Sorry, I don't have an ideal solution for you,the shipping costs are certainly a challenge.
I think the most economical solution is to purchase the PDF from Paizo for $9.99 USD and either print the material at home or at a local print shop (if that's an option for you).
Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds
|
Speculation:
My distributor told me they are doing a new printing that is due out in late November or early December. So, what is available is the leftovers from the last run, which were probably offered at a pretty good discount to distributors (I know I got refilled about 4 weeks ago, and it is not available now). Due to that discount, I'd expect seeing them over-seas would be unlikely. Once the sell-through is complete you will see the new BB start hitting the shelves.
Essentially, Paizo doesn't want to be sitting on dead product when "The New Hottness" becomes available (apparently there are some key changes in the new printing that are pretty big).
|
Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds
|
Further speculation based on what Vic said:
Distributors want to sell through old product, as well. They may be sitting on the new stuff until they are out of the older one.
Stores are the same way. I know I won't reorder until the final two copies I have of the old print run are sold. If your store is savvy and knows there's a new version, and that store's distributor still has older ones available, they may be playing chicken with each other.
|
Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds
|
That doesn't seem correct Drogon, I can't get my hands on any copy new or old.
Well, sure, because nobody wants to "flinch." (-;
I have no reason to distrust what Vic is saying, and he has stated that they've been shipping for a while. However, neither ACD nor Alliance (the two biggest game distributors in the US) have copies of the BB to ship me. ACD shows none in stock, at all, and Alliance only just opened up availability this week, but has not released my preorders (they always call me when they do). One of Alliance's four warehouses still shows it out of stock.
So, I simply recommend patience. I'll bet you have all the access you'll want to The New Hotness by the end of the month.
Chief Technical Officer
|
That doesn't seem correct Drogon, I can't get my hands on any copy new or old.Well, sure, because nobody wants to "flinch." (-;
I have no reason to distrust what Vic is saying, and he has stated that they've been shipping for a while. However, neither ACD nor Alliance (the two biggest game distributors in the US) have copies of the BB to ship me. ACD shows none in stock, at all, and Alliance only just opened up availability this week, but has not released my preorders (they always call me when they do). One of Alliance's four warehouses still shows it out of stock.
So, I simply recommend patience. I'll bet you have all the access you'll want to The New Hotness by the end of the month.
Based on that, I'd say that our distributor shipments went out later than I thought; if they're only just now hitting Alliance, then they will likely take a few weeks to show up in Europe.
|
Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds
|
Wow, so this thread seems to show that no one at Paizo knows how much stock there is, where it is, or if any has even shipped. That's pretty worrying, and frustrating.
I think that's jumping to an unnecessary conclusion.
Paizo is a publisher with a lot of product. The man answering your questions is coming in here on his own accord, and is NOT in the shipping department. He may have signed off on the order to begin shipping, but the entire world is not going to have everything shipped out in the matter of a single days' work. They are shipping tens of thousands of items (from all product lines) across the entire world every day.
And, once it leaves their hands, they move on to other tasks and let the trucking companies and distributors do their own thing.
Have a little patience.
If getting this is still an issue, I hope Paizo can get it resolved before the holiday season kicks into high gear.
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
Wow, so this thread seems to show that no one at Paizo knows how much stock there is, where it is, or if any has even shipped. That's pretty worrying, and frustrating.
I think that's jumping to an unnecessary conclusion.
Paizo is a publisher with a lot of product. The man answering your questions is coming in here on his own accord, and is NOT in the shipping department. He may have signed off on the order to begin shipping, but the entire world is not going to have everything shipped out in the matter of a single days' work. They are shipping tens of thousands of items (from all product lines) across the entire world every day.
Right. What I know is that the warehouse was cleared to ship the reprint, and recent orders for the Beginner Box are being fulfilled with the reprint. *When* those orders ship isn't something I have insight into, which is why I summoned Cosmo.
And, once it leaves their hands, they move on to other tasks and let the trucking companies and distributors do their own thing.
Right. In particular, we have zero visibility into international distribution timelines. Most of the overseas distributors use consolidators within the US—that is, a US location that takes all the stuff they order from a bunch of manufacturers and bundles it together into a single shipment. This saves them money, but introduces a big time variable, as stuff may wait around at the consolidator until they have enough to ship overseas. And once it gets there, it also has to clear customs, which sometimes happens quickly, and sometimes slowly. And it's totally opaque to us—all we can discern is whether or not it arrived at the consolidator. So the best we can offer in most cases is "We shipped a bunch out, and it should be showing up... sometime." Cosmo can check with the distributors directly and (hopefully) learn more, but it's not like we can just track a shipment or look at their inventory.
Customer Service Dire Care Bear Manager
|
Ordering as a customer directly from paizo.com will be the latest printing. As a store going through distribution you might want to contact our sales team at distributororders@paizo.com. They might be able to assist in figuring out why their delay is so long.
thanks
sara marie
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
Ok, so here's what I've learned about the BB reprint and Europe... This product is the first time we've allowed our European distributors to have their product shipped directly from the printer in China and, because it was the first time, getting all the details nailed down took some additional time and effort. Also, the think I said about consolidators still holds true, only the consolidators are in Hong Kong instead of the US.
At any rate, it appears that some European distributors aren't expecting their shipments until December.
Can Australian distributors expect any changes to future arrangements?
Given the geography, you'd have to think it would cut down on the retail price of Paizo products here.
I don't know the answer about Australia, but it seems like that's one of the most sensible places to ship from China...
Seems like that to me too. :)
(And your products here retail for silly amounts - no doubt the round trip across the Pacific has a lot to do with that).
..but I also suspect that it won't change costs at all. If they could get you to spend $20 AUD before, there's little reason to start asking for $18.
I've seen the CRB retail for $80.
.I suspect there'd be pressure on the distributors from the retailers - part of their problem is that not only is a paizo subscription more convenient, it's way cheaper.
I was just throwing $20 as an example, and not thinking of the BB specifically. I'd be pretty stunned if you could find the BB for that, as MSRP is $34.99 USD. I'd expect you to generally see it for $45-50 AUD?
Yeah, the beginner box is $50. I was just giving my own example - the CRB. I know that buying one copy of the CRB from you, with international priority shipping is about the same as buying it from my FLGS (where it retails for $80 - I figure a significant factor in that is the freight cost from China to Seattle to Sydney). If I include a few 64 page sourcebooks, the shipping from you doesnt change and the overall price is significantly less than buying locally (I think APs and sourcebooks are around $35 here - although I've never paid much attention.
.It may just be a case of the shopowner blaming the distributor who isn't present, of course. But he swears he can't sell the CRB for less than $80 given what the distributor charges him.
Granted none of this makes much difference to me as a subscriber (except when it comes to picking up multiple copies) but it is kind of frustrating to see the prices here and think about all the unnecessary shipping around the world.
By the way (to be a bit more on topic) is it true the second printing of the Beginner Box includes a hardcopy of the transitions document? (Or something similar, anyhow).
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
Yes, the new Transitions book is a revision of material previously presented in the Transitions PDF. (We've updated the free Transitions PDF to match the new book; you can get it here.)
|
|
I'm not sure what is the amount of sales in the South-east Asia region, but if the books are printed in China, it sure would be great if the books are able to ship direct to Singapore. Given that we are practically down the road from China.
One reason I only buy the PDFs is the prohibitive cost of shipping. Even when I buy through a local distributor/store in Singapore, the difference on the shipping cost between is only about 20% lesser then shipping from Paizo. This is most apparent on large or heavy items. :(
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
Note that the term "distributor" in our industry is distinct from "retailer." Publishers sell to distributors, distributors sell to retailers. We do not currently sell directly to retailers.
At the moment, our only distributor in Asia is Hobby Japan.
If your retailer has a distributor that we don't sell to, please encourage your retailer to encourage their distributor to contact us!
For UK-based gamers, my suggestion would be to contact Games Lore (free phone number on their website, use a land line, not a mobile) and ask. Their website shows them to be out of the BB right now (same with Leisure Games, my other go-to retailer), but the chap who runs Games Lore provides brilliant service, and will probably be more than happy to dig out some details for you.
Hi Vic, and who's your distributor in Mexico? because so far I was only able to locate the beginner box and the core Rulebook, but missed the prepainted minis.
Happy rolls
We list all of our distributors here, but I don't see one specifically for Mexico. You should have your friendly local game store contact our sales team regarding distribution by emailing distributor.orders@paizo.com. :)
Amazon UK just updated my preorder of the new edition Beginner's Box from a late UK December release to late March, due to the release date being changed by their supplier. That doesn't bode well for them showing up in Europe any time soon I guess :(
The version I've ordered has a flash on the corner of the box stating something about a new book inside - would that be the aforementioned Transitions book?
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
Amazon UK just updated my preorder of the new edition Beginner's Box from a late UK December release to late March, due to the release date being changed by their supplier. That doesn't bode well for them showing up in Europe any time soon I guess :(
Amazon is notorious about having terrible release dates for our products, and for those from some of the other publishers in our industry. At times, their site has even said that a product wouldn't be released for several months *while their customers were actively receiving copies of that product from them*.
The version I've ordered has a flash on the corner of the box stating something about a new book inside - would that be the aforementioned Transitions book?
Yep!
Went looking for one 3 days ago at a LGS in Toronto for a Christmas gift. They had just got themselves a fresh case of the new printing.
Indigo, the big Canadian online book retailer still has them on pre-order with no actual release date. Amazon.ca just a bunch of insanely marked up boxes.
So you may want to give your LGS another look. They may have it now.
...
Amazon.ca just a bunch of insanely marked up boxes.
...
In the U.S. we have the gouging BB's listed also, but if you scroll down on the search page there is an "alt" listing w/ a much better price projected for Dec. 11.
In the U.S. we have the gouging BB's listed also, but if you scroll down on the search page there is an "alt" listing w/ a much better price projected for Dec. 11.
...
Amazon.ca just a bunch of insanely marked up boxes.
...
Looks like they came two days early. Showing BB in stock today, the 9th.
...and now it looks like only "1 left in stock"? WTH?
Amazon UK just made another "release date" change, back to late January rather than March. I can live with that as an estimate, especially as their prices are starting to rise back up now so I'll be happily clinging to my preorder price guarantee :)
We have been shipping out the latest edition of the Beginner Box to distribution for a while now. If you're looking for it at your local gaming store, tell them to contact their distributor for an order. :)
TBH in Europe it's almost impossible to get any PF stuff unless you go scouring half the country. For example getting the bestiary 1 Pawn box is impossible unless you're willing to spend 100's of pounds.
Ordering from Paizo directly would be an option except Paizo seems to have found the most expensive courier service available and lists this as the only option.
I will poke our sales staff to make sure they tell our European distributors to stock up!
Unfortunately, because the Beginner Box is over four pounds (and since shipping price is based on weight), we really only have one option to ship it, and doubly unfortunate that it's the slowest.
Hi Katataban,
Most of our European distributors ordered the new version of the Beginner Box. They were shipped from the printer in Hong Kong, and this might have delayed their receiving it.
If you can get the name of the distributor your store uses, I will see where they stand. What country are you in?