Perhaps this has been brought up, maybe not. I have pre-ordered the PFRPG Book x2 and the Beastiary. I am expecting to pay $49.99 and $39.99 respectively. Come to find out, I can get them for $31.25 and 26.25? I actually ordered two players handbooks. There is a huge difference in price there. So, can I cancel these orders and re-order at Amazon at the lower price? Or can I get the same price your distributor is selling them for?
Jacking up prices?
Er, no. Amazon gets away with their pricing scheme because they make it up on volume. If we ever get Amazon-sized, I'm sure we could discount and make it up on volume, too. Also, and more importantly, Amazon doesn't also sell a product into distribution that's purchased by retailers. If we discounted our books on our website like Amazon does and didn't then extend that discount to our distribution and retail partners (in effect, lowering the prices of all of our products) we'd create a lot of bad blood with a channel we need, respect, and want to see succeed.
Chief Technical Officer
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Amazon is able to provide that discount because they make it up elsewhere. Because Paizo is jacking up prices elsewhere, they have to charge a higher price than Amazon to achieve the same profit margin.
I'm not sure what you mean by "jacking up prices" here.
The real reason is this: Retailers like Amazon set their own prices for the stuff they sell; we have zero control over that. They can even sell something for less than it costs them if they want to. But as the publisher, we need to price our products at cover price in our own store, or else retailers will argue that we're undercutting them, and they will stop supporting us.
In short, we can't compete on price on our own products, except with the occasional sale, or with things like subscriber perks. Instead, we provide a high level of service, and, in the case of preorders, much more timely shipping.
But yes, you can cancel your order here. Customer Service will be along to take care of that for you shortly.
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Amazon is able to provide that discount because they make it up elsewhere. Because Paizo is jacking up prices elsewhere, they have to charge a higher price than Amazon to achieve the same profit margin.I'm not sure what you mean by "jacking up prices" here.
Yeah, like I said in reply to Wes, I meant isn't jacking up prices. My keyboard's going out and doesn't always register every keystroke. But I'm saving up my money to buy Pathfinder and the Bestiary when it comes out, so I can't get a new one right now.
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Chief Technical Officer
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I know that Paizo also held the release of Beta to Amazon...
Yes and no. The deal there is that bookstores (and Amazon counts as one) buy from book distributors, not game distributors, and sales through book distributors are always returnable. And returns incur restocking fees. Since the Beta was design as a break-even product, we'd actually lose money if we had any copies returned, so our intent was not to offer it to the book trade at all. However, it turns out that they didn't get that message, and some places, like Amazon, had already taken preorders. Rather than leave them out in the cold, we shipped them enough to cover their preorders, but didn't offer it as an open stock item on an ongoing basis.
This is actually tearing me apart here.
I really want to support you guys and buy the books from your website, but since my wife and I bought a house in August we really have to watch our expenses (still a lot of repairs to pay for, such as holes in roofs, shabby electricity lines, moist walls, and what-not).
So seeing those prices on Amazon is REALLY tempting, but I would feel like a dirty traitor to the one and only company that I respect for its business practices: Paizo.
Is there really no way to have it shipped to Europe with standard postal services that might take a little longer, but don't cost more than the actual product itself?
Please help me support you!
Good option would be buying from FLGS (if possible).
This is actually tearing me apart here.
I really want to support you guys and buy the books from your website, but since my wife and I bought a house in August we really have to watch our expenses (still a lot of repairs to pay for, such as holes in roofs, shabby electricity lines, moist walls, and what-not).
So seeing those prices on Amazon is REALLY tempting, but I would feel like a dirty traitor to the one and only company that I respect for its business practices: Paizo.
Is there really no way to have it shipped to Europe with standard postal services that might take a little longer, but don't cost more than the actual product itself?
Please help me support you!
Hey Sektor,
To put it plainly: yes, Paizo gets more money if you buy it directly from us than if you buy it anywhere else. That's pretty straightforward.
We know that international shipping is terribly expensive. The prices we offer on the website are the cheapest prices that we have available. In fact, the prices on some shipping methods are *lower* than what we pay for them. We do this so that you have the best options for having the books shipped to you.
With that said: if you can save yourself a significant amount of money buying from Amazon or your FLGS, do so. We support those chains for a reason. Not everyone can/will/wants to buy directly from us, and we send books into the distribution chain so that those people can buy them as well.
You don't have to buy directly from us. Yes, we get more money if you buy from us direct. But you're still supporting us if you buy from Amazon or the store down the street.
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Chief Technical Officer
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Is there really no way to have it shipped to Europe with standard postal services that might take a little longer, but don't cost more than the actual product itself?
I can address the specifics of shipping methods: A few years ago, the USPS removed surface mail as an option, and weight limits on the remaining services have been set so that parcels weighing more than 4 pounds have to ship via International Priority as a minimum.
We've made our system smart enough to break up large orders into multiple boxes anytime that will save on postage, but since the Core Rulebook by itself weighs 4.2 pounds, there really is no lower-cost option shipping option available to us for Core Rulebooks.
(We have looked at non-USPS services as well, and have not yet found anything even *close* to Priority Mail in price.)
If you want to save some money, become a subscriber. Not only do you get a discount on the dead tree version of the book, but you also get a free PDF version. I have my books in a bookshelf in my house and PDF copies on both my laptop and my desktop.
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I totally recommend the subscriber options. I can't support Amazon as they continue to crush the small book stores. I would sooner pay Paizo a few bucks more than have Amazon take my money. I also purchase all of my maps, cards, mini's, and other cool game aids from the local game shop.
We must support our local shops and Paizo if we want to enjoy the hobby for years to come. Not to mention that the PDF's you get from Paizo are pretty cool too.
If you want to save some money, become a subscriber.
If only I could afford it... I have a subscription on the PF Adventure Path and Companion product lines already, because I know how much I'll pay each month. Having a subscription for the PFRPG is much less predictable, more expensive and thus more dangerous for my bank account.
Did I mention the house already? ;)
We must support our local shops and Paizo if we want to enjoy the hobby for years to come.
I totally agree on supporting Paizo for their hard work. It's something I'm definitely willing to pay extra for (which I've already done several times).
I don't think I will be helping Paizo, however, for paying an absurd amount of shipping costs. Supporting Paizo is one thing, but supporting the different postal services and customs is something else.
The customer service issue in this thread has long since been resolved. Other questions really need to go in their own thread. Locked.