has one?
There's a difference between being cheap and overpaying for a book you have to wait longer to get, all the while wasting time driving to the store just to have some clueless clerk on the other side of the counter?
Yes, you are correct. If you don't have a FLGS you should not try supporting it.
I am talking about a Friendly Local Game Store. Not game stores that are run by jerks you don't like, staffed by clueless idiots. Not game stores in other countries. Not even just game stores in general, I'm talking about an actual FLGS. If you don't have one, then you have my sympathies and your fine. I don't even know why you'd assume I was even talking about you.
If the shop near you is not friendly, your fine in my book to show your distaint with your purchases elsewhere. That's part of capitalism. If it's too far away, then it's simply too far away and can't be helped.
If, however, you do have a shop that you frequent regularly that is a friendly place to gather and play games then personally I think you have an obligation in this hobby to actually make purchases from their store even if you have to pay a little more. Thus I say “Support your FLGS.”
Vic, Cosmo, Alison: Could you have a look into that topic? If these shipping fees stay that high, I will cancel my preorder and pester my FLGS to order at least one of those books (maybe I even come around to do a demo game in the store if I find the time - I will surely use a PS scenario in that case)
Stefan
|
Owner - D20 Hobbies
|
I decided to order a hardcover already instead of waiting for the RPG Subscription. Strangely, the book was $42 and the postage $41.
I've shipped a lot of books (and items) to Europe and $41 sounds normal for a 5 lb object.
Local stores and companies (Amazon?) that can ship from Europe instead of from the US will have significantly less shipping costs.
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
Vic, Cosmo, Alison: Could you have a look into that topic?
Believe me, I've spent a lot of time on this topic.
Since the US Postal Service stopped offering surface mail a couple of years ago, there is simply no inexpensive way to ship anything that weighs over 4 pounds internationally, and the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook weighs about 4.25 pounds *without* the box.
For *most* countries outside of North America, one book by itself will have a S&H fee of $40.88, two copies will be $45.05, three will be $57.65, four will *also* be $57.65, and five will be $94.68.
(The reason the price doesn't go up between 3 and 4 copies is that either would ship in a flat-rate box; the reason for the *huge* jump after that is that 4 is the most that will fit in the large flat-rate box, so it's purely by weight after that.)
Vic, thank you very much for your quick answer. I will cancel my preorder then, as I see the shipping fee in no relation to the book. And I hope that my FLGS will be able to get it.
Thanks again,
Stefan
|
I´m considering ordering it via a German mailorder shop, www.dragonword.de. They have fair prices for the most part, and I´ve heard from others that they are reliable. I don´t know about shipping to the Netherlands, however - I guess it would be worth a question. According to their website, international orders will include postage and bank fees, but I´d guess that it might still be a lot cheaper than ordering from the US or via a store cheating you with the prices.
Stefan
Isn't it Dragonworld?
Isn't it Dragonworld?I´m considering ordering it via a German mailorder shop, www.dragonword.de. They have fair prices for the most part, and I´ve heard from others that they are reliable. I don´t know about shipping to the Netherlands, however - I guess it would be worth a question. According to their website, international orders will include postage and bank fees, but I´d guess that it might still be a lot cheaper than ordering from the US or via a store cheating you with the prices.
Stefan
D´oh! ´course it is. Shtupid me. www.dragonworld.de
Stefan
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
...And I hope that my FLGS will be able to get it.
Please encourage them ahead of time! I suspect that most overseas distributors will order cautiously (because they've got to pay for shipping from the US too), so make sure your retailer has a copy on order specifically for you!
...And I hope that my FLGS will be able to get it.Please encourage them ahead of time! I suspect that most overseas distributors will order cautiously (because they've got to pay for shipping from the US too), so make sure your retailer has a copy on order specifically for you!
I will be there this afternoon anyway, and I will hand them a product description right then and ask them to order one right away.
Stefan
Dear Germano-paizonians, could you recommend me any good online store that a) is likely to have PFRPG b) ships internationally ? Given that no Polish distributor will carry the game, I would love to order from across the Oder to cut on shipping costs and time.
Easy way: www.amazon.co.uk
Or probably: www.nobleknightgames.com
I´d try dragonworld, as I´ve said above. They offer international shipping, at least, but I have no idea how much shipment to Poland costs. Or try asking Ulisses/f-shop, they are the german partners of paizo.
I guess coming over to Germany and buying at a gamestore in, say, Berlin, is no option? In Berlin, there is Beutelsend, they also offer mailorder. Many years back, when I ordered some stuff there, they were fast and reliable. I have no idea if they ship internationally, however.
You will have to deal with german websites in any case, and I have no idea how good their english is (this can be quite mixed in Germany, many folks have an excellent command of english, others practically no idea).
Stefan
|
Dear Germano-paizonians, could you recommend me any good online store that a) is likely to have PFRPG b) ships internationally ? Given that no Polish distributor will carry the game, I would love to order from across the Oder to cut on shipping costs and time.
Go to fantasy en'counter.
www.fanen.de
I order almost all my pathfinder stuff there so I guess they will have the rules corebook, too (sometimes they are a month late, though)
I´m considering ordering it via a German mailorder shop, www.dragonword.de.I used to order copious amounts of stuff from dragonworld, until they thought it would be a great idea to get b~&#!y with me.What happened?
I preordered 3 cases of DDM, and then decided to go with one of those preopened lots where you're guaranteed 1 rare, 3 uncommons and 8 commons of each (i.e. a "perfect double-case") and cancelled. Like, weeks if not months before the release.
They replied that their order was based closely on preorders (as if they didn't have time to adjust the order - and that is assuming that they even notice those 36 boosters and would end up sitting on them) and that I should no longer pre-order stuff from them.
I was stunned. This has close to the end of 3.5e, and I've been ordering D&D from them since before 3.5, and had previously ordered cases for at least one more set. I also got a lot of other stuff there, all in all thousands of euros.
I replied asking for confirmation that I was no longer allowed to preorder stuff (which would possibly mean waiting longer for stuff) and they just stayed silent.
So I thought "silence speaks louder than words" and stopped ordering there. You'd think after getting enough money over the years to buy a car (okay, not a very new one, but still), you'd be cut some slack if you cancelled an order like 2 months before the official release.
Dear Germano-paizonians, could you recommend me any good online store that a) is likely to have PFRPG b) ships internationally ? Given that no Polish distributor will carry the game, I would love to order from across the Oder to cut on shipping costs and time.
What about amazon.de? Shipping costs 6€ or so and shipping takes 7-21 days.
... about dragonworld reacting strangely to a canceled preorder.
This is indeed odd. Sounds like someone overreacted and did not have the guts to apologize. Or they don´t need more business and already have earned enough money :-). "Customer threatens with order", as a German saying goes.
Stefan
...And I hope that my FLGS will be able to get it.Please encourage them ahead of time! I suspect that most overseas distributors will order cautiously (because they've got to pay for shipping from the US too), so make sure your retailer has a copy on order specifically for you!
I asked at my FLGS yesterday, and they told me that going to order other RPG stuff at Ulisses anyway, so they will try and get it there. I will report what happens in August.
Stefan
... about dragonworld reacting strangely to a canceled preorder.This is indeed odd. Sounds like someone overreacted and did not have the guts to apologize. Or they don´t need more business and already have earned enough money :-). "Customer threatens with order", as a German saying goes.
Stefan
A couple of weeks later, when I got another of their newsletters, I replied "take me off the list, you don't want my custom, anyway", they acted all innocent and asked what was wrong. When I repeated my request for confirmation that I was no longer allowed to preorder, I got another long silence in return.
Well, their loss, not mine.
...And I hope that my FLGS will be able to get it.Please encourage them ahead of time! I suspect that most overseas distributors will order cautiously (because they've got to pay for shipping from the US too), so make sure your retailer has a copy on order specifically for you!I asked at my FLGS yesterday, and they told me that going to order other RPG stuff at Ulisses anyway, so they will try and get it there. I will report what happens in August.
Stefan
Hm... Paizo should ask Ulisses to help them with German/European shipments, cut down on those 40+ bucks shipping.
|
I took the bullet today and preorderd from Paizo. You guys will get 100% of my money.
(Actually, I've completely forgot about the Pathfinder Advantage, so the pain isn't as big as it could be :P )
Can anybody confirm that a) I will be able to convert the preorder into a subscription b) the books and PDFs will be out at August 13 ?
... about dragonworld reacting strangely to a canceled preorder.This is indeed odd. Sounds like someone overreacted and did not have the guts to apologize. Or they don´t need more business and already have earned enough money :-). "Customer threatens with order", as a German saying goes.
Stefan
I've never had any troubles with them, and I've also ordered D&D stuff worth thousand of Euros from them during the 35e time. Unfortunately for them, with the end of 35e and the advent of Paizo subscriptions I no longer have any need to order from them. I think my last order was the pre-ordered 4e gift set. It feels a bit weird to me that they lost me as a customer through no fault of their own, but that's the way things go, unfortunately.
|
|
My orders with Dragonworld have also dropped down seriously (down to next to nothing). I think, I have ordered there twice since the advent of 4e, and yes I have also given them lots and lots of money over the years. Subscribing to the books you love + losing faith in a company you supported for nearly a decade will do that to you (that and buying a house).
My orders with Dragonworld have also dropped down seriously (down to next to nothing). I think, I have ordered there twice since the advent of 4e, and yes I have also given them lots and lots of money over the years. Subscribing to the books you love + losing faith in a company you supported for nearly a decade will do that to you (that and buying a house).
Well, that cinched the deal really, but they lost me even before wizard drove me and my money to Paizo.
I think I would still have had stuff to order from them, but they didn't want to.
|
|
I'm beginning to think a spreadsheet is in order to work out what's best to do....At the moment I've got the following considerations in order to work out where is best to buy it.....(Considering I want the book, and the PDF equally...)
1) Cost of getting it from Amazon,
2) cost of PDF as a separate item,
3) Cost of getting it from Paizo, as a subscription, with the associated benefits (at least 15% off, probably more knowing Paizo), but with huge shipping.
4) cost of shipping that month for my normal subscription items (I figure the other items won't be enough to up the shipping on the book...).
Then al the same considerations for the normal $40 books that form the rest of the RPG sub, to decide if I can afford to continue an RPG subscription.....
It would be nice to know if Paizo would make more profit if I bought from Amazon, than if they subsidised my shipping.....
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
Hm... Paizo should ask Ulisses to help them with German/European shipments, cut down on those 40+ bucks shipping.
Sorry—that sort of thing just doesn't work out. We've tried it with three different companies in the past, and there are a whole host of problems.
First and foremost, it's actually hard to be cost effective. Yes, getting the book itself to Germany would be cheaper, because we'd be shipping by freight carrier optimized for volume. But then whoever's doing the drop shipping still has to pay for postage locally, plus pay for a box, plus pay for their employees doing the work, plus make a profit... by the time you get all of that in the picture, you probably haven't saved very much, if at all.
Now let's say your book doesn't arrive. You ordered it from us, so you need to contact us to solve the problem; since we didn't ship it, we have to contact them to find out what might have happened, and they're working in a time zone half a world away, so the conversation literally takes days. And ultimately, we just don't have control over the level of service you get. (And then there's the issue of who's paying for the copy that's getting reshipped? )
Next, there's timeliness. If we sent it directly to you, you'd probably get it about the same time as the drop shipper would get it—maybe even faster, since we're shipping your order Priority, and their order by international freight. And then the drop shipper would still have to take time to turn it around, and then it would take time in the local postal system; the upshot is that the drop shipper could add days or weeks to the process.
Finally, there's privacy. By default, we don't share your data with outside companies that aren't directly involved in the transaction (such as credit card processors). We would thus have to contact people to get explicit permission. Not impossible, but still, not something we especially want to do anyway.
Bottom line: it would be extra work, create more opportunities for customer service problems, take longer, and not save you all that much—if anything.
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
Can anybody confirm that a) I will be able to convert the preorder into a subscription b) the books and PDFs will be out at August 13 ?
A) Yes
B) That's the retail release date, yes. We can't guarantee that all retailers will have copies by that date, but we'll do our best to ensure that their distributors have them early enough. Subscriber copies and preorders will leave our warehouse shortly before that date.|
Chief Technical Officer
|
It would be nice to know if Paizo would make more profit if I bought from Amazon, than if they subsidised my shipping.....
We don't do subsidies on Priority Mail.
We'd make more profit or the direct sale, but we also need book trade sales too. After all, the more they sell, the more they buy. Do what's best for you.
|
|
We'd make more profit or the direct sale, but we also need book trade sales too. After all, the more they sell, the more they buy. Do what's best for you.
Thanks Vic, I honestly wasn't expecting an answer to that, and certainly not so candid a one. Paizo gets another brownie point, I'm going to have to start counting them in Hex.....
I am still waiting for the subscription offer, because I like having all the PDF's- though it may be cheaper to buy the PDF sepeartely- that is sad.
A friend in Australia has said to order both the bestiary and the rules through Amazon costs about $91 but $175 through Paizo (these are Australian dollars)