Saturday, January 9, 2016

Print plus pdf thoughts on pricing



Just wondering what about the opinions of other folks on the pricing of print + pdf bundles when buying off of Drivethru/RPGNow. Should the pdf be discounted by a large margin since you are paying out for the move expensive dead tree version as well? I know that ultimately it comes down to the decision of the publisher and what they want, but what do the consumers think about this?

Some offer zero discount like the HARP corebook from Guild Companion Publications.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/104176/High-Adventure-Role-Playing-Fantasy

While some of the newer small press games toss in the pdf for free as on Alpha Blue.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/168961/Alpha-Blue

Many established very successful companies do give a bit of a discount such as the 'How Do You Do That' for the Mage 20th Anniversary edition.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/162241/M20-How-Do-You-DO-That

And other companies that are no longer big fish in the pond offer the pdf with a deep discount with the print copy like Cyberpunk and Castle Falkenstien from R. Talsorian.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/50354/Cyberpunk-2020-The-Second-Edition-Version-201


So what do most of you think, should it be given at a discount, and if yes then by how much? Not to mention the idea that some of those products offered have been out for decades and there is no overhead for production costs. Just give me your two cents please.


1 comment:

  1. Generally I want... kind of expect... a substantial discount on the .pdf if I'm buying the hardcopy. Maybe I've gotten spoiled by all the stuff I've bought that lumped in the .pdf for free.

    If it's something I'm really excited about and definitely plan to run, vs. just use for parts, then I don't mind paying extra for the .pdf... but usually not more than $5.

    It might be of note that most of what I buy these days are 'zines and shorter works... not so much those huge coffee-table books of full color art. I suppose I might expect the .pdf of one of those to cost a bit more... but I'd still expect some sort of 'deal' on buying both.

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