Buyer Beware: Unseen but Not Supernatural Dynamic Pricing

Simon’s Brother
Simon’s Brother Member Posts: 6,831 ✭✭✭
edited November 2024 in English Forum

If you are missing only one volume from this set you might be better of buying that volume individually.

The Unseen Q & A Companion: 

Cheaper to buy  as a single resource for 0.99 USD as opposed to the dynamic bundle price of 3.21USD

see also following post for another concern with this bundle:

http://community.logos.com/forums/p/133414/867080.aspx#867080 

Comments

  • PetahChristian
    PetahChristian Member Posts: 4,635 ✭✭✭

    I had seen that too, but didn't want to point it out. But when the individual book is on sale, the price in the bundle also should reflect the sale price, not the regular price, or customers are being overcharged, even if it's as "insignificant" as $2 and change.

    Thanks to FL for including Carta and a Hebrew audio bible in Logos 9!

  • Simon’s Brother
    Simon’s Brother Member Posts: 6,831 ✭✭✭

    I had seen that too, but didn't want to point it out.

    When you are being charged more than 3 times the price for the privilege of buying it as a  'bundled' item as opposed to buying it as a separate item, I think it is worth pointing out.  

  • Jan Krohn
    Jan Krohn Member Posts: 3,889 ✭✭✭
  • JoshInRI
    JoshInRI Member Posts: 1,942 ✭✭✭

    I respectfully submit you may be better off not buying ANY of the volumes.  In my opinion, they are useless.

  • Simon’s Brother
    Simon’s Brother Member Posts: 6,831 ✭✭✭

    Jan Krohn said:

    The Unseen Companion costs 0.99 only if you own the main book.

    But that is not being taken into account in dynamic pricing which is the issue here I am demonstrating Jan, and so someone who is not aware of this fact and goes ahead and purchases the dynamic bundle is paying more than three times the price they should be paying for it.

  • Simon’s Brother
    Simon’s Brother Member Posts: 6,831 ✭✭✭

    Jan Krohn said:

    The Unseen Companion costs 0.99 only if you own the main book.

    But that is not being taken into account in dynamic pricing which is the issue here I am demonstrating Jan, and so someone who is not aware of this fact and goes ahead and purchases the dynamic bundle is paying more than three times the price they should be paying for it.

  • Simon’s Brother
    Simon’s Brother Member Posts: 6,831 ✭✭✭

    JoshInRI said:

    I respectfully submit you may be better off not buying ANY of the volumes.  In my opinion, they are useless.

    Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I agree there are many books sold by Logos, Vyrso and Noet that are "useless", But some that I consider as useless I still purchase so I can read exactly what they say and measure it against scripture and what other authors have  to say on the subject to ensure my disagreement with them is sound and not just based on prejudice, assumptions or emotion. 

    In this case I already own the books you consider useless in this particular bundle.  The one I am referring to in regards to the pricing discrepancy is written by another person and so I consider worthwhile looking at even if it is written from the perspective of someone who supports the original authors idea. I am not afraid to read and examine what any of these books have to say and yet still make up my own mind based on my mind on the topic.

    Have you written about where your in disagreement with the author's idea including your scriptural basis for your viewpoint ? I'd be interested in reading it also as if you have done so Joshua. It would be valuable to read a counter opinion on the subject.

  • Robert Neely
    Robert Neely Member Posts: 512 ✭✭

    Have you written about where your in disagreement with the author's idea including your scriptural basis for your viewpoint ? I'd be interested in reading it also as if you have done so Joshua. It would be valuable to read a counter opinion on the subject.

    Good question DoC.  I too would be interested in a critical discussion of Dr. Heiser's book, but I am sure that would be more appropriate for the Christian Discourse forum.

    Josh's criticism of Unseen Realm was, shall we say, less than compelling in the thread at https://community.logos.com/forums/p/120842/790557.aspx.  I would however point out that the currently 340 reviews of unseen realm on amazon are overwhelmingly positive.  If you are interested, the video links in the same referenced thread are quite useful, imho.

  • PetahChristian
    PetahChristian Member Posts: 4,635 ✭✭✭

    Just took a detailed look at the bundle pricing.

    A bundle is normally discounted. The discount FL used for this bundle is (70.91 - 69.99) / 70.91 = 0.013 or 1.3%. That's not very much of a discount to start with.

    The bundle contains 5 books, but as has been pointed out elsewhere, one of the study guides in the bundle is freely included if you buy its book.

    So, the correct total value if sold separately for 5 of the books should be 14.99 + 8.95 + 16.99 + 24.99 = 65.92

    The regular price of the bundle is 69.99, so it normally would be cheaper to buy the four books separately.

    When we consider that some of these (free preview) books were discounted by 20% for LN members, there wasn't as much of a savings for some people.

    Thanks to FL for including Carta and a Hebrew audio bible in Logos 9!

  • JoshInRI
    JoshInRI Member Posts: 1,942 ✭✭✭

    Hi Disciple of Christ (doc) and Robert:

    If someone wrote a book stating Jesus was an alien from another planet*** it would have as much merit to me as these "supernatural" books.Why so many are behind them and tout them escapes me.  I will never feel that a single word of what is within them is worth perusing except as a footnote to how someone (a reputed scholar even) can take a word or two (or a few passages) and go completely off the deep end with them.

    God does not need or consult a Divine Council (written here for those sure to say I have not even looked at the books and I have). 

    ***Just for the record, I do not believe Jesus was an alien from another planet.  There is no "compelling" proof and it would be silly to address it.  This is how I feel about Heiser's imaginative books too.

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 55,539

    JoshInRI said:

    Hi Disciple of Christ (doc) and Robert:

    Josh you know this has no relationship to the software and reflects only your theological opinion. Please refrain at least for the holidays. For an interesting article on manipulation of opinion rather than logical choice http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-38103800 is interesting. Warning - political from the BBC.

    Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."

  • PetahChristian
    PetahChristian Member Posts: 4,635 ✭✭✭

    JoshInRI said:

    God does not need or consult a Divine Council

    God does not need anything, Josh. He created many things -- angels, the heavens and the earth, man, etc. -- because it pleased Him to do so.

    All things are created by Him and for Him.

    Thanks to FL for including Carta and a Hebrew audio bible in Logos 9!

  • Robert Neely
    Robert Neely Member Posts: 512 ✭✭

    Dr. Heiser's paper he presented at ETS last week is quite enlightening.  For example, this section:

    So what’s the point of the divine council? God certainly doesn’t need one, but he chooses to allow his intelligent creations participate with him in how he wants things done—sort of like the Church. God doesn’t need us, either, but he has chosen to propel his will on earth through his believing household. I like the way Patrick Miller put it: “[T]he divine council is a fundamental symbol for the Old Testament understanding of how the government of human society by the divine world is carried out.” 3 We see this in a number of divine council scenes, where the divine council meets to enact Yahweh’s decrees (the most obvious: Dan 4:17, 24; Dan 7:0-10; 1 Kings 22:19-23).

    His complete paper is available at http://drmsh.com/mike-heisers-ets-paper-the-divine-council-in-the-pentateuch/ 

  • JoshInRI
    JoshInRI Member Posts: 1,942 ✭✭✭

    I am confident that Daniel (if he existed today or could speak for himself) would have nothing to do with Heiser's odd, fictional, reimagined, fanciful, tangential works.  Save your money everyone....best advice I can give.  Put it toward someone whose exegetical work doesn't inspire a chuckle.

    ...and yes MJ...I can/will easily commit to NOT mentioning Heiser or his books again - even beyond the holy-days.  I have to wonder if Heiser's next major work will (again) seek to mislead others into believing ufos are real and accurately detailed in Ezekiel.  No doubt Logos will publish that book too.

  • PetahChristian
    PetahChristian Member Posts: 4,635 ✭✭✭

    This forum isn't a place to mock or ridicule anyone's beliefs.

    Thanks to FL for including Carta and a Hebrew audio bible in Logos 9!

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 55,539

    JoshInRI said:

    I can/will easily commit to NOT mentioning Heiser or his books again - even beyond the holy-days

    Great ... I appreciate it.

    JoshInRI said:

    I have to wonder if Heiser's next major work will (again) seek to mislead others into believing ufos are real and accurately detailed in Ezekiel.

    Oops, you can only keep your word for a length of ".  " before you mention him and mischaracterize his work. Logic, my man, logic is required when dealing with facts not prejudice.

    Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."

  • Joseph Turner
    Joseph Turner Member Posts: 2,872 ✭✭✭

    JoshInRI said:

    I am confident that Daniel (if he existed today or could speak for himself) would have nothing to do with Heiser's odd, fictional, reimagined, fanciful, tangential works.  Save your money everyone....best advice I can give.  Put it toward someone whose exegetical work doesn't inspire a chuckle.

    ...and yes MJ...I can/will easily commit to NOT mentioning Heiser or his books again - even beyond the holy-days.  I have to wonder if Heiser's next major work will (again) seek to mislead others into believing ufos are real and accurately detailed in Ezekiel.  No doubt Logos will publish that book too.

    Josh,

    You keep conflating his work debunking UFO and similar myths with his work on the divine council.  I don't want anyone reading your uninformed posts to get the wrong idea.  He has written two books about aliens WHICH ARE FICTION.  They come from his interest in such myths concerning alien origins of civilization.  He DEBUNKS these myths in various arenas.  For you to keep putting them together either shows that you are ignorant of his work, and therefore unqualified to speak on it, or you are intentionally mischaracterizing it, which has another set of implications.  You already admitted you didn't read it all, so just leave it alone.  The fact that you are against it, but every scholar I have seen speak about it, both conservative and liberal, has nothing but praise, shows me that you don't seem to understand the significance.  It doesn't mean that you have to agree, but to talk about his work the way you do only shows your ignorance concerning the issues at play.  

    Again, to anyone reading this thread, the work has nothing to do with aliens or UFOs.  Aliens are not mentioned in Unseen Realm and have nothing to do with the work.

    Disclaimer:  I hate using messaging, texting, and email for real communication.  If anything that I type to you seems like anything other than humble and respectful, then I have not done a good job typing my thoughts.

  • John Fidel
    John Fidel MVP Posts: 3,481

    Joseph,

    I appreciate you bringing clarity back to the discussion in a very meaningful and constructive way. It is sad to see someone an author's work misrepresented.