2x/month? Why do base package dynamic prices keep increasing?

I am a huge fan of Logos Bible software. Though I was an avid and almost exclusive 'real book' user for many years, (with the exception of Logos journals,) Logos has now become (virtually) indispensable for me in both my sermon preparation and lecture preparation. I hope to keep on building up my resources to make my study even more comprehensive. I have been (and remain) prepared to pay for books twice (many which I already owned in in cloth/paper, I have since purchased in Logos) because I recognise the added value of the software. I am extremely thankful for the regular free resources and for community pricing and especially for the academic pricing discount which I benefit from.

However, it is quite demotivating and demoralising to keep on seeing the prices of base packages which I want to buy increase. I understand that price increases are a regular part of any business but seriously, these are happening so frequently that it seems almost as if Logos is employing someone to regularly change the dynamic pricing equation in a way which makes the price of resources increase. (OK, so I'm overstating things here - sorry Glenn!)

The customers who buy base packages tend (I guess) to become the recurring customers who come to learn the usefulness of the software and so buy more and more resources and yet we are the ones being hit repeatedly and affected most by price increases due to changes in dynamic pricing. I am sorry to post about this but I have just come back from holiday to find that prices have increased again. Twice in one month!

This means that, according to my reckoning, base prices have seen a dynamic price increase across the board in March, in April, in June (I checked on 11th), in July (I checked on 9th) and again in July (I checked today).

I don't know if this affects all dynamic pricing - but it probably does. Am I the only one who thinks it is unfair that the value of the resources we own is being decreased incrementally almost monthly?

It is difficult for me to put a figure on a percentage increase since I have been steadily buying and my prices have been adjusting because of new purchases but it is a relatively small increase. (One package which is unaffected by my purchases is the P & C starter package for which the dynamic price has gone up almost 5% from April to now). Still, I cannot understand why price increases come along so often on the flagship products of this company.

Thanks for 'listening' to my tirade.

Colin.

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Comments

JT (alabama24)

I typically only purchase base packages at the start of the cycle (when the discount is greatest), so don't have a good eye on any changes in pricing.

Are you stateside? Wondering if changes in currency could be in play.

Colin

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/833780#Comment_833780

Hi Alabama,

I'm in the UK but it's not connected to currency changes, though they have impacted the price I pay more than the Faithlife dynamic price change increases. I have set it up to view the prices on the website in dollars, not pounds and I track the prices in dollars.

Colin.

Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :)

Recently observed dynamic pricing for one collection increase ~10 % from $ 63.40 to $ 69.38 (still a decent deal, but not as compelling)

Keep Smiling [:)]

Mike Childs

Very likely business costs for Faithlife are increasing and have a great deal to do with the increased pricing. I am speaking of things like copyright and other publisher costs. No doubt labor and salary costs have increased as well.

My impression has always been that Faithlife / Logos seeks a reasonable and low profit margin. Low prices increase sales and the overall bottom line profit. But they have to cover all costs and make a reasonable profit.

Also, the market has changed. Many of their customer base, like myself, have been buying Logos books for decades. There are not that many big purchases left that I want to make. And some that I would make are not yet available in Logos. Overall, in this economy, it is not as easy to sell ebooks as it was a decade ago.

Cost keep rising, the market somewhat shrinks, and that demands increases in prices.

Of course, I am only speculating, but I don't think Logos is trying to be greedy. With the competition out there, that would be counterproductive.

Rich DeRuiter

I don't know if I'm taking everything into consideration, however there are a couple of factors that may be in play here:

Sales/Promotions: Sometimes base packages are offered at discounts that go away over time. If you checked during past sales, you may find current sales aren't quite as good. Obviously if you compare a sale price with a non-sale price there would be an increase.

Changes to Base Packages: This is probably the most likely reason things change. Logos agreements with book-sellers is a moving target and is different for each publisher. This means books move out of base packages and others move in. This could and probably does change dynamic pricing for base packages every time a new resources is exchanged for an older one (that you're more likely to have). Most base packages do change over time for these factors; that's a known fact.

(A third factor that may be in play here is expiring licenses with publishers that are re-negotiated at a higher selling price. I have no idea if that's happening in base packages, but I wouldn't be surprised.)

Like Alabama, I don't tend to buy base packages except during the initial release phase (when a new version comes out), so I haven't been watching base packages like you have to do such a comparison. Maybe someone else has. There may be other factors at play here that only Logos employees and owners know about.

EastTN

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/833809#Comment_833809

Looking at potentially upgrading to the next level "Standard" base package, I have seen my price bump up a couple of times in the last month or so. The most recent bump was by what I would consider to be a substantial amount. The prior bump wasn't as large. I'm not aware of any changes to the resources included in it. I had semi-planned to upgrade last month, but several community pricing items were released for delivery, and I couldn't justify doing it all in one month. But because of that, I have been watching the price fairly closely.

Colin

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/833815#Comment_833815

Hi Michael,

I understand what you mean about business costs though the laying off of lots of staff before Christmas and some since ought to have lowered costs significantly. My thought is that there are other ways to deal with rising costs than price increases for loyal customers and surely the pace/frequency of the price increases has risen.

The market has changed but there are new and enthusiastic users out there - I'm one of them! Until last September I had never bought a base package and now I have various levels of reformed, standard, baptist, anglican, SDA and Lutheran.

I'm certainly not accusing FL of being greedy but I'm guessing that some kind of target is being met by these changes in the way dynamic pricing is being calculated rather than other means. Is it because there is such a reduced sales team that this way is being used rather than other kinds of promotions?

Hi Rich,

My figures are not based on base package discounts.

You're right that base packages occasionally change. I was pretty devastated that I hadn't bought some of the Pentecostal packages before Tozer was removed but the price dropped correspondingly. I haven't noticed what you are suggesting - new books being substituted for old ones. Also, since base packages have a lifetime of 2 years or so, I'm sure FL generally negotiates with that in mind so BP changes would be the exception rather than the rule.

But thanks for trying to help me think this through.

Colin