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What should a 200-300 page hardback rulebook ideally cost (in US dollars)?
$0-$10
$10.01-$20
$20.01-$30
$30.01-$40
$40.01-$50
$50.01-$60
$60.01-$70
$70.01-$80
$80.01-$90
$90.01-$100
$100+
No opinion
Other / write in...

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Made in gb
[ADMIN]
Decrepit Dakkanaut






London, UK

That would include large codexes, standalone rulebooks, campaign books, etc...

Check out our new, fully plastic tabletop wargame - Maelstrom's Edge, made by Dakka!
 
   
Made in gb
Gefreiter




thornton

depends if you mean the FW HH book then £70 i will pay if you mean GW new chaos i would pay £25

"For Christ's sake get a move on! There's a Tiger running alongside us fifty yards away!"

Sergeant O'Connor, 1st Platoon, A Company, 1st Rifle Brigade. 
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




Essentials of Precalculus with Calculus Previews, Fifth Edition (Publisher: Jones and Bartlett Learning / Authors: Zill and Dewar), a 400-page hardcover textbook is listed as $162.95 according to the publisher's website (http://www.jblearning.com/).

Be very happy that GW rulebooks are not priced like textbooks.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2012/09/24 14:29:31


 
   
Made in us
Drop Trooper with Demo Charge




Illinois

Considering the rulebook should be what those in the hustlin' business refer to as the "free taste", anything over $40 for the hardcover nice version is too much generally. The little rulebooks that come with the starter kits should be free and handed out like candy.
   
Made in us
Abhorrent Grotesque Aberration





Comparing textbooks to rule books is a non-starter. They have a completely different focus and target. Most importantly though is the shear amount of research, development work and QA that goes into textbooks that simply isn't present in a rulebook.

That's not to say that development and playtesting doesn't go into a rulebook, just that it's on a completely different scale. Further, if a textbook is found to be flawed through misinformation they don't simply "faq" it, they actually rerelease and, in some cases, replace existing ones. Rulebooks on the other hand tend to stay static for 4+ years with only FAQs being available for download. I can only recall one instance (previous necron book) that actually had two versions. Finally, there are legions of people willing to playtest a rule book for free (whether allowed to is another matter entirely) whereas you will rarely find someone willing to spend the time to properly QA a college textbook without being paid.

The point is that comparing textbooks and rulebooks is like comparing the cost of a motorcycle to a sedan; although both have wheels and an engine they serve a completely different purpose with radically different distribution.

-----------------

That aside, softcover rule books for 40k should be about $35USD. $20 if distributed electronically.

If hardback, I'd say $50 is the max. But again, only $20 for an electronic version.

Forgeworld: $60US, $40 if distributed electronically. I'd agree with a slightly higher price only because the number of potential buyers is much smaller and therefore per book costs are much higher. Of course, they would have a higher distribution if they sold their models in regular stores (GW as well as hobby ones) but that's their own problem to figure out.

The figures above are what I think is acceptable.

-----------------

My final note on this actually contradicts my opinion. In a commercial environment an item (rulebook, car, whatever) should be priced at a point in which the company is able to profit by an amount it's shareholders deem acceptable to ensure ongoing operations and long term growth. Priced too high and the market will rebel and go elsewhere, interestingly the same thing happens if priced too low due to lack of perceived value. Therefore, if GW's market research says the sweet spot is $50 for a codex for 40k players then go for it.

This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2012/09/24 14:42:56


------------------
"Why me?" Gideon begged, falling to his knees.
"Why not?" - Asdrubael Vect 
   
Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut






SW USA

For a book printed from a large company that already produces a huge amount of printed material, I would expect them to be able to pass their savings on to customers and would expect the book to be about $35 - $40.00 USD. But I would also expect said company to sell mass-produced plastic models at more reasonable prices as well, and I would expect people to stop buying things at inflated prices, so I guess expectations go out the window when we're talking about supply and demand, or more accurately, dealer and addict

Also, a couple people in that poll say they think the book should be $100.00+

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/09/24 19:05:36


 
   
Made in us
Nurgle Predator Driver with an Infestation





The Memphis Sprawl

I said 50-60 bucks. For 300 pages that's plenty. It doesn't matter how good the artwork is (though it should be the best they can produce)companies should be willing to take a hit on the rulebooks because they are going to drill us a new one on the models (GW).
Even the companies that have more reasonably priced models turn a nice profit from model sales. Last I checked you can download Infinity's rules for free? That's weird...

"SIC GORGIAMUS ALLOS SUBJECTATOS NUNC" 
   
Made in us
Khorne Rhino Driver with Destroyer





Depths of the Webway

Free Cause We Spend So Much Money on the Hobby We At Least Deserve Free Rules :3

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Made in us
Long-Range Land Speeder Pilot





Colorado Springs CO USA

I say between 30 and 40 dollars. I understand that paper and ink costs are continuing to go up and GW generally uses the nice ink and paper for their stuff so I understand a higher cost, you generally get what you pay for, but (finecast for instance) sometimes you overpay and you don't sell it to your friends so they don't buy it for themselves and then the next product is even higher prices to make up for the lack of sales in the previous book, which leads to the overpricing everything and alienating huge portions of your market.

However, If I've been playing 40k (for instance) for 25 years and am at the point where I might buy a model or two a year, then fine I'll spend 50 bucks on a book so I can continue to use the collection of toy soldiers I've been accumulating for the last quarter century.

If not for the mediocre who would be great, and thank goodness for those who are just terrible they make even those who are mediocre look great

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Made in ca
Hardened Veteran Guardsman






 Sharkvictim wrote:
I said 50-60 bucks. For 300 pages that's plenty. It doesn't matter how good the artwork is (though it should be the best they can produce)companies should be willing to take a hit on the rulebooks because they are going to drill us a new one on the models (GW).
Even the companies that have more reasonably priced models turn a nice profit from model sales. Last I checked you can download Infinity's rules for free? That's weird...


Ok but realistically, you can download the BRB free aswell... ( you just choose to pay for it ) Same with any Codex...
Torrents...

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/10/26 14:17:47


= 1000pts
 
   
Made in us
[MOD]
Solahma






RVA

The illegality of a choice makes it ... somewhat less of a choice, at least for law-abiding citizens.

As a reminder, DakkaDakka is not the forum for advocating IP piracy.

   
Made in us
Incorporating Wet-Blending





Houston, TX

Printing cost on a basic hardback is somewhere around $5 for a run of $2000 and probably no more than double that for lots of pictures/color. So I would say no more than $20-$40.

For reference, a full color hardback cookbook with 200-300 pages can be had for $25-30 retail. Art books are comparable.

I would say this is a reasonable comparison: http://www.walmart.com/ip/15656770
Dragon Age 2 Collector's edition
Hardcover 287 pages MSRP $34.99

$50 or more for this page count should be very high end. This is where the high quality artist collection books start. $70 is borderline absurd for something that requires no real research, permissions, etc.

By the time you hit $100, you are in the range of fine art history books.

Strategically, the rules should be cheap (or free) to push the already premium priced miniature sales.


-James
 
   
Made in us
Xenohunter with First Contact





Rockford, IL

Just want to add that I think it really should be $60+. When I look at the rule book, I concider the material of the book. I can see that rule books by GW for example can be the same quality as decent hard cover college books(they they range from $60 - $250 easily). So I just want to put my little 2 cents in their. I have a feeling that the people that say it should be $30(or less) dont take into the fact of that. So I think that with current standards of rule books, their price is fine, but if people are thinking they should be $30 or less, then there should be a digital version, or a more basic paper back copy of a rule book to have that cost.

/ 20000 pts
7000 pts
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2500 pts
2000 pts
WIP
2000 pts 
   
Made in us
Bloodthirsty Bloodletter






USA, OREGON

$0-$10, $10-$20, $20-$30, $30-$40??????

Are you crazy??? Why don't they just give it away. Tell me, where in the US can you buy a 300 page hardbound book.

This is a necessity book to boot, so tell me a college hardbound book that is a new release still in shrink rap that would cost the same?

$90-$130 is fare as any equivalent college book would be brand spanking new. Now a $20 magazine sized book, or a $35 Graphic Novel sized book, that is where it gets out of hand.

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Made in us
Possessed Khorne Marine Covered in Spikes






New Hampshire

The rulebook should be a lot cheaper.

WAAAGH!!!

 
   
Made in au
Incorporating Wet-Blending






Australia

I said 40-50. That's approximately what the full colour, hardcover 3rd edition D&D sourcebooks went for, and that seems a fair price to me.

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-C.S. Lewis 
   
Made in us
Bounding Ultramarine Assault Trooper





minnesota, usa

I'd expect 50 bucks would be resionable for just about any kind of "rule book." That said, I'd still pay 60 to 70, but at that price I wouldn't be buying anything else at the same time. Like if I'm getting a 50 dollar book I'd probably be buying paints and brushes or a couple figures too. Anything higher than about 70 to 80 dollars I'd probably wind up waiting until it goes on sale.

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My Stompa 
   
Made in us
Automated Rubric Marine of Tzeentch






 Adrian Fue Fue wrote:
$0-$10, $10-$20, $20-$30, $30-$40??????

Are you crazy??? Why don't they just give it away. Tell me, where in the US can you buy a 300 page hardbound book.

This is a necessity book to boot, so tell me a college hardbound book that is a new release still in shrink rap that would cost the same?

$90-$130 is fare as any equivalent college book would be brand spanking new. Now a $20 magazine sized book, or a $35 Graphic Novel sized book, that is where it gets out of hand.


http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Book-Chocolate-Great-Recipes/dp/0764161571

"This book might well be the most lavish, most complete and most beautiful volume ever published on that most sensuous of all foods--Chocolate. Filled with history, anecdotes, delicious photos, and, of course 300+ mouth-watering recipes from deserts to drinks. It's a chocoholic's literary dream come true."

--The Putnam County Courier, November 26, 2008

Hardcover: 704 pages
Publisher: Barron's Educational Series (October 1, 2008)

List price was $29.99

While it depends on the type of book and the work involved, yes full color books can be found for far less than GW charges for the same or more full color pages while college books are far outside normal book prices for completely different reasons. Unless there was a jump in price, D&D's rulebooks are far cheaper than GW's for similar amounts of printing and work put in.

That doesn't mean GW shouldn't charge what they want, just that people like me who marked $30 or less do know of comparable books with pricing in that range.

   
Made in cn
Neophyte Undergoing Surgeries




Yantai, Shandong, China

Let's differentiate between cases. For those of you who remember buying the third edition 40k book, what did you think of the $50 dollar price? I don't know about you, but I was new to the hobby and didn't know any better. So I thought it was a normal price.

Compare that mostly black & white, soft-cover, 300 pager to the 6th edition 450 page hard-bound, full-color tome. Sure, GW recycles much of their portfolio of artwork, but there are still plenty of new pictures. Consider the overall upgraded quality of the newest book to the old. Surely it's is worth the extra $25? Consider how pleasurable the weight and feel of the new book is. It's luxurious.

Would you want to go back to black and white diagrams of rules with drawings of miniatures instead of actual photos? Or maybe you'd enjoy seeing how long a rule book lasts when it is printed on the same paper as a Dover Thrift Edition? The pages would certainly hold more of your gaming memories in the form of coffee stains and the blood from your inevitable paper cuts.



Night Hawks Space Marines - 4000pts. 
   
Made in us
Dark Angels Librarian with Book of Secrets






why is anything lesss than about $60 an option? most hardbound books on that size end up near that, adding full-color photos increases printing costs astronomically.

is this another "GW sucks because their stuff is too expensive" thread?
   
Made in gb
Three Color Minimum





 SoloFalcon1138 wrote:
why is anything lesss than about $60 an option? most hardbound books on that size end up near that, adding full-color photos increases printing costs astronomically.

is this another "GW sucks because their stuff is too expensive" thread?


Yet some people manage to sail under that level, there are plenty of similar sized hardbacks costing far less going by list price, manufacture costs are not the cause of the high book prices. Personaly I think padding a rule book out to twice its length with photos adds nothing to its value. The fact that the volume is then priced higher than most other books in the same industry does not endear it to me either.
   
Made in no
Terrifying Doombull





Hefnaheim

70 to 80 USD, but for that price I expect the quality we got with the 6th edition book, or Tamurkan
   
Made in us
Dark Angels Librarian with Book of Secrets






 dragqueeninspace wrote:
 SoloFalcon1138 wrote:
why is anything lesss than about $60 an option? most hardbound books on that size end up near that, adding full-color photos increases printing costs astronomically.

is this another "GW sucks because their stuff is too expensive" thread?


Yet some people manage to sail under that level, there are plenty of similar sized hardbacks costing far less going by list price, manufacture costs are not the cause of the high book prices. Personaly I think padding a rule book out to twice its length with photos adds nothing to its value. The fact that the volume is then priced higher than most other books in the same industry does not endear it to me either.


Guess you've never cracked open a 2nd Edition AD&D book, huh?

And seriously, 16 people thought it should be less than $10? Reality check time...

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/12/30 07:04:02


 
   
Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut





Well i think it should be around 40-100 dollars at max,but hey thats just me.

From each according to his ability, to each according to his need 
   
Made in gb
Three Color Minimum





 SoloFalcon1138 wrote:
 dragqueeninspace wrote:
 SoloFalcon1138 wrote:
why is anything lesss than about $60 an option? most hardbound books on that size end up near that, adding full-color photos increases printing costs astronomically.

is this another "GW sucks because their stuff is too expensive" thread?


Yet some people manage to sail under that level, there are plenty of similar sized hardbacks costing far less going by list price, manufacture costs are not the cause of the high book prices. Personaly I think padding a rule book out to twice its length with photos adds nothing to its value. The fact that the volume is then priced higher than most other books in the same industry does not endear it to me either.


Guess you've never cracked open a 2nd Edition AD&D book, huh?
And seriously, 16 people thought it should be less than $10? Reality check time...


I just got mine from the spare room, its 250 pages and $20 US RRP. It is however a old book and prices don't hold forever, mine was printed 1994 and as such is a misleading comparison. Plenty of other industries can put out books like these for under $60, the price is set by business model not by manufacture costs.
   
Made in gb
Dakka Veteran




UK, Derbyshire.

Free with purchase of a big pile of minis.

   
Made in au
Fresh-Faced New User





Dalgety, NSW, Australia

okay, so for a hard cover, full colour 200-300 page book

Skyrim Concept art book - $80 (from e-bay as it was never sold seperately/retail, only pre-order)
Halo 4, awakening, Concept art book - $50 (from the interwebs, including postage and handling from the UK the AUS)
Graffitti World, grafitti from around the world - $40 (from the National Art Gallery gift shop)

(all three of these are hardcover books around 200-300 pages of full page colour)

now, considering that $50 seems about the standing point for these three my initial response of $50-60 seems about right.
Mind you, that's for a full colour, hard cover book like the 6th ed rule book.
A Codex like the Orks, Eldar or Guard should be no more than 20 bucks imo. but I'll it slide around $30.

I think that something worth pointing out is that a standard box of marines is $62 in Australia. whereas it's $37 in US (and our dollar has been at parody with the US for almost a decade)

so the $74 USD seems mighty F ING REASONABLE COMPARED TO THE $124 AUD WE HAVE TO PAY!!!
Even if you consider GST, (goods and services tax) that's only %10 more ($80)

For the same amount US and UK buyers could get the book and a box of dudes. But even if the book was that price here we'd still only get half a box of guys.
And they wonder why Australian buyers stopped buying from GW and went to European, UK and US distributors? I mean come on. it was still cheaper despite the international shipping charges
(oh yeah, then they stopped that by preventing them from shipping to the australasian region )


aaanyway. i'll get down now


EDIT: edited for typos due to copious amounts of RAAAGE

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/01/29 11:23:33


Orks 1500 points (deathskull/speedfreaks army)
Sisters of battle 1000 points (order of the turquoise rose)

My ongoing project of orky convershuns:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/491261.page
More recent (and more regularly updated) Vampire counts army
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/615574.page 
   
Made in au
Missionary On A Mission





Australia

 radred609 wrote:
okay, so for a hard cover, full colour 200-300 page book

Skyrim Concept art book - $80 (from e-bay as it was never sold seperately/retail, only pre-order)
Halo 4, awakening, Concept art book - $50 (from the interwebs, including postage and handling from the UK the AUS)
Graffitti World, grafitti from around the world - $40 (from the National Art Gallery gift shop)

(all three of these are hardcover books around 200-300 pages of full page colour)

now, considering that $50 seems about the standing point for these three my initial response of $50-60 seems about right.
Mind you, that's for a full colour, hard cover book like the 6th ed rule book.
A Codex like the Orks, Eldar or Guard should be no more than 20 bucks imo. but I'll it slide around $30.

I think that something worth pointing out is that a standard box of marines is $62 in Australia. whereas it's $37 in US (and our dollar has been at parody with the US for almost a decade)

so the $74 USD seems mighty F ING REASONABLE COMPARED TO THE $124 AUD WE HAVE TO PAY!!!
Even if you consider GST, (goods and services tax) that's only %10 more ($80)

For the same amount US and UK buyers could get the book and a box of dudes. But even if the book was that price here we'd still only get half a box of guys.
And they wonder why Australian buyers stopped buying from GW and went to European, UK and US distributors? I mean come on. it was still cheaper despite the international shipping charges
(oh yeah, then they stopped that by preventing them from shipping to the australasian region )


aaanyway. i'll get down now


EDIT: edited for typos due to copious amounts of RAAAGE


Oh i know that feeling. I think a lot of Australian play players have turned to ebay to get models cheaper?

: 4500pts

Lothlorien: 3500pts
Rohan: 1500pts
Serpent: 2000pts
Modor: 1500pts 
   
Made in us
Nasty Nob on Warbike with Klaw






You can't compare a book that is primarily text with some art to a book that is all say, concept art, or a collection of the year's best in scifi/fantasy art or something similar. The two should be priced completely differently. Bad poll.

Read my story at:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/515293.page#5420356



 
   
Made in au
Ultramarine Scout with Sniper Rifle




Australia

Here in Australia the hardcover 40k rule book is 125 Australian dollars. Codex's at $55. Which IMO is WAY overpriced for something so essential.

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