01-19-2011, 12:40 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Austin Texas
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RPG books how much would you pay
I like roleplaying books a lot. A whole lot. I got honestly giddy when I got my precious copy of Primal Order at a used book store.
I browse Ebay and Amazon books for copies of books and software for a good price and looking at a used book store is a joy to me. However, I pay used book prices for then not antique prices. I see copies of SJ games books that are out of print selling for $85 (for 3rd ed books admittedly rare) I see 4th ed books (all available for online purchase) selling for $50 plus for a used copy when the original brand new copy sold for $40. I imagine if I suddenly had more disposable income I would buy new books and hope I could live without the old copies. So how much would you pay for a rpg book?
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He stared out in the distance to see the awesome might of the Meerkat war party. |
01-19-2011, 02:06 PM | #2 |
Ceci n'est pas une tag.
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Vancouver, WA (Portland Metro)
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Re: RPG books how much would you pay
I once paid $100+ for an out-of-print "Complete Book of Necromancers" (or whatever it was called). The auctions on eBay had been getting progressively higher and higher.
(The NEXT auction of CBoN on eBay went for like $60. Guess I should have had a little more patience. :-) |
01-19-2011, 02:12 PM | #3 |
Munchkin Line Editor
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Austin, TX
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Re: RPG books how much would you pay
Moved to Roleplaying In General.
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01-19-2011, 02:43 PM | #4 |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: RPG books how much would you pay
Online used books sellers often arbitrarily post ridiculous prices for books without researching any market values. I wouldn't take those prices as at all indicative of what the book would go for from your FLGS or a used book store. Besides, eventually nearly the entire GURPS catalog will be available on e23.
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01-19-2011, 03:23 PM | #5 |
Ceci n'est pas une tag.
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Vancouver, WA (Portland Metro)
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Re: RPG books how much would you pay
Minus the licensed stuff that's no longer under license. (*sigh* Oh well, I'll have to guard my GURPS Alpha Centauri and GURPS Uplift with my life...)
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01-19-2011, 03:54 PM | #6 |
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Vancouver BC Canada
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Re: RPG books how much would you pay
It really depends on the book, but the bar is quite HIGH.
You get a TREMENDOUS amount of value out of an RPG book, far more than you do from any other entertainment medium. $20 for a DVD? That's 90 minutes of movie that you'll watch, what... 4 times in your life? So 6 hours, total. Versus $40 for a GURPS book that you'll use for 30 minutes a week, every week for years. That's 26 hours a year. More if it's a core book. If it's a good book, and one I'll use, I'll pay a lot.
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01-19-2011, 05:13 PM | #7 | |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Stuttgart, Germany
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Re: RPG books how much would you pay
Quote:
As an example, the "Complete Book of Necromancers" is available online through the Amazon.com, or abebooks.com starting at $20... I also know that when eBay first started out my old FLGS would take a handful of used gaming books every month off the floor and sell them online, they said there was nothing like peeling off that $9.99 sticker and selling a book off for $50 plus shipping. |
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01-19-2011, 09:15 PM | #8 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Austin Texas
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Re: RPG books how much would you pay
Sorry for posting in the wrong section.
I guess I'm not being entirely fair because I spend quite a bit of time finding things for a price I'm willing to pay. If I "pay" myself for the time spent then I probably spend as much. Before buying any product I decide how much I'm willing to pay for it. If it gets to be more than that I wait for the next one no matter how tempting it gets to "pay one more dollar". Ebay must hate purchasers like me.
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He stared out in the distance to see the awesome might of the Meerkat war party. |
01-19-2011, 09:24 PM | #9 |
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Alsea, OR
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Re: RPG books how much would you pay
Most I've paid for an RPG book was $80. Typically, I won't pay more than $40 for a supplement, no matter how good, nor $60 for a much desired core ruleset.
I paid $50 for WFRP3E... at $80, it was't in the budget. My general rule is $1 per person hour of use. DVD's, I tend to buy seasons at a time... 20-40 hours of video... for $20 to $30... Watching it with the wife or kids is sufficient to "pay" for it... usually twice over. (Kids and I are rewatching Buffy... 3rd time through the series.) A book of rules that won't see play is unlikely to get more than 10 hours of reading isn't worth more than $10 to me. But a PDF at $2 that is going to be a 2 hour read? Sure. |
01-19-2011, 09:39 PM | #10 | |
Join Date: Mar 2010
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Re: RPG books how much would you pay
Quote:
Later on, they had the whole OLD TSR line for $5 apiece in PDF format, including that book. I think I found a beatup copy of a Planescape boxed set at a Barnes & Noble that I got for $20 that was selling for $60 or $80 on ebay about 10 years ago. Wish I had sold it then. :) For space reasons, I prefer to buy everything I get in PDF format now. I still sometimes snag a hot item when I see it, when I used to go to comic/hobby stores that is. Like Cthulhupunk & The 3rd Edition Book of Vile Darkness. Those are absolute gems! Vile Darkness felt like it made my collection of 1st & 2nd Edition D&D books a complete set. They were novel ideas at the time, even if Vile isn't worth as much as Cthulhupunk. Right now, I've got my sites focused on GURPS PDFs, but I'll ONLY buy them after I've finished reading each one & it's a little slow going. Nearly done with Basic: Characters & will be moving to Campaigns. After that, probably Space, Spaceships, & Psionics. But man, my heart is really being tugged towards Banestorm and Infinity Worlds too. lol. My eyes bigger than my stomach so to speak. For non-GURPS stuff, I'm looking at Abandon All Hope & more Darwin's World stuff, whenever I get the time. |
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books, ebay, rpg |
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