Co$t of Playing Card$

[Grippingrain20]

I was thinking the other day about card games and why so few have succeeded. Surely there is more than one reason, but I think a big one is money and the costs associated with playing the game. As a big CCG fan, I have spent thousands on pieces of cardboard with cool pictures on them. Do you think it is worth it to dump so much money into a hobby? Would you buy more if the price was less. A pack of VS runs about $4.00. If it was $3.00, would it be more enticing to buy more knowing its $1.00 less? I personally believe players would buy more if the price was less. What would you change if you could in regards to pricing? Thoughts!

 

[The Advocate]

I would like to see UpperDeck and Konami keep the price of a pack at $2.99 and boxes between $49.99 and $59.99; also I would like to a focus on the structure decks and have them float from $7.99 to $9.99; but a fair price without a fair distribution system doesn't help anyone; maybe enlist a third party to guarantee a fair distribution among the boxes and do away with the ultimate rares.

 

[djp952]

I think they are too expensive for what you get. I remember being a kid and collecting baseball cards, and you got like 60 of them for $0.50. Not quite the same thing as CCGs, but using baseball cards as the example, now they're like 20x as much and you get 1/5th of the cards. Sure they're really shiny now, but who cares?

I can't speak for Vs., but in the YGO world, when we went to 60 card sets, the price and the number of cards in each pack should have dropped. I think the cost is more of a problem due to the WASTE involved. If I paid $4.00 for 9 YGO cards and could use 8 of them, that's a heck of a deal. If I pay $96.00 for 216 cards, and I throw away 200 of them, that's stupid (and about right, unfortunately).

My main beef with the price is that Upper Deck (ESPECIALLY Upper Deck) is full of horse hooey on the distribution of the 'money' cards. I challenge anyone to show me that it's really 1:24 for Ultra Rares. I've opened a LOT of cases of cards (all sealed) and I know a lot of people that have done the same, and there are 10 Ultra Rares in every 12 boxes on average. That's 1:28, and it significantly changes the pricing model. [Note: the Super Rare distribution in YGO is also whack, but in the other direction -- they're really closer to 1:5).

(Talk about a tangent rant, huh? LOL)

Summary: I would leave the price alone, and make the contents of the sets more worthwhile. Far less waste is needed, trees are saved, and customers are happier.

 

[Absird]

Well, Structure decks cost about $10, no one really plays VS so they cost $3. But Pokemon cost 4.99 a pack??? And in YGO older packs are 2.50 -3.00 and new realses are 5.00 or 5/20

 

[Digital Jedi]

No one really plays VS? That's not true at all and if you can get packs at $3 then you must be in an area that it's in a slump, because most of us have to pay $4 at the very least, but more the likely we'll be paying $5.99 even for an old set.

Sure, cheaper cards will always make investing in cards more appealing. Will it increase players interest in the game? Well, that rarely seems to be the case as a game has to truly be out of production for the price to go down substantially. Even older card sets from long standing games will just barely squeeze out as a deal for you.

Pricing is one of those things that needs to be part of the total package. Good tournament support. Good communication between the developers and the and the consumers. Clear concise rules and rulings. Easy access and user friendly sources for rules and rulings. Quality graphic design and artwork. And most importantly, a good, solid game. All of these further enhanced by logical pricing and you would have a game that people would be more then happy to spend more then the usual amount on.

Sadly, very few companies subscribe to all these philosophies. The acquisition of the dollar impedes the possibility of us getting any kind of quality of product, unless someone in power has the love and dedication to his craft/business to give us something made with pride. You see this every so often in places like classic Disney, when Walt was still running it or even some years after his death. In fact, take a look McDonalds, Burger King, Jack in the Box and compare them to Chick-fil-et one day. Whether you care for the food or not, you can see a distinct difference between the quality of product at Chic-fil-et and other fast food joints.

One day we'll get that quality TCG, but I don't see any significant changes coming out of UDE specifically any time soon.

 

[Grippingrain20]

I agree with alot of what has been said. I think alot of the problem with distribution comes from the number of hands a single product touches from manufacturing till purchase. I have talked to a number of distributors and they have told me that they dont even get their product straight from UDE. The more people that touch it, the more it costs. Why not eliminate the middle man and deal strictly with the retail stores where consumers shop? It boggles my mind how UDE can ask the consumer to purchase packs at $4.00 a pop in a retail store when they can go online and pay $2.50 or so.

I like Jedi's outlook on the philosophy of a well balanced company. IT all comes down to making as much as possible and then cutting bait. As a salesman, I see it everyday. Other salesmen in my office will raise prices, or simply go in high to start, sell the product and lose the business shortly thereafter. I like the approach of gaining the trust of the end user by not raping them with pricing and then rely that the relationship formed will carry on over time. Its woorked so far. Its amazing corporations dont think more about the consumer wants and needs rather than their own.

I dont know that cheaper cards would make a game more appealing. I do know that I would personally buy more if they were cheaper. Talking myself into spending $15 for 5 packs is alot easier then talking myself into spending $20.

It was mentioned that some frustration arises around the quality and usefulness of the cards in a pack. I like this view because I think we all can relate to buying 9 or 14 or however many cards and only finding a use for 1 or 2. Would it help or hurt TCG's if the "better" cards were easier to attain?

 

[The Advocate]

I would just like to agree with most of what has been said; I have bought 3 boxes of the cyberdark impact and have gotten squat. I have also purchased 3 Enemy of Justice boxes and am still missing key money cards; I'm not even pulling 6 ultras/supers per box.