Price Drop at Amazon for C3C

[Ladis McDadis]

Thunderfall keeps posting that C3C's price is dropping at Amazon. If I remember my econ correctly, this means C3C is not selling? As price would stay the same if people were buying it.

Could it also mean Amazon overstocked the product, and needs to get rid of inventory, unless they have some buying metric where the price drops if it was selling well, to further sales by broading the price demographic for a larger audience.

But my ultimate question is how does this impact the possibility of C3C to Mac? Especially becuase if Amazon drops the price, their buying or selling power will forces others to drop the price as well.

--- Laddy

 

[dojoboy]

I would say Amazon overstocked w/ Christmas on the horizon. I saw it for #29.99 at MediaPlay today.

 

[AlanH]

I'd be very surprised if Amazon have to dispose of stock. In my experience big retailers don't take a stock risk, the publishers do, and Amazon are likely to have a sale-or-return deal.

 

[dojoboy]

Then why would prices fluctuate so greatly between retailers?

 

[AlanH]

Each retailer has a separately negotiated deal on their purchase price that relates to their strength as a retailer, and they each have a different % margin that they need to make on each sale to cover their costs and to make the profit level they need to satisfy their shareholders. Add the minimum margin to the purchase cost and you get their minimum price level.

If they have no exposure to stock write-off, they will not sell below that minimum. They can choose to sell above the minimum, depending on what they consider the market will stand. After that individual retailers are looking at factors like customer loyalty, perceived added value and so on that may allow them to charge more or less than other retailers. If they think their sales volume will respond to reduced prices then they will reduce them closer to their minimum - a factor called price elasticity, but that's a market analysis that none of us can guess at. Maybe what you are seeing is Amazon testing the elasticity of demand vs. price, in which case the publisher is probably funding the price reductions.

Sorry for the "Marketing 101" exposition. All I commented on was the suggestion that Amazon would be "selling off" C3C due to over-stocking. I just think it unlikely unless the publisher has reduced the cost price to Amazon rather than take back the stock returns.

 

[Ladis McDadis]

Alan ---

"Which case the publisher is probably funding the price reductions."

To boost sales? If this is correct, then this would have a factor in porting C3C, right?

 

[AlanH]

You're clutching at straws!

If they are trying to boost sales by cutting prices they are either panicking because the Christmas market forecast isn't being achieved and some poor mut's job is on the line, or they see that tested price reductions are bringing in enough extra sales to net them extra gross revenue. Whether the final sales figures for the season will make a Mac version look a viable proposition depends on too many factors for us mere mortals even to guess at.

No harm trying though, just don't ask me to speculate along with you. I don't do guessing

 

[hawai_74]

They dont want civ 3 anymore. They want to see their warehouse empty and to think how civ 4 will fit in there.

 

[Ladis McDadis]

Um... I'm just trying to understand how a C3C port would begin for the Mac. You seem to have some understanding of the subject. I asked if it was A factor in a port. Not if it was THE factor in a port. But don't do anything you wouldn't want to do. And thanks for your insight.

 

[dojoboy]

Originally posted by Ladis McDadis
Um... I'm just trying to understand how a C3C port would begin for the Mac. You seem to have some understanding of the subject. I asked if it was A factor in a port. Not if it was THE factor in a port. But don't do anything you wouldn't want to do. And thanks for your insight.

C3C PC sales need to hit a certain number before MacSoft, who owns the rights to porting C3C, would deem the investment worthy of potential sales. Customer loyalty is important but a Mac publishing company isn't going to risk its future on it, particularly since Macs are approx. 5% (?) of the market. I don't know how the PC sales price of C3C copies sold factors into the decision. I imagine it does.