So a friend of mine has about 6-7 hardcover books that cost him around $90+ AUD each that he got over a few years, but we almost exclusively use Dnd Beyond for skills, feats, spells, items, etc, however, we were sharing an account with one of his friends who had paid for some of the digital books and a master sub on top of that but since stopped sharing a sub, my question is, why do we (people outside of the USA) have to pay a further $45+ for the same book just on the mobile app, then on top, a sub to share those books, should there not be like a discount at least %75 off code inside the books so that you can put them on your DND Beyond account, I feel like paying a further $250+ AUD upfront to have these hardcovers online is pretty bad, i understand that these get coded into the app/website but the sub alone should cover alot of that cost, plus the remaining %25 e-books cost would be very fair for players and this company.
D&D Beyond is not owned or run by Wizards of the Coast (who make D&D). As such, there are no codes or vouchers in the physical books for D&D Beyond, it is it's own separate retailer, like Amazon.
As for the price, books on D&D Beyond are sold at $29.99 USD, which is 40% below the MSRP of the books as set by Wizards of the Coast ($49.99 USD). Things like sales tax for your local region, or the ability to acquire books on sale for a significant discount, are beyond D&D Beyonds control.
For further information, I'd suggest reading this thread
Since you mention using DDB primarily for skills, feats, items, etc., and since one of your friends has at least some of the hardcovers, there are some options that could cost you less and still make use of DDB:
-at no cost at all (aside from time), you could homebrew the character options (feats, subclasses, spells, etc.) that you need. private homebrew is automatically shared in campaigns (even without a subscription) so your group could even split up the homebrewing. [Be sure not to publish this homebrew, as publishing homebrew that is not your own work is against the terms of sale.
-each of you could also purchase just the items you need as you need them. Anything you spend on these items gets counted toward the cost of the book they are part of, reducing the price of the “book.” As a DM, I did this with the Monster Manual monsters when I lost access to content sharing. (Back before a generous gift let me go all in here). These wouldn’t be shared with others in the group unless someone decides top purchase a Master Tier subscription and turn on content sharing.
-You could combine these two approaches, homebrewing those things that are easy to homebrew, and purchasing those things that are harder.
If such an idea appeals to you, you might check out the Buyer’s Guide linked in my signature, as it spells out several different purchasing strategies depending on how you want to use the site.
I'm in Australia and I have never seen hardcover books for $90! They retail for AUD$60, and places like Gameology sell them for AUD$48.
Don't buy through the app using in app purchases. Use the DDB Marketplace website. The conversion rate in the app is weird. USD$29.99 is not AUD$45.99. Buy during sales if you can.
As mention above by ArwensDaughter, you also don't have to purchase the full book on here if you have the hardcover. Just buy the features you need. It only costs a few dollars.
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So a friend of mine has about 6-7 hardcover books that cost him around $90+ AUD each that he got over a few years, but we almost exclusively use Dnd Beyond for skills, feats, spells, items, etc, however, we were sharing an account with one of his friends who had paid for some of the digital books and a master sub on top of that but since stopped sharing a sub, my question is, why do we (people outside of the USA) have to pay a further $45+ for the same book just on the mobile app, then on top, a sub to share those books, should there not be like a discount at least %75 off code inside the books so that you can put them on your DND Beyond account, I feel like paying a further $250+ AUD upfront to have these hardcovers online is pretty bad, i understand that these get coded into the app/website but the sub alone should cover alot of that cost, plus the remaining %25 e-books cost would be very fair for players and this company.
D&D Beyond is not owned or run by Wizards of the Coast (who make D&D). As such, there are no codes or vouchers in the physical books for D&D Beyond, it is it's own separate retailer, like Amazon.
As for the price, books on D&D Beyond are sold at $29.99 USD, which is 40% below the MSRP of the books as set by Wizards of the Coast ($49.99 USD). Things like sales tax for your local region, or the ability to acquire books on sale for a significant discount, are beyond D&D Beyonds control.
For further information, I'd suggest reading this thread
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
Since you mention using DDB primarily for skills, feats, items, etc., and since one of your friends has at least some of the hardcovers, there are some options that could cost you less and still make use of DDB:
-at no cost at all (aside from time), you could homebrew the character options (feats, subclasses, spells, etc.) that you need. private homebrew is automatically shared in campaigns (even without a subscription) so your group could even split up the homebrewing. [Be sure not to publish this homebrew, as publishing homebrew that is not your own work is against the terms of sale.
-each of you could also purchase just the items you need as you need them. Anything you spend on these items gets counted toward the cost of the book they are part of, reducing the price of the “book.” As a DM, I did this with the Monster Manual monsters when I lost access to content sharing. (Back before a generous gift let me go all in here). These wouldn’t be shared with others in the group unless someone decides top purchase a Master Tier subscription and turn on content sharing.
-You could combine these two approaches, homebrewing those things that are easy to homebrew, and purchasing those things that are harder.
If such an idea appeals to you, you might check out the Buyer’s Guide linked in my signature, as it spells out several different purchasing strategies depending on how you want to use the site.
Trying to Decide if DDB is for you? A few helpful threads: A Buyer's Guide to DDB; What I/We Bought and Why; How some DMs use DDB; A Newer Thread on Using DDB to Play
Helpful threads on other topics: Homebrew FAQ by IamSposta; Accessing Content by ConalTheGreat;
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I'm in Australia and I have never seen hardcover books for $90! They retail for AUD$60, and places like Gameology sell them for AUD$48.
Don't buy through the app using in app purchases. Use the DDB Marketplace website. The conversion rate in the app is weird. USD$29.99 is not AUD$45.99. Buy during sales if you can.
As mention above by ArwensDaughter, you also don't have to purchase the full book on here if you have the hardcover. Just buy the features you need. It only costs a few dollars.