First, let me clarify that this is highly unlikely in any way shape or form the fault of Paizo. That being said...
What the actual hell?!
I run multiple games at different times of Pathfinder 2e (since 1e) and D&D 5e. I swapped from Pathfinder 1e to D&D 5e when it was really easy for new players to learn and such, then started swapping back when they started making....less then stellar business decisions about their products and player base (we come for fantasy adventure, not corporate greed and threats). Except I haven't been able to do for my purely physical games. For these games we use the actual books and pen and paper, no digital tools. This way to make it work would normally to just buy physical copies of the books I need. However, that has proven to be a right pain.
As no place near me for hours carries Pathfinder products (don't know why) I have the option of going through my local book store or online shopping through Amazon or Paizo directly. The local book stores seem to be out of the loop or something and are charging significantly more for books (double the price of even older versions such as old 2e vs Remastered) and will not order some of the books at all. That leaves Amazon and Paizo, but because UPS and such are complete crap everything arrives at the door with extra fees that are "required" that increase the cost again and arrives in lesser then good condition and refuse to take any accountability. The only way around that is to order through Amazon, particularly orders that say "fulfilled by Amazon" as they arrive quickly from Amazon themselves with no hidden fees. Making them at least $12 or more dollars cheaper then the other options.
....but they only offer the latest couple products. If I want a physical copy of Guns and Gears for example I am paying more for a used copy (cannot even find a new copy on there anymore) that is more expensive then even D&D's latest releases. So finding the current Remastered stuff is a breeze and cheap and everything else costs an arm and a leg for the physical books. On the flip side the D&D 5e books are super easy to find and cheaper to get through online store fronts, even beating out the cost of the Pocket Editions in some cases.
I would normally suck it up and just tell them we will use Pathfinder Nexus, but as it's not available on mobile devices it's difficult to get people to use it (yes, I know can be accessed through mobile browser, but it doesn't work great like that and takes extra steps). No one wants a bunch of computers scattered around a table to play a table top game (phones are a lot more acceptable). It's really killing the physical Pathfinder scene around here, like strangling it dead. Unless Amazon starts fulfilling more of the books or a Canadian Paizo Online Store or something or something opens up I'm hitting the point where I think I might just be out of luck.
Does anyone know anything I'm missing or not thinking of? I would very much like to stick with Pathfinder 2e, those of mine that have been playing it are having a blast and loving it and I'd rather not go back to game that heading in potentially worrying direction. But I also can't alienate a chunk of my players that either can't or don't enjoy using a large computer to play a tabletop game.
Open to suggestions. Am currently considering looking into third party apps that provide all the information, but would much rather support the game developers and have no idea which ones are good and have what we would want/need (book/information reading, possible character tools, search function and/or information filters for quickly finding things).
The following suggestions/ideas have already been considered and wouldn't work out:
Ordering different books from the different sources and sucking up the cost difference
Going fully digital as no other option and losing chunk of players
Dropping Pathfinder 2e altogether and sticking with the more readily available "that other option"
Printing off books/PDFs (expensive to do in paper and ink cost alone) or sharing them digitally, but phone readers outside dedicated apps suck
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I can't speak for your specific region. But I live in Montreal, and I have no problem at all finding them if I look. The "best" store I have found for diversity do have all books at a srious premium (DnD too), so I'm better off going with Paizo's sub, even with the shipping. I do have found a place that had better price, but they couldn't afford lot of diversity, and was focusing more on Magic cards than anything else. u_u
Have you looked at Chapters-Indigo? They seem to have a decent selection and they offer free shipping on orders over $35 for most things.
Have you looked at Chapters-Indigo? They seem to have a decent selection and they offer free shipping on orders over $35 for most things.
I hadn't looked at them specifically, but after doing so it's the same issue as I found with other online retailers. Most of the older stuff (stuff before Remaster release) are more expensive then I can find elsewhere. It's looking more and more like I'll need to go from one to the other to get an okay price, whichever is cheaper and be on the lookout for shipping costs and if from out of country.
Have you tried ordering from out of province stores? Not sure what the shipping costs would be, but you wouldn't get hit with import taxs/duties.
I will say I have found that for a lot of books the local games stores where I am (Toronto) they don't seem to order many follow up copies after the initial release, which is a little frustrating.
I have, I just noticed my previous post makes it seem like I haven't. Paizo and Amazon were just the ones that I found had the better prices by a fair bit. Found individual companies tend to have wonky prices. One wanted over $100 for one of the Pathfinder setting books (I forget which one). It's part of why I gravitated to Paizo and Amazon, before encountering issues.
To clarify, getting things on Pathfinder Nexus beats most prices of physical stuff I can get. Might just be the point that I have to suck it up.
A bit more location information. I live rural and smaller companies and such seem to charge more for anything sent out here. UPS in particular likes to slap us with "charges" of easily above $20 for things we already ordered when fees are supposed to have already been paid and covered by other things we have purchased before. It's a crap shoot. The main store here for TTRPG and wargaming here only usually sold D&D and Warhammer stuff and downsized their D&D to a small selection and completely killed off their Warhammer selection.
Nerdy stuff of all kinds are becoming increasingly hard to find and prices are getting obviously inflated, even at our "hobby stores".
So... pathfinder nexus may be problematic to access on the phone... what about Archives of Nethys? It's not much of the lore, but the rules text should all be there, and they should be pretty phone-compatible.
Have you looked at Chapters-Indigo? They seem to have a decent selection and they offer free shipping on orders over $35 for most things.I hadn't looked at them specifically, but after doing so it's the same issue as I found with other online retailers. Most of the older stuff (stuff before Remaster release) are more expensive then I can find elsewhere. It's looking more and more like I'll need to go from one to the other to get an okay price, whichever is cheaper and be on the lookout for shipping costs and if from out of country.
Out of curiosity, what books are you seeing this price discrepancy? I've been looking it over... They have the entire line of Pocket Edition rulebooks for $34-$39 CDN... Which, considering they sell directly from Paizo for $25 US is pretty reasonable. Especially with the free shipping.
Also, have you considered buying PDFs from Paizo? I have all my books that way. Definitely cheaper, and Adobe Acrobat works just fine on my little tablet.