The Artbook price and shipping is too much

[bervt]

Hello , 

First of all , i know  it is a business   and they need to gain money to exist ( and that is fine ) , but let talk about the price and possible fix about shipping :

The price 180 $   , the book  is big , 440 ish pages  it seem  right , now let look this book that i own : Genesis from sebastiao salgado  

about the same size  , more page (520 ) almost  all pictures , great paper quality  ---> the price 60 E ( 64 $ ) , ok it is  mostly in black and white ,  but  printing in color don't add  too much of a cost ,  so  i dont know how much profit there is in the sale of the artbook , but the price is way too much , it will not change ( because people already buy it ) , maybe a discount later ^^' 

 

As for the shipping cost ,  76 $  for Europe  so 256 $ total , that is way tooo much  , a solution to this is to print it direcly in Europe , asia , ext...  these shipping cost are absurd ! 

[Yakhul]

You are paying to have a piece of art, from the paper used, the cover, and more importantly, the collective work of art of many artists over the years, their life long work.

Plus it ships from Canada, if you live outside of the continent, ofc the shipping will be expensive.

[PublikDomain]

The Warframe Artbook seems to be a bit heavier than the one you linked (8.33lbs compared to the 11lbs mentioned on stage at Tennocon), and color print definitely ups the price a good bit. It seems closer in format (though still heavier) to Sebastião Salgado's Amazônia which is $150. I'm also not sure about the physical dimensions of the artbook; it seemed huge on stream but idk if it's the same size or larger than the 10x14s you're comparing to.

Is this the same size? I'm not a big book guy so I'm not a good judge.

Edited August 28, 2023 by PublikDomain
forgot a word

[trunks013]

well ive seen tenno with that brick all TennoCon long and to be honest its one hell of a book like its tick and large like 3 books XD

So i guess shipping will be insane but to be honest its most likely to be a pricy product because of the type of product.

 

[Lionsheart89]

7 minutes ago, PublikDomain said:

The Warframe Artbook seems to be a bit heavier than the one you linked (8.33lbs compared to the 11lbs mentioned on stage at Tennocon), and color print definitely ups the price a good bit. It seems closer in format (though still heavier) to Sebastião Salgado's Amazônia which is $150. I'm also not sure about the physical dimensions of the artbook; it seemed huge on stream but idk if it's the same size or larger than the 10x14s you're comparing to.

Is this the same size? I'm not a big book guy so I'm not a good judge.

lol

I felt bad for her watching her lift and carry that thing. That book is massive.

[(PSN)Nelsconey]

Wait a year or 2 and buy it off Feebay or Mercari. 

That's what I'm going to do

[bervt]

il y a 45 minutes, PublikDomain a dit :

The Warframe Artbook seems to be a bit heavier than the one you linked (8.33lbs compared to the 11lbs mentioned on stage at Tennocon), and color print definitely ups the price a good bit. It seems closer in format (though still heavier) to Sebastião Salgado's Amazônia which is $150. I'm also not sure about the physical dimensions of the artbook; it seemed huge on stream but idk if it's the same size or larger than the 10x14s you're comparing to.

Is this the same size? I'm not a big book guy so I'm not a good judge.

Hard to say  , there is no official size , to compare :/ , (150 $ for the book , here it is +-64 $  crazy difference ! )

il y a une heure, Yakhul a dit :

You are paying to have a piece of art, from the paper used, the cover, and more importantly, the collective work of art of many artists over the years, their life long work.

Plus it ships from Canada, if you live outside of the continent, ofc the shipping will be expensive.

 Of course it is a lot of work , and i wanted to buy it , even if it was expensive ( but that much :/ , with the  Heirloom collection it seem to me they are trying to push what they can get away with , my though  maybe not true)  , as for the shipping cost , yes i know it will be expensive , but me getting heavy stuff directly from japan it was about 20-30 E shipping cost , i wonder why it is so much expensive  ( maybe a taxe/ custom story special for europe ) 

 

il y a 52 minutes, (PSN)Nelsconey a dit :

Wait a year or 2 and buy it off Feebay or Mercari. 

That's what I'm going to do

That can be a option , but there is  no garanties to get it  and /or in a good shape ,

+ that fear of missing out -_- , how many time will this be disponible , i can put some money on the side  to get it but i don't know if i will be able to buy it when i have enough  

 

[PublikDomain]

Just now, bervt said:

Hard to say  , there is no official size , to compare :/ , (150 $ for the book , here it is +-64 $  crazy difference ! )

I was just going off the Amazon price. It's the same $64 for the one you linked and the $150 for the other book. Not sure why the difference but I'm also not familiar with that author.

[L3512]

2 hours ago, bervt said:

about the same size  , more page (520 ) almost  all pictures , great paper quality  ---> the price 60 E ( 64 $ ) , ok it is  mostly in black and white ,  but  printing in color don't add  too much of a cost ,  so  i dont know how much profit there is in the sale of the artbook , but the price is way too much , it will not change ( because people already buy it ) , maybe a discount later ^^' 

IDK Jack and S#&$ about the costs of printing books or the relative demographics DE vs Sebastiao Salgado were looking at selling to and the scaling of costs however the DE art book is an absolute tombstone of a book and shipping looks pretty standard for such a large package.

Value is quite subjective but costs aren't and personally I don't think DE are price gouging here.

On another note a quick look through the internet and we can find a collectors edition of Genesis by Sebastiao Salgado for $4500, while it is reaching novelty status in size and weight and has a signature it contains nothing more than the standard edition.

[bervt]

Il y a 8 heures, L3512 a dit :

IDK Jack and S#&$ about the costs of printing books or the relative demographics DE vs Sebastiao Salgado were looking at selling to and the scaling of costs however the DE art book is an absolute tombstone of a book and shipping looks pretty standard for such a large package.

Value is quite subjective but costs aren't and personally I don't think DE are price gouging here.

On another note a quick look through the internet and we can find a collectors edition of Genesis by Sebastiao Salgado for $4500, while it is reaching novelty status in size and weight and has a signature it contains nothing more than the standard edition.

Yes value is subjective ,  from both side  ( this video on the subject is great by the way  : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNtKXWNKGN8 )  

DE gouging price  , we will never know all the details of the price , but there is one that we can estimate and it is the cost of printing  :

for  2000 Copy ,color print, about the same estimate size ,440 page hard cover , quality paper , custom gold stamping  ,  it come to  35 - 40 $ per book  , and the more you print the cheaper it get . 

Knowing that i was expecting 100-120 $ for the final cost , but like you say value is subjective , and if it does not sell well ( or too much stock ) the price will maybe drop 

 

 

 

[Folken999]

Let me add my experience. I also was very excited about the book, and was planning to buy two copies, one for me and one for my brother. I live in the UK. I was expecting the book to be cheaper, perhaps 100GBP top including tax, though each book is about 170GBP (incl tax). But OK, I thought I can make the effort. However, if you want to buy two books the shipping cost goes up, as you can see below to 240 USD for the cheapest option, it can go up to 307 USD for a different shipping option. So, with disappointment, I will pass. 

Subtotal$359.98

Shipping$240.29

Estimated taxes$72.00

TotalUSD $672.27

[(PSN)slightconfuzzled]

Hello. 

I am not a book expert, in the sense of having a good understanding of pricing as far as size, pages, content so on. Well, I know a teeny tiny bit via Graphic Design, but not much, especially when adding variables like different country standards, materials, and just... a whole bunch of other variables. 

Soo in that respect, I am not sure whether its wise to compare a book from a game dev which may involve many different artists and designers, over the course of 10 years or longer, to a book which seems (feel free to correct me), more about one particular artist/photographer. Like to me, that is one difference that stands out. Colour is also a huge factor, and there may be many many more factors I am just ignorant or naive to. 

Regardless of all that though, I do sympathise with the idea of someone finding the price too much, and well... I would want to say a lot about the world we live in that creates such scenarios, but Forum rules don't really like us going into those topics. I probably won't be able to get the book either, mostly because of the shipping costs, would probably be more expensive than the actual book lol, but I have also brought many art books for myself and friends, and they are great and I wish they were more accessible for all people. Art is inspiring and life affirming, and not just for people who can afford it. 

I do also see this as being different than the Heirloom skin issues, but I can see why a comparison was made. There will probably be more reprints of the books, its also a permanent real physical item, not temporary. Hopefully also many of the artists and designers of DE will also be benefitting from sales as well. I could be naive, but I don't necessarily think the art books prices are unfair or gouging. Again though, I hope you can eventually get one through an eventual sale or price reduction. It looks great. 

[Folken999]

To clarify my point of view, my main issue is with shipping costs. It is not clear to me why it should cost 90 dollars to ship one book to the UK, which is already a little overpriced, and 240 dollars to ship two books.

I can come to terms with the price of the book. Perhaps I was hoping for a lighter book or a different format, with a lower target price.

[PublikDomain]

1 hour ago, (NSW)Folken said:

To clarify my point of view, my main issue is with shipping costs. It is not clear to me why it should cost 90 dollars to ship one book to the UK, which is already a little overpriced, and 240 dollars to ship two books.

I can come to terms with the price of the book. Perhaps I was hoping for a lighter book or a different format, with a lower target price.

I imagine it's the "to the UK" part. I wanted to order a knife from a UK blacksmith recently and shipping was like £80. A few years ago when I bought another knife from the same blacksmith it was only £30. Shipping for the artbook to Arizona was only $20 USD.

Edit: Also when it comes to shipping it'll tell you who you can ship by:

So if there are questions about shipping costs you could always check with the carrier.

Edited August 29, 2023 by PublikDomain

[German]

vor 17 Stunden schrieb Yakhul:

You are paying to have a piece of art, from the paper used, the cover, and more importantly, the collective work of art of many artists over the years, their life long work.

Plus it ships from Canada, if you live outside of the continent, ofc the shipping will be expensive.

Amazing, you managed to miss the point of his post with everything you said.

[KIREEK]

Well,  i see you can only preorder and i guess this is to make the final estimation on how many to produce more accurate.

It's in full color so i guess 4/4 colors or 4+1/4+1 (color selection), they don't specify dimensions or paper, but i assume the size dimensions were made in a way that maximises the paper size before cut, you most certainly don't want a book with an unoptimized dimension otherwise you might end up needing twice the paper and wasting a bunch of it in the process.

Obviously the more is made, the cheaper it gets, the hardest and most costly parts are the start  (relative to time), the machine printing only requires more time and ink really and you want to spend most of your time on the printing and less time on the prep phase, the less you print, the more the prep phase cost is revealed.

The cost is high not gonna lie, but DE likely gave a low number on how many to produce and they have to put their margin aswell. On top of this you have the shipping and i can see the value rising into the 200 usd, it's not unreasonable, especially for such a unique thing.

Edited August 29, 2023 by KIREEK

[kamisama85]

It's a physical memorabilia collectable. Most buyers will not concern themselves over the price. Only how soon they can buy and receive it.
If it's out of your budget, then that's just how it is. DE will have no control over other regional print services and the quality control of print/craft could end up inconsistent. Why would anyone want to do that? It just means you are taking the process of printing lightly.

The guy who itemized the expenses based on whatever prices they found on the internet fails to take into account the cost of the time spent creating that content and the expenses that were involved. Additionally, yes it is a business. There has to be some profit involved to keep producing more of this. This should however not be confused with the recent Heirloom skins debacle. This is a physical product we are talking about and it has a process of printing and delivery to ensure each product is consistently the same level when the customer gets it. You may not be able to justify the cost in your mind, but that is just more proof that this product is not for you.

Maybe DE will provide a digital solution for those who don't want to spend that much in the future (and also less space taken up in the house). But until then, this is your only option.

[bervt]

 

Yes print cost is not the only cost (and nobody exept DE will ever know / and i do not fail to say it ^^ ),  but as to say this is not for us ( like luxury product for exemple )  is  true because of the price , but sad when they made this book for the community and celebrating the 10 years , we want this book and we express our unhapiness  about the price who make it less accessible .

 

maybe it will be a drop in the ocean and it will change nothing  ...

(digital edition will be an option , but i don't think they will do it )   

[L3512]

For people that live around the world, one option you can try is a freight forwarding company but I'm doubtful if there is much money to be saved on freight as it's gotten quite expensive in the last couple years.

[Josu.H]

does anyone know if it is only for a limited time or if it will be available even after pre-order? because my current situation just can't afford he overseas shipping