How are the TSR/WotC PDFs selling?

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I was curious… after a few days how are the PDFs selling.  We have three public lists to evaluate: the RPGNow best sellers list, the DriveThruRPG best sellers and the D&D Classics list.

All the lists are fluid, but as I write this here are the top 5 on the D&D Classics list:

  1. D&D Basic Set Rulebook
  2. T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil
  3. B2 Keep on the Borderlands
  4. G1-3 Against the Giants
  5. D3 Vault of the Drow
  6. Q1 Queen of the Deamonweb Pits
  7. D1-2 Descent into the Depths of the Earth
  8. B4 The Lost City
  9. Deities and Demigods
  10. U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh

RPGNow has:

  1. D&D Basic Set Rulebook
  2. B2 Keep on the Borderlands
  3. High Space core rules
  4. Winterhawk Church
  5. B4 The Lost City
  6. T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil
  7. B3 Palace of the Silver Princess
  8. G1-3 Against the Giants
  9. Barebones Fantasy
  10. B11 King’s Festival

DriveThruRPG’s top 10:

  1. Only War Core
  2. D&D Basic Set Rulebook
  3. Shadowrun Way of the Samurai
  4. Dungeon World
  5. B2 Keep on the Borderlands
  6. T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil
  7. Battletech: Exp. Technical Readout
  8. G1-3 Against the Giants
  9. B4 The Lost City
  10. Leverage Companion 5

So what’s that tell us?

  • Each site seems to keep its own sales list, in case you weren’t sure.
  • Lots of credit are due to the non-TSR/WotC products on the list for holding their own.
  • I’m surprised the bundles aren’t doing better business.  ~$22.50 for C1-5?  $18 for GDQ? ~$13.50 for U1-3?
  • In case you’re curious the 4E products are #41, 50, 51, 61, 73, 74, 80, 82, & 84 of 86 products.  Maybe the low sales are due to them being more recent releases…?  Anyone care to speculate further?

5 Comments on “How are the TSR/WotC PDFs selling?”

  1. I’m a bit surprised that old stuff is selling well at all. I figured the older gamers already have a copy and the newer gamers have no nostalgia for the Neanderthal days of gaming. Granted, these are the digital products and thus handier than hardcopy at the game table if you have a device.

  2. Umm, what?

    “T1-4
    B2
    G1-3
    D3
    Q1
    D1-2
    B4”

    Is there a translation guide for all these names somewhere into something more understandable?

  3. I’ve updated the post with the module names. I was using the shorthand codes that most D&D gamers of the era recognize. They are the beginning of each module title in the d&dclassics/rpgnow/drivethrurpg listings.

  4. If you need a translation, you’re not hardcore enough. 😛
    T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil ADnD
    B2 Keep on the Borderlands DnD
    G1-3 The Against the Giants series ADnD
    D3 Vault of the Drow ADnD
    Q1 Queen of the Demon web pits ADnD
    D1-2 Descent into the Depths of the Earth (Compilation also contained Shrine of the Kuo-Toa) ADnD
    B4 The Lost City DnD
    They are the old way modules were labeled in ye olden days.
    Go here to see a big old list. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dungeons_%26_Dragons_modules

    As for the sales… while the compilations are good deals, a lot of people don’t like paying that much for a PDF. But I’m not surprised that they are selling well, really. There arn’t just two factions of DnD players, the grognards who never change and the newbies who only know the latest iteration. There’s a large swath of people (like me) who started playing those older editions but moved through the editions as they came out. Older geeks tend to have a fair amount of disposable income, so tossing 5 or 10 or 20 dollars to pick up something they thought was neat back in the day is easy for them.

    Personally, I’m hoping they throw some of their setting material up there… I’d totally buy a PDF copy of the planescape setting.

  5. planescape would be stupendous, and very expensive for me. nevermind that i already own virtually everything that came out for the setting in print.

    i’m also hoping to see the D&D rules cyclopedia.