I find that when I browse the upcoming products I run across books I think will be useful, handy or that I'm excited about, then two or three months down the line when they are released and I can purchase the PDF, I've forgotten all about them. A prime example would be the upcoming book on Belkzen - very interested in it right now, really doubt I'll remember the release date when I'm running around trying desperately to get on top of the Christmas rush.
The obvious answer would be to subscribe or pre-order the books. Unfortunately while I love many of the Paizo series, the shipping costs to Norway make buying the paper products too expensive for me to justify unless they are exceptionally attractive products that I know I will reference frequently (such as the core rulebooks), since shipping will generally add at least 30%% of the cover price.
The Inner Sea Gods is priced at $39.99, with shipping it comes to $60.30.
The Blood of the Elements Player Companion is priced at $12.99, with shipping it comes to $17.51.
Now I'm not complaining about the shipping costs - When you consider shipping for many other products I think Paizo have done a very good job keeping the costs as low as they are.
That said, is there any chance Paizo could consider adding a pre-order function for PDFs or even better, offer PDF-only subscriptions for the customers who find the current subscription/pre-order options inconvenient or too expensive?
See THIS post from Vic about why no PDF Subscription.
What I do, is put the book into my cart, then go to the cart and "save it for later". That way I can see what has interested me and when the item comes out it is a tickler to then order the PDF and remove the book. It also makes me rethink if I really want it or was it just an impulse.
-- david
From what I can tell, the main reasons why he seems opposed to PDF subscriptions in that post is that the OP asks that PDF-subscriptions would have the same "early release" date as the current subscriptions:
The *real* difference is that, presumably, PDF-only subscribers would get their PDF without having to wait for the regular onsale date.
And based on that, a concern that the PDF subscriptions would eat into their current subscription models and increase the production price of books.
That's not what I'm asking for - I don't mind if the subscription PDFs would become available on the same date as the purchase option comes online in the website - the early PDF release can stay as a "premium" feature for the subscribers who pay extra for the paper copy.
What I'm asking for is that I have the option to pre-order a PDF when I run across it, as I can if I want to buy the book in paper form. Similarly, if I find a Paizo product series sufficiently interesting I'd like to be able to sign a subscription for the PDF books when they're normally released rather than having to check newsletters (which I generally dread) or the website for updates.
I'm not looking for a product that'll "out-compete" the traditional subscriptions, just more alternatives for those of us who find the current purchase options limiting.
That said, I wasn't aware of the "Save for Later" option. I'll definitely be trying that out in the future :)
I don't need it to change anytime soon, just wanted to let you know that at least for me there's very much an interest in such a function. Thanks for taking the time to reply :)