1. #1

    Hard Copies VS Digital Copies, and pricing?

    Has anyone else ever wondered why hard copies of games often times cost the same price as digital copies?

    With hard copies a company has to pay for: manufacturing, shipping, and shelf space. With Digital copies all of this is eliminated, and yet the price is still the same.

    Any thoughts on this?

  2. #2
    Deleted
    Why do some Ebooks also cost MORE than paperbacks? Its all greed in my opinion.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by RICH1471 View Post
    Why do some Ebooks also cost MORE than paperbacks? Its all greed in my opinion.
    I didn't know that they did! I buy e-books because a lot time they are cheaper than the used text books at my campus! But I do agree that it is greed. To me they are profiting more from one customer than another for the exact same product. :-p

  4. #4
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by RICH1471 View Post
    Why do some Ebooks also cost MORE than paperbacks? Its all greed in my opinion.
    EBooks could well have had the price fixed by several companies in cahoots with eachother, there's a court case going on at the moment deciding if this is indeed the case.

    In regards to other items, I believe the main reason is that retailers sell the physical product below its RRP, which is typically what digital stores charge, as their prices are set by the distributor.

    EG: The prices on Steam are all decided by the companies that distribute the game, same goes for what region they are available in. Because of this almost all of Steams catalogue that isn't on sale can be bought cheaper elsehwhere.

  5. #5
    Deleted
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Wars-Th...5525343&sr=1-2

    Price for this Ebook has dropped now, but when it was first released the Ebook was like a third more expensive, i have noticed it with other books too. Even so, the Ebook for that particular example is only 20 pence cheaper than the paperback.


    http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Hobbit-J...5525466&sr=1-6

    The Hobbit costs more as an ebook.

  6. #6
    MSRP

    Until there is a complete structure change in corporate economics, everything will be priced at MSRP when it releases until the contracted time has run out that allows retailers/sites to sell it at a price of their choosing.
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  7. #7
    Deleted
    Then what would be a point of retail if you could get everything cheaper digitally? It's just that retailer's wouldn't buy the products from a company if they had a cheaper digital distribution, it just wouldn't makes sense for them, they have to profit you know.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by jetclive View Post
    Then what would be a point of retail if you could get everything cheaper digitally? It's just that retailer's wouldn't buy the products from a company if they had a cheaper digital distribution, it just wouldn't makes sense for them, they have to profit you know.
    I'm buying the hard copy of Diablo 3 solely because I want something to look at in the bathroom. lol

  9. #9
    Profits. What's there to wonder about?

  10. #10
    Deleted
    A lot of the time namely on Steam the price of digital release vs hard copy release is the same, this is because of two things.

    a) the publisher sets the price

    b) steam takes a cut of sales, which means that publisher will get less money than the box but up the price up to boxed to make as much profit.

    Generally speaking however after initial sales, digital sales are much much cheaper than a boxed. I get regularly full priced games at around 5 pounds on steam. If I went into game it would have costed me at least 25-30 pounds.

  11. #11
    Here in Sweden the retail copy is usually always cheaper than the digital one, sometimes by quite a lot.
    "In order to maintain a tolerant society, the society must be intolerant of intolerance." Paradox of tolerance

  12. #12
    The Lightbringer Shakadam's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dezerte View Post
    Here in Sweden the retail copy is usually always cheaper than the digital one, sometimes by quite a lot.
    Same thing in Finland. It's probably because digital download sites (steam etc) have a really fucked up dollar to euro conversion rate, usually it's 1$=1€, which isn't even close to the real value. I realize VAT is also added for Europe but even when taking that into account it doesn't match up.

    I guess retailers of physical copies import stuff at an exchange rate that's actually, you know, realistic.

  13. #13
    Electronic versions of items (books, games) have prices kept the same because they are trying to avoid devaluating their products by cutting prices for e-sales. If the digital version is a lot cheaper, people will see physical copies in a store and the first reaction will be that it is overpriced, and not buy it. Physical sales still have the advantage of providing some marketing (on the box) and of course impulse buying.

  14. #14
    The Unstoppable Force Kelimbror's Avatar
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    You can think of it like this:

    For every book, record, or video game store that closes, a product's price can be inflated by a certain amount. 1 less place the product is available = 1 more cent they can charge everywhere else. I'm surprised this situation hasn't become more of an issue already tbh. Things like Amazon, Redbox, and Netflix, while admittedly are awesome, are beginning the decline of brick-and-mortar stores.

    The problem is that the initial draw is a super low price point and convenience, but as time goes on the price is increased to cover losses and maximize profit, while the convenience is also increased due to the lack of physical ways to attain the same products.

    I would imagine the only reason it hasn't completely eradicated physical stores for merchandies, is because the only course of defense for these stores is by offering incentives coupled with lower prices than available digitally. It has the potential to be a shifting cycle with the same trends, bouncing between physical and digital, until our economy rebounds and our desire for convenience trumps cost.

    Then we will probably be looking at a shift in the whole design of commerce and the death of physical locations for merchandise like this. Maybe then we can have the trees back.

    HAHA, who am I kidding...we will just build parking lots for houses!

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Shakadam View Post
    Same thing in Finland. It's probably because digital download sites (steam etc) have a really fucked up dollar to euro conversion rate, usually it's 1$=1€, which isn't even close to the real value. I realize VAT is also added for Europe but even when taking that into account it doesn't match up.

    I guess retailers of physical copies import stuff at an exchange rate that's actually, you know, realistic.
    Yeah.

    I usually buy new games in physical form, with one exception; GreenManGaming, no stupid 1$=1€ rule there.

    Steam is only good when they have their sales, but sometimes the retail is still cheaper. A recent example is Heroes VI, it was on sale on Steam for 25€ but the regular price at retail is 19€ (shipping inc.).
    "In order to maintain a tolerant society, the society must be intolerant of intolerance." Paradox of tolerance

  16. #16
    Merely a Setback Sunseeker's Avatar
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    It's a bunch of crap is what it is. I prefer handcopies for the storage issues, but I do believe digital copies should be cheaper. Of course, we'd have to compare the costs of setting up servers to deliver a product vs the costs of producing a physical item. A physical item may actually be cheaper.
    Human progress isn't measured by industry. It's measured by the value you place on a life.

    Just, be kind.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by jetclive View Post
    Then what would be a point of retail if you could get everything cheaper digitally? It's just that retailer's wouldn't buy the products from a company if they had a cheaper digital distribution, it just wouldn't makes sense for them, they have to profit you know.
    I believe this is one of the key issues with it, at least upon initial release.
    They want stores buying their games, so they can't offer them cheaper initially through digital means.
    digital should be quite a bit cheaper.
    that being said, I like buying physical medium cause I know I actually OWN it then. although that's also going more of the way of the dodo (actually owning the product when you buy the physical medium).

  18. #18
    I Don't Work Here Endus's Avatar
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    1> A fundamental principle of capitalist economics is that price is NOT set by cost-to-produce or profit-per-item. Price is set by competition and demand. If a product costs $20 to produce, and is sold for $40, someone who can produce it for $5 isn't going to drop the price to $25/item, they're going to keep it at $40. Maybe $35 to spur competition since they figure they can dip further than their competition.

    2> Most of the price for media like games/ebooks goes to everything but the physical media.

    3> I buy mostly digital copies, because the services I buy them through offer other services I desire with my purchase price; with Steam I can re-download any game, any time. I've got several older games I lost the CD-keys for, or others where I had a broken/lost CD, where I would have to buy a new copy; that's a non-factor for Steam software.


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