Buying the rights to GURPS?!?

[Embassy of Time]

THIS IS NOT A SERIOUS OFFER AND NO ANSWERS ARE GOING TO BE CONSIDERED BINDING OR LEGALLY VALID IN ANY AY, SHAPE OR FORM!!!

A friend of mine, for very complicated and dull reasons, asked me how much GURPS "is worth". Essentially, how much would it cost to buy the rights to GURPS (and by estimate, any similar RPG system). Again, not offering, I am dirt poor, but it made me wonder.....

(if anyone is wondering, a lot of my old school buddies have gone the business route while Ibecame a science teacher. They like to ask me weird businessy questions about everything I love and watch me squirm...)

[sir_pudding]

Steve historically hasn't been interested in selling, AFAICT. So literally priceless, I would think.

[Embassy of Time]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Steve historically hasn't been interested in selling, AFAICT. So literally priceless, I would think.

Now how do I explain that to a business nerd....

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Embassy of Time

A friend of mine, for very complicated and dull reasons, asked me how much GURPS "is worth". Essentially, how much would it cost to buy the rights to GURPS (and by estimate, any similar RPG system). Again, not offering, I am dirt poor, but it made me wonder.....

In general, whatever price a buyer and a seller can agree on is how much something is worth, there isn't really a concrete measure.

[thrash]

Are you aware that SJ Games publishes an annual "Report to the Stakeholders"? This is an almost unheard-of level of transparency from a gaming company. The report discusses SJ Games' revenues and prospects in enough detail for your business nerd(s) to ballpark a reasonable value.

That said, sir_pudding is exactly correct: SJ himself is the only shareholder, and apparently has no interest in selling. He responds to comments in the thread I linked pretty regularly, so I'm sure you can find his own words on the subject.

[Embassy of Time]

Originally Posted by thrash

Are you aware that SJ Games publishes an annual "Report to the Stakeholders"?.

I completely forgot they did that. Maybe I can divert my biz-savvy friends by letting them look at that :D

Or maybe that will just make them stronger, give them more to question me about....!

[ak_aramis]

Originally Posted by Anthony

In general, whatever price a buyer and a seller can agree on is how much something is worth, there isn't really a concrete measure.

There's another measure, equally as important - the taxation assessment value. In many ways, it's far more important than the owner's price to overcome unwillingness to sell, as it's used more often when a business is still profitable

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by ak_aramis

There's another measure, equally as important - the taxation assessment value.

I'm not exactly an expert on the tax code, but absent buying, selling, or transferring the property, how would that be relevant? Other than real estate, net worth isn't generally directly taxable.

It's also possible he assigned it a value when applying for loans, but there's no real way we would find that out and it doesn't really tell you what it would cost to buy.

[Alden Loveshade]

Were you wanting an amount in Altairian dollars, Earth yen, Kalganids, or Quatloos?

A bit more seriously, I think you've got some very good answers above!

[ak_aramis]

Originally Posted by Anthony

I'm not exactly an expert on the tax code, but absent buying, selling, or transferring the property, how would that be relevant? Other than real estate, net worth isn't generally directly taxable.

It's also possible he assigned it a value when applying for loans, but there's no real way we would find that out and it doesn't really tell you what it would cost to buy.

My fields of study are history and elementary ed, not business... but...

most states have one or more taxes for businesses...

• Inventory tax
• property tax on owned property
• Corporate income tax or profits tax (the latter being less common)
• specific sector taxes (esp. hotels and petrol stations) - usually listed on the bill and not merged into the price.
• specific item taxes (most notably, tax seals on "hard" liquor and on cigarettes) - of mixed hidden/line item types.
• Import and Export taxes (not always included in price)
• Presumed Usage Fees - such as the UK Television tax.
• Public Services taxation - some places tax for police, fire and EMS as a direct taxation item on all; others simply keep those inside the county or state taxes.

US Federal has income tax on businesses.

The tax burden paid by SJG would indicate, if one checks the applicable tax rates, the valuation of the company by a biased but independent assessment not requiring sale of SJG to evaluate SJG

I know it's in Texas; I don't know the taxation scheme... but looking on the Texas Comptroller lists some 18 different taxation categories. It's noted that it doesn't collect all of them - Property taxes are local and county, not Texas state. Not going through the rest...