Hi Guys,

 So, the next module on my list to collect was B7.  Acaeum says about $12 in mint condition, but that estimate is a few years old.  I get on Ebay and Amazon and the prices are insane!  $50-90?  $175?  Why?  I'm not talking about the super-rare Daystar, but plain old vanilla mass-produced (Rarity 1) B7.   There's a company on Ebay that wants $202 for theirs.  I wrote them to ask if that was a typo.  No, they're serious.  And, they have four copies for sale.  They told me something about "Our pricing is based on Amazon marketplace and adjusts automatically."   

That makes no sense to me at all.  What is driving the cost of this module through the roof?   The fact that it has a much rarer first edition?  Wouldn't the fact that no, to very little, product is moving at that price tell them they something?  

Thanks for the input!  

R

It baffles me as well.   I went back to look at the most recent modules I had purchased for my collection...

UK2      8.00
X5       10.00
X6       10.00
B4       23.00
B5       24.00
B6       22.50

B6  has 16 copies available on Ebay in the 26-45 range and a couple in the 50-70 range.  
B7 Rahasia is going to cost me at least 35-40, if I avoid completely shredded copies selling for around 20, and other copies selling in the 95-99 range. Not to mention Amazon which tells me:  
    13 used from $175
    2 new from $1975.78
 Now remember, not a Daystar in sight.  It's still the same B7 green cover from TSR.   What could possibly justify that?

Why the bump?  Does anyone know what information Amazon Marketplace is providing sellers that might make them believe that their products warrant the upcharge.  Now, I know that the price is whatever the market will bear, but it is frustrating when trying to fill holes in a collection and the market seems out of whack.  

Thanks for the education...

Thanks for bringing this to my attention.  I was not aware that this particular module had become more expensive.  This was one of my favorite modules in my younger days.  I loved anything written by the Hickmans.  Of course, this was before Dragonlance, but I even like those modules, at least to read.  

Here's a copy in what appears to be Very Good condition for $25.00 or so plus shipping:


** expired/removed eBay auction **


FoulFoot makes a good point about eBay moving away from auctions, even though they promote free auction listings only instead of fixed-price auctions like they once did.  What's happening however, is that sellers are simply making their starting price what their fixed-price used to be.  

I think with patience you can eventually get what you want at a better price.  Hang in there.

robertleegrant wrote in Plain Old Vanilla B7 Rhasia: They told me something about "Our pricing is based on Amazon marketplace and adjusts automatically."   

That makes no sense to me at all.  What is driving the cost of this module through the roof?  

Haven't studied this item (or much else closely, in recent years)
But here's my guess:

As Staro noted, a lot of pricing is self-fulfilling "monkey-see monkey-do" nonsense.  1 guy sets a module out for sale at a ridiculous 'sucker price', because the pricing structure of Amazon and eBay BIN (unfortunately) don't disincentivize such crap.  Next guy comes along, can only find one other copy for sale, and is perfectly happy and willing to believe he's got something special, so he models his price after the other stupidly priced item that is sitting there, not selling.  And so on, and so on.

Now when this particular seller says their price "adjusts automatically", that likely means they have scripting code that searches Amazon, eBay, Noble Knight, whatever they've programmed it to look at.  Then, when it finds a match, it records the price.  Based on whatever algorithm they chose to set up (average of all currently available, 5% less than the lowest available, or whatever), their price gets set.
However, their search code isn't sophisticated enough to distinguish between slight variants.  So when they list their "Rahasia" and send their program off to find matching products, it locates Daystar Rahasias, and includes them into the pricing algorithm, leading to nonsensical values...which other 'manual pricers' are happy to mimic.

Thanks for the advice and the heads up.   I saw that $25 copy above, but if you look at the other picures, it really does appear pretty beaten up.   If I was looking for just a play copy, it would be okay, but I am trying to build a collection here.  

My plan so far has been to collect all the TSR modules in chronological order.  (Decided to skip RPGA for now).  I downloaded a list of all the TSR modules and arranged it by publish date.   So, every few weeks I get a couple as I work my way down the list, and enjoy reading them (some for the first time.).   I started in 78 obviously, and got the Giants and Drow, and I'm all the way up to 1984 now.  You would think they would be getting cheaper as I progressed.  Weird, that it is not really working out that way.  

I like the Hickmans too, mostly.   Re-reading Ravenloft after all these years was a joy.   But.  As I progress into the mid 1980's...Dragonlance is on the horizon (all 17,000 of them).   I may have to buy them their own box....

R

robertleegrant wrote in Plain Old Vanilla B7 Rhasia: I started in 78 obviously, and got the Giants and Drow, and I'm all the way up to 1984 now.  You would think they would be getting cheaper as I progressed.  Weird, that it is not really working out that way.

1979-82 was the era of the D&D fad, with many copies sold of a smaller number of titles. Sales were declining in the mid-80s, yet by this time TSR kept many more different titles in print. So fewer copies of each title.

GreyM,

I follow the same practice - the condition is less important than completeness, and getting one to fill the collection hole is vastly more important.  Further more, if I find another copy in better condition, I can do what you do and sell the other one, or keep it to have a play copy.    Unless it's a B2 and I keep every one.  But that's just me.

~throwi