You forgot to factor shipping costs into the total overall cost of the transaction.
Entry fee for Pre-releases increased?
- Thread starter JohnnyBlaze
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You forgot to factor shipping costs into the total overall cost of the transaction.
ApachePrime
New Member
$67 might've been wholesale in the 90's. :thumb:
DJGigabyte
Forum Moderator
In the UK, Prereleases cost the equivalent of $32 (and have for at least the past few sets where I've been) and take place 1-2 weeks AFTER the general release date, and our PTO's still feel comfortable running them and being able to recoup costs.
But on the otherside of that, a single pack in store would set you back the equivalent of $5.60
I almost never participate due to being able to get a box and promo much cheaper online, the last one I participated in (Dragons Exalted) was because I had gone to league while my girlfriend was at work and hadn't realised it was Prereleas day until I got there, then figured why not.
But on the otherside of that, a single pack in store would set you back the equivalent of $5.60
I almost never participate due to being able to get a box and promo much cheaper online, the last one I participated in (Dragons Exalted) was because I had gone to league while my girlfriend was at work and hadn't realised it was Prereleas day until I got there, then figured why not.
NoPoke
Active Member
Please don't speak for the whole of the UK. Two weeks after the release date is an exception and mostly associated with the August summer holiday release. The UK has lots of pre-release events that take place before the street date.
POP I'd go occasionally at $25 depending on what the PR card was and how much good stuff was in a set. I wouldn't go for 1 or 2 chase cards but went (well paid my brother to go) to the Dragons Exalted PR because the set was full of good cards...I wasn't feeling good t $25 and $30 pushes me over the edge.
JohnnyBlaze
New Member
Hey Jimmy - I really like your post as it brings up a totally different view point as Pokemon likened to a sporting event or entertainment event. Also as a store owner and PTO you bring up some really good points. As a head of family of 5 Pokemon Players I can no longer justify the $150 for entertainment value. Unfortunately with the economy as poor as it is I have stopped traveling to pre-releases and only support my local League that a PTO comes in from another town to run those pre-releases. Especially since that $150 will encompass 4 pre-releases a year would equal to $600 a year in entertainment value that is a bit much for me to continue to support. I may have just 1 or 2 of my kids play from now on. I certainly will not play in anymore pre-releases as a result of this price increase.
DJGigabyte
Forum Moderator
Sorry about that. I was just going by what I'd seen in my area. The North seems to be a bit behind the South for Pokémon stuff sometimes.
ShadowCard
Active Member
If looking at numbers alone, it would be connected to the time of the sale. If you're at a store where the owner or manager is behind the counter, he or she sees that a pokemon player is buying the items. It's not too hard to see that they are there for pokemon.
In the same way, Pokemon items bought on non-event days don't connect as a benefit to having pokemon events at the venue. So, league players, if they really want to benefit their venue, have to buy on the league day and at some point not too long before/after league time.
It works the same way for a place that tracks numbers but does not sell anything. You know the numbers going back over the last few weeks. If the numbers are higher than usual on a day when there is a pokemon event but also drop if pokemon was not there, you can safely attribute the spike of the number counter to the pokemon event since that is what is different.
ogremarauder
New Member
If they start giving premium pr cards, then no one(oops, I mean most) would say nothing about the increase. like an Ex or Blastoise or something.
psychup2034
New Member
Perfect, I’m glad you bring this up, because I think you have a valid argument. Yes, you’re selling entertainment. However, there are consumers here implicitly telling the supplier(s) that we don’t value the entertainment aspect of prereleases as much as you think that we do.
Economics teaches us that consumers value services (entertainment in this case) on a spectrum. In other words, different people are willing to pay different prices for the same service. I went through this thread and dug up the posts where someone explicitly says “I’m not going to go at $30” and where someone says “I’m still going to go at $30.” Please correct me so I can make any additions if I have missed any.
There are 6 people who explicitly said that they’re won’t attend prereleases at a $30 price.
(Example 1, Example 2, Example 3, Example 4, Example 5, Example 6)
There are 2 people who explicitly said that they’re still going to go to prereleases at a $30 price.
(Example 1, Example 2)
I get why the price needs to go up. PTO costs are increasing as (1) venue costs increase and (2) support from Pokemon is not aligned with inflation (to put it nicely). My position is that I understand that PTO prices need to go up, but from a consumer standpoint, I will not go to a prerelease at $30. I broke down my decision in this post. The $5 increase puts me over the edge. There are a couple people amongst the 6 examples above who explicitly say that the $5 difference is also what put them over the edge.
Moreover, Pokemon happens every weekend. For a lot of players (even the non-competitive ones), the grind of the long season becomes a drag. By the time the Boundaries crossed prerelease rolls around, I will have attended 8 Pokemon events in 7 weeks. Am I willing to attend a 9th one at an increased cost where the grand prize is literally a pat on the back? Absolutely not.
I actually enjoy prereleases myself, but I don’t like the price anymore. I'm not blaming the PTOs here; I understand why prices need to go up. If someone enjoys prereleases and tolerates the price increase to $30, then they won’t be dissuaded just from my posts. I’m not discouraging anyone from going to prereleases. I’m merely pointing out the fact that there’s some people who are going to stop going to them because of the price increase.
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mudkipmaster
Member
I've grown accustomed to the system that we have though. I'm sorry I didn't expand upon my earlier post. Prereleases are also tournaments I go to in order to see some of my friends. Usually my personal life takes up most of my time so I don't get to see them at any other time than an event.
I guess it's not just the cards, but also being able to sit with my friends, catch up on things, and have some fun.
Mystery Thing
Administrator
Depends on the store. The place we have league is a two story store; the upper floor is entirely gaming and bottom floor is entirely merch. Depending on where you sit upstairs and what part of the store you're shopping in, you can't see from one to the other. The TCG counter is directly below the upstairs gaming area - if somebody goes down there to buy generic sleeves/deckboxes/etc, there is no way to know what group is responsible for the purchase unless there's a blatant giveaway (like a shirt or something).
Also, the store is so large that we are never the only group there - the average Sunday will have us, a handful of MTG players, a Warhammer painting group, and sometimes a WoW tournament. Obviously themed items (boosters, game-specific sleeves) are kind of the exception. But if a random late teen-20something walks downstairs, buys a board game or dice or something, and heads back up, they would have no idea on a glance what group was responsible for that purchase.
ShadowCard
Active Member
On the point that PokePop made, you should adjust your counts for people who do not go to prereleases already at $25. If they aren't going now at $25, they already do not value them.
Yes, every store is different. If the numbers are important to them, the store has a system to determine what sales are generated by what events. It is amazing what kind of reports one can come up with and what can be done to gather information.
You know, I just noticed something: Most of you aren't including sales tax in your number.
Most PTOs include the tax in their $30 price.
In most cases, that amounts to $2.00 or so.
So the real price we are talking about is ~$28.00 when comparing to retail prices.
So that's $3.50 per pack.
Carry on.
Most PTOs include the tax in their $30 price.
In most cases, that amounts to $2.00 or so.
So the real price we are talking about is ~$28.00 when comparing to retail prices.
So that's $3.50 per pack.
Carry on.
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Mosetter27
New Member
$30 is kinda steep but I went to my first event at the All Things Fun Dragons Exalted Pre-Release since the release of team Rocket... and me and my son had an absolute blast.... $5 extra isn't going to break my back. Heck I buy boxes by the weeks and what not lol. I still question at that event why people who were picked for random prizes were picking things like Dice, a deck box from NV and not picking the ***. Dragon Selection Cards... lol I wanted them so bad...
Mosetter27
New Member
oh lol... either way... your running the one on the 28th correct? hopefully i can at least get a deckbox as last time because I went to the front desk first the guy in front of me got the very last one.
FirestormXVI
Member
Mystery Thing, a cool thing that BC has been doing at events this season is holding a draw for packs for anyone who buys $4 or more in merchandise. It helps push people who are considering grabbing some merch over the edge =)
I usually get packs at $4 no tax and a pre-release works out to $4.375 (BC pre-releases are $35 as mentioend earlier). I think they're fun and an alright investment.
psychup, I hope you understand that more people complain about things on these boards than not complain. The majority of what you saw might be "won't go" but I'm fairly certain that it'll be a minority that stop going to pre-releases.
I usually get packs at $4 no tax and a pre-release works out to $4.375 (BC pre-releases are $35 as mentioend earlier). I think they're fun and an alright investment.
psychup, I hope you understand that more people complain about things on these boards than not complain. The majority of what you saw might be "won't go" but I'm fairly certain that it'll be a minority that stop going to pre-releases.
Mystery Thing
Administrator
Yeah, we started doing something like that here too this season.
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