As I contemplate purchasing the 2010 Christmas Special this week, I find myself having to choose between the Christmas Special and all my 2011 Pre-Pubs. There is just no way I can afford both. I assume there are others in the same boat and thought it would be helpful for us to share our thoughts on the pros and cons of going with the Christmas Special.
Pros
The Christmas Special is by far the most economical way to build your library. Just picking the resources that I have a strong interest in from the 50% off sale I easily exceeded the price of the Christmas Collection.
Having been a participate in the Pre-Pub program from the very beginning I have found that the majority of the items I purchased as Pre-Pubs eventually ended up in a base package or as part of some sale or collection at a significantly lower price than I paid for it as a Pre-Pub. In other words, the Pre-Pub programs is not a “once in a lifetime opportunity” and in many cases it will not be the lowest price that resource will be offered at. For these reasons I have been toying with the idea of dropping out of the Pre-Pub programs all together. By purchasing the Christmas Special I will be forced to drop the “Pre-Pub” habit and this may be a good thing from as financial stewardship perspective.
These collections always introduce me to works that I would not consider reading otherwise and occasionally this turns out to be a very good thing. We are all creatures of habit, we tend to eat the same food, sit in the same seat, and drive the same routes. If we always choose from the same menu of our preferences our preferences tend to remain very small.
Cons
I will have to put off purchasing some of the resource due to be published in 2011 until 2012, if not much later.
I may miss the best price ever offered on certain resources. Not everything being published in 2011 will make it into some future base product, special package or sale. If I truly want this resource as part of my library someday, I will have to pay a higher price for it than I would have as a Pre-Pub.
If large numbers of customers cancel all their 2011 Pre-Pubs will this negatively impact the Pre-Pub and Community Pricing programs? These programs have truly been win-win scenarios for both Logos and its customers. I am sure Logos plans on a certain percentage of cancelations in both of these programs, but if these percentages are exceeded on a regular bases, the Pre-Pub program as we know it will become financially untenable. I cannot help but think this would be a bad thing for both Logos and its customers.
These are just some of my thoughts to get a discussion started. What do the rest of you think?
