Bonhoeffer Works

EDIT: What accounts for the disparity in price between the Logos edition of BW and the competition?

Just ordered a book about Bonhoeffer for$5.59 as printed matter ½ hour ago (addition to an existing open order and it didn't add any postage) after someone suggesting on Christianforums.com who said some of them are public domain (I haven't checked if they actually are legally public domain). EDIT: But the book I ordered is not a public domain book, I doubted that the person on Christianforums was suggesting something he knew as being fully allowed. Also reported this thread by Paul.

I'm tired at buying books in Bible Study software, I don't have that particular software You talked about in Your first version of Your opening post, Paul, and I would not pay $180 just for works by one author.

Bonhoeffer Works is not in public domain, and this price is a good price.

$180 is a good price. $500 is not.

No, not at all. But within 15 minutes of my post, I was scolded twice. Not one person complained about Mark's post in all the weeks since he made it. It makes me wonder why. ;o)

OK. I feel better now! ;o) The real question, though, is how to explain the price difference. I'd definitely pay more to have BW in my Logos library. The tagging in Logos, from what I understand, is more sophisticated than people realize. But a $300 difference in price is hard to fathom. Any insight into what accounts for the disparity?

Michael Childs:

I wouldn't let the forum Gestapo bother you too much.  I never do.

Michael, that is priceless 

Forgive my insensitivity. While I agree with the sentiment, the choice for comparison was inappropriate.

Jack Caviness:

Michael Childs:

I wouldn't let the forum Gestapo bother you too much.  I never do.

Michael, that is priceless 

How?

I found it extremely rude, as well as a whole lot of other things. Like insensitive to those who fell victims to the real Gestapo. Like just plain stupid, because when we get used to language like that, we have no language left to warn about the next budding 'Gestapo'. 

If this thread shows anything, I would think it shows the value of the thankless job those do who do follow the guideline to "help others follow these guidelines". When no one wants to do that job, posts that slip by because of it are suddenly seen as models for others to follow, and the next we know everything is allowed.

Michael, I'm reporting your post as abuse. If calling others 'Gestapo' is OK, then guideline number 3 is a joke, and we can just skip the guidelines altogether.

And, Jack, I thought better of you.

Paul Strickert:

OK. I feel better now! ;o) The real question, though, is how to explain the price difference. I'd definitely pay more to have BW in my Logos library. The tagging in Logos, from what I understand, is more sophisticated than people realize. But a $300 difference in price is hard to fathom. Any insight into what accounts for the disparity?

No one explains prices in detail, but there typically are a number of factors to consider:

The Logos price will be their cost to produce plus a revenue surplus.

• One factor is the royalty Logos has to pay to the publishing rights holder for each copy sold. It may well be that such companies strike different contracts with different bible software companies.
• One factor is the cost of initially (digitizing and) tagging the resources. This factor will be broken down into a sum per copy that Logos calculates on estimated sales.
• One factor is the overhead Logos needs to price into the resources (maintaining servers, building, the software etc.)

Regardless of cost, in order to not crowd out their dead-tree sales, publishers may request Logos to charge no less than $XYZ - but then they may not be obliged to put the same request on other bible software companies. This taken together may mean that even if Logos could sell more than twice as much at half the price, it might mean generating much less or even negative revenue, maybe even breach of contract, if they were to lower their prices that much. 

Logos is the premier bible software company (in Germany we'd say "the Mercedes of bible software") which means the prices for everything tend to be a bit higher than elsewhere, reflecting the necessary investment of the company into its product but also the fact that the installed base is smaller. This in turn will also mean that the calculation factors I gave for the cost side will be different for a less sophisticated company with an installed base into the millions.

On top of this, bible software companies as well as publishers may use certain products as loss-leaders to attract new customers or introduce existing customers to new/higher value levels of products. Maybe this is what you were seeing elsewhere. It may as well be that the publisher re-thought their approach to digital editions and their pricing - and then Logos could perhaps re-negotiate.

 

 

RayDeck3:

Dan Pritchett wrote a very thorough response to the question of posts about other software companies. I believe it applies here.

Even though Dan's response is a few years old it is still excellent and worth reading and understanding.