Pre-Pub Pricing (Baker Books)

Glad Baker is coming on board.  Not glad the price is what it is.

To this i will say an Amen. I more or less said that in my previous post. Every blessings

 

Ted.

Since it is already a second publisher doing the same thing it would really be nice to hear from Logos on that matter. It must have a reason and I don't believe it is Logos "invention" (the pricing of the Zondervan and now Baker prepubs).

Part of the problem with one big gorilla, so to speak, in a market is that part of the motivation to moderate prices and maximize customer service has/is being reduced.  Examples like Microsoft, GM, and Bank of America (I think-you get the point) show how market dominance can be both a blessing and curse in an open market environment.  Constant customer support and acceptance of a given companies product vision, without regards to outside market forces, may seem beneficial to all involved at first but over time there is price to be paid.  I wonder if we will start to pay that price?

I believe we have been spoiled, that being said think about the prepub model Logos has created. We the consumers pay for all development cost to produce a title, after all costs are covered then Logos produces the title. You of course noted in the new L4 base packages many past prepubs were dumped in packages for as little as1.00 per title, that originally cost hundreds of dollars in prepub at one time. The only way Logos can offer that price is if the royalities are next to nothing that they have to pay the publishers and their costs are covered by their customers. I believe publishers only allow this kind of royalty pricing in base packages or collections.

It seems that the new Zondervan and Baker model is to push out single title's for the higher dollar amount, than to take the royalty hit by allowing lower pricing in a collection and thus make considerably less money.

I think we may need to be prepared to pay more for electronic books that are just being published, say within the last 4 years or so, and are currently on bookstore shelves.

It seems that the new Zondervan and Baker model is to push out single title's for the higher dollar amount, than to take the royalty hit by allowing lower pricing in a collection and thus make considerably less money.

We really won't know what the Zondervan and Baker Books pricing model is until they start offering products in the Logos format. Will Zondervan and Baker Books sell to the public directly? Will the products show up being sold in stores and by third parties? Will we see discounted prices that indicate the margin between retail and wholesale pricing? I think we have to wait and see.

I am also not sure that we should assume the Logos pre pub prices (or future retail prices) are being strictly dictated by Zondervan or Baker Books. I suspect that Logos has some latitude in their pricing.

David,

Both Zondervan with their Pradis product and Baker with their Lobronix product have sold to bookstores and other 3rd party online sellers. Dan Prichett said that Zondervan was driving the price that is being listed on the current prepub, and that he was waiting for Zondervan's answer for how to price the product for previous Pradis customers.

As far as what the pricing model is going to be, all I can go on is the current pricing model that we have before us in the prepub pages. Baker just got through putting out a number of collections that based on discounted retail paper prices were not that great of a price break either. For instance the Baker Theology Collection is worth 250.42 in discounted paper, the prepub price is 199.99 and after prepub is 279.95.

Don't get me wrong, I will most likely pay  the price for the resources I need and can use, but I am under no false ideas about the price I'm paying compared to what it cost in paper. Books in Logos format are worth more to me and I'm willing to pay more to get that value.

It seems that the new Zondervan and Baker model is to push out single title's for the higher dollar amount, than to take the royalty hit by allowing lower pricing in a collection and thus make considerably less money.

We really won't know what the Zondervan and Baker Books pricing model is until they start offering products in the Logos format. Will Zondervan and Baker Books sell to the public directly? Will the products show up being sold in stores and by third parties? Will we see discounted prices that indicate the margin between retail and wholesale pricing? I think we have to wait and see.

I am also not sure that we should assume the Logos pre pub prices (or future retail prices) are being strictly dictated by Zondervan or Baker Books. I suspect that Logos has some latitude in their pricing.

We indeed need to wait and see how Zondervan and Baker will price their products after the release (especially if they decide to also market them through other channels).

I believe that both companies are testing the market and want to see how far they can push it (offering books only at the SRP, offering books in high demand only as part of an otherwise worthless collection only designed to sell books that would not be otherwise considered). I did not purchase Baker's collections then or pre-ordered Zondervan SRP offerings (not to mention the matter of Pradis conversion/upgrade that is still not resolved) and I will buy Baker's new pre-pubs to send them a message.

Logos needs to be careful and not let the pre-pub system/concept become irrelevant (I don't know what role Logos is playing in the whole process but I doubt that they are the one setting the prices at SRP)

Not only Baker and Zondervan might frustrate Logos’ customer base that has been accustomed to getting deals through the pre-pub program and getting books cheaper than the print offerings, they could also damage the growth of the digital medium since frustrated customer are less likely to recommend their products to people in their circle of influence. The deals of the prepub system along with the convenience of the digital format were the two greatest arguments I used to “sell” Logos to potential customers.

Alain

From my perspective it is not relevant in anyway the level of difficulty that went into making, copying, producing, or offering these products to the Logos community.   IMO this is a product being offered at a price by a business whom seeks to make a profit with or without a theological veneer of Jesus's love.  If one wants to purchase these prepub offerings that is fine, but to make excuses for what maybe framed as a form of price gouging is a different matter.  The product remains of high quality and worth pursuing by those whom have their needs met.  Yet there is, in my mind, a point where the theological veneer can be a mask for profiteering by any given company.

Dan Prichett said that Zondervan was driving the price that is being listed on the current prepub, and that he was waiting for Zondervan's answer for how to price the product for previous Pradis customers.

I saw in the blog comments where Dan said, "We are working with Zondervan right now to talk through the issues of
the discount for Pradis users." I may have missed where he said that Zondervan was driving Logos' pre pub prices for Zondervan products. Do you know where that was mentioned?

I am going to wait and see where we end up with pricing on Zondervan and Baker Books products. For now, I will keep Logos 3, Logos 4, and Pradis all installed and juggle as necessary.

Dan,

I remember when Logos put out a CD with new books on it once or twice a year, Things have sure changed! I am really grateful for all the hard work that must have gone into getting Zondervan on board, and before that Continuum with all it's titles. I remember looking at commentary sets on my shelf and thinking, no way that will ever make it into Logos. But now we have every major commentary set available in Logos format, and for that I say a hearty thank you to Logos!

But I do believe higher prices while it does give us access to better books, also has the disadvantage of discouraging more books being developed because some titles that deserve publishing won't make the prepub cut because of price vs demand. Already there are over twenty prepubs that languish from 2007 & 2008. I think Logos tried to put hot sellers with titles that would never make the cut to get more books into Logos format and I think that has worked up to a point. After all how many 199.00 Baker collections can one afford, before it becomes cheaper in the end to just buy what you really need one at a time.