Quote from BrokenDM >>

Im not sure where some of you are getting prices from. The players handbook can be had for far less then $49. In fact you can get it and pretty much of all the D&D books from Amazon for about $25-29. New at that. Third party stuff is a different story.

Amazon is the exception, not the rule. MSRP is $49.99, which is what you'll find it for at pretty much any store.

Quote from 1WngdAngel >>

Quote from BrokenDM >>

Im not sure where some of you are getting prices from. The players handbook can be had for far less then $49. In fact you can get it and pretty much of all the D&D books from Amazon for about $25-29. New at that. Third party stuff is a different story.

Amazon is the exception, not the rule. MSRP is $49.99, which is what you'll find it for at pretty much any store.

 Except that almost everyone can order it from Amazon, making Amazon the rule, and other stores the exception.

MSRP is the rule.

Anything else is an exception, no matter how easily accessed it might be.

Actually, MSRP stands for "Manufacturer's suggested retail price".

Since it is a suggestion, it is, by definition, not the rule.

If product A is available at 10 stores for $5.00, and only 2 stores for $8.00, then it doesn't matter if the manufacturer suggested $8.00, the "rule" for product A will be $5.

Since Amazon is available to almost everyone in every country, it is the equivalent of being "more stores" than the limited number of game or book stores within a reasonable area to any one buyer, making the price Amazon sells it for the "rule" compared to the far more limited number of places where it costs more.

In other words, if you can more easily get it cheaper, and nothing compels you to pay more, then the real value of that product is the cheaper one.

Quote from mjsoctober >>

Actually, MSRP stands for "Manufacturer's suggested retail price".

Since it is a suggestion, it is, by definition, not the rule.

If product A is available at 10 stores for $5.00, and only 2 stores for $8.00, then it doesn't matter if the manufacturer suggested $8.00, the "rule" for product A will be $5.

Since Amazon is available to almost everyone in every country, it is the equivalent of being "more stores" than the limited number of game or book stores within a reasonable area to any one buyer, making the price Amazon sells it for the "rule" compared to the far more limited number of places where it costs more.

In other words, if you can more easily get it cheaper, and nothing compels you to pay more, then the real value of that product is the cheaper one.

 No, the “value” of something is measured by how much people are willing to pay for it. A lot of people are willing to pay $49.99, so that is the value to them. Other people are not willing to pay more than $29.99, so that is the value to them.

If someone says they are not willing to pay DDB for the products DDB sells, then that means the products DDB sells hold no value for those people. If people do not value what DDB offers, then why the heck are there all of these arguments that DDB should give those products out anyway.

@IamSposta I'm not arguing about DDB, rather I'm arguing that an MSRP of $50 is not the "rule", since physical copies of the books are easily available to almost everyone for much less than the MSRP.

I was bringing the conversation back “on topic” so the the Moderators can’t say we’ve gone off on a tangent and lock the thread on us. Or, at least if they do, it wasn’t me who dunnit.

Quote from mjsoctober >>

@IamSposta I'm not arguing about DDB, rather I'm arguing that an MSRP of $50 is not the "rule", since physical copies of the books are easily available to almost everyone for much less than the MSRP.

You clearly have no idea what you're talking about. Every single store anywhere will sell D&D books for the MSRP. Just because Amazon is widely available for less than that doesn't mean a thing, it's still the one place you can get them cheaper which makes it the exception.

there should be one free one, but how do uou play? like online? whatever, also im sorry but did you say you have to pay for them TWICE? jeez, thats like 60 (taxes applies) dollars, greedy not gonna lie, not really worth it, but i guess its at least a bit cool.

Quote from jadpierce26 >>

there should be one free one, but how do uou play? like online? whatever, also im sorry but did you say you have to pay for them TWICE? jeez, thats like 60 (taxes applies) dollars, greedy not gonna lie, not really worth it, but i guess its at least a bit cool.

 Have you not read this thread? There are tons of wonderful posts saying exactly why this is wrong. Remember! The basic rules are free! You don't even have to pay a dime to play d&d! You can, but you don't have too.

Here is a wonderful new post explaining this: Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You FAQ - D&D Beyond Feedback - D&D Beyond General - D&D Beyond Forums - D&D Beyond (dndbeyond.com)

You can also just read this thread that you posted in.

Quote from jadpierce26 >>

there should be one free one, but how do uou play? like online? whatever, also im sorry but did you say you have to pay for them TWICE? jeez, thats like 60 (taxes applies) dollars, greedy not gonna lie, not really worth it, but i guess its at least a bit cool.

 
You already get Basic Rules free which are all the core rules of play, with the base classes with one subclass each, the base races (those that use subraces will have one free), most feats, many monsters, many magic items, many backgrounds and more for free. 

There is a free to read New Player Guide to help you get started with playing the game. 

You can use the content online or offline. For offline you could download the D&D Beyond apps which allow you to download the sources for offline reading. For online use you can just use the website on your laptop, tablet or smartphone. There are other guides and resources available on the Quarantine Resources page. 

You most assuredly do not have to pay twice. If you already have the physical books you can just use those. If you need the options for use on this site's character sheet tool then you can just recreate them using the homebrew tools for free (there's only one exception: the Artificer class as homebrew classes are not yet supported). You can share homebrew within a campaign without needing any subs and without needing to share publicly. So nobody needs to pay twice for anything except the Artificer and for Artificer it's like $1.99.

All this information can be found by checking the menu at the top of every page or by reading this thread or other pinned threads. Sometimes it may be worth checking a site out and reading for a few minutes before posting.

Quote from grizzyGR >>

This should be the norm: purchase hardcover and get a free code for the website. All WotC needs to do is throw DDB a percentage and it can be done. 

 Yes, i agree. Dnd beyond is going to be a not used website in 10 years, so why spend 700 dollars getting all the content on a website that will eventually shut down, or better ones will pop up in 10 or less years

Not at all! I'd happily pay more to get it on here and in book form but not at the exact same price! Perhaps the guys who run dndbeyond could eventually bulk buy the books and then send them when you pay for the online info?

Quote from GunlunDerby >>

Quote from grizzyGR >>

This should be the norm: purchase hardcover and get a free code for the website. All WotC needs to do is throw DDB a percentage and it can be done. 

 Yes, i agree. Dnd beyond is going to be a not used website in 10 years, so why spend 700 dollars getting all the content on a website that will eventually shut down, or better ones will pop up in 10 or less years

 
So don't pay it. It's very simple. If you don't see the value brought to you by the website, don't pay for it.

Quote from NikitaBaralis >>

Not at all! I'd happily pay more to get it on here and in book form but not at the exact same price! Perhaps the guys who run dndbeyond could eventually bulk buy the books and then send them when you pay for the online info?

 It's not the same price for a digital version. The full "book" with all the digital tools is $29.99, $20 less than a physical copy, and the compendium only is $19.99. You can also piecemeal out any options you want and this will be subtracted from the overall price.

I'm really interested in how many of you complain about cost and buying twice on Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, etc. I also wonder what the age demographic is. I grew up having to replace cassettes with CDs and then MP3s, videos with DVD and then Blu-Ray. I stand by my assertion this is a heated topic because a lot of people don't place any value on digital products. 

You can't sell Ideas, I don't see why you can just right there stuff down. this tool is just a convenience. They still make money of of physical books and merchandise 

Quote from Mradamgamer >>

You can't sell Ideas, I don't see why you can just right there stuff down. this tool is just a convenience. They still make money of of physical books and merchandise 

 D&D BEYOND IS NOT OWNED BY WIZARDS OF THE COAST. THEY ARE A SEPARATE COMPANY THAT DOES NOT MAKE MONEY FROM PHYSICAL BOOKS.

Quote from superboy2009 >>

i hiat dat u syd Pay  for the tule books so i kan make te kariktor u want i wust wont to hav acsis to all rulls and make a artifistor or  to hav more options on ceric jen i tuse my divind domain

I can't tell whether this is sarcasm or not.

Quote from ScorchHellfire >>

That's lame. You shouldn't have to pay for the books twice to use them on here...

 Dndbeyond is run by fandom, a completely different company than wizards of the coast.

What your saying is that if you eat a sandwich somewhere, all other sandwiches should be free

I tried doing that for a rifle, but it does not appear for any of my characters, because I don’t have the source book for it in a digital copy.