Everyone loves to get a good deal. And two Logos users just recently got an amazing deal: $17.95 for the entire Sheffield/T & T Clark Bible Guides Collection (44 volumes). That's just over $.40 per volume and almost 99% off the retail price! We posted this Pre-Pub last week with the wrong price. A $17.95 price tag is about what one of these individual volumes would have. Oops! We quickly corrected it to $279.95, but in that short time that it was up at the wrong price—only a few minutes—two people jumped on it and locked in the ridiculously low $17.95.
Most online sellers wouldn't honor a price mistake like this. I've purchased what I thought were really good deals from Amazon and Dell only to be notified that my order had been canceled because the item had been improperly priced. But in this situation we've decided to honor the price and reward these two individuals for placing their Pre-Pub orders early.
It's not often that we post something at the wrong price, but this situation gives me a perfect opportunity to emphasize an important point about our Pre-Pub program: it pays to pre-order early—literally.
The initial Pre-Pub price is almost* always the lowest Pre-Pub price you'll see. Sometimes that price stays the same until it ships, at which time it jumps up to our normal sale price. But often the Pre-Pub price will increase for a number of reasons, and those who order earliest get the best deal.
Sometimes we run a special promotion to offer you an extra discounted price like we're doing with the Works of John Owen (17 volumes). For another week and a half, the Pre-Pub price is only $174.95. Then it will jump up to $224.95.
Another reason to place your pre-order early is that we may add additional material to a set after we've already put it up on Pre-Pub, as was the case with Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (63 volumes). A user pointed out that our set didn't include the hard-to-obtain volume on the Apocrypha. We tracked it down and added it to the set, increasing our production cost. The Pre-Pub price eventually went up, but everyone who had already pre-ordered it essentially got the additional volume for free.
It's also possible that our publisher relations department could negotiate permission to do a newer, more expensive edition after a collection is already on Pre-Pub. This is exactly what happened with Barth's Church Dogmatics. We had initially obtained permission to publish the current edition of CD, but we ended up getting permission to do the new, forthcoming edition that won't be available in print for several more months.
The bottom line is that it is in your best interest to place your pre-order sooner rather than later. The most efficient way to do that is to subscribe to our Pre-Pub RSS feed.
* In the rare event that a Pre-Pub price goes down, we notify the customers so they can order it at the lower price. No one is ever punished for pre-ordering early.
I have found that occasionally the newest pre-pub is not on the topmost of the list on the PrePub webpage. Sometimes this makes spotting the newest title just that much harder [in particular, if the 'view estate' on the screen is not large enough and has to keep scrolling down/up].
One more comment. I do not know if all RSS engines are made equal. There were several occasions that I had found new title on the PrePub webpage, but the RSS did not show the new titles until several hours later [sometimes the next day], even after I refreshed the page [I tried F5 and ctrl-F5 in IE]. I wonder if some RSS engines refresh faster than others, or was it Logos had updated the PrePub webpage but had not updated their RSS yet.
Shoot. I can't believe I missed the super deal! In response to Eddie's comment--seems like it really pays to thoroughly look through the pre-pub list several times a day and not just get the RSS feed. But this is probably rare enough that it's not worth it :)
Eddie, generally Pre-Pubs are listed in order, but sometimes special Pre-Pubs are put at the top of the list so that they don't get missed.
I've noticed that some RSS readers are quicker to pick up new feed items than others, but the couple of hours won't make a difference in most cases (unless we price something incorrectly, which is very rare).
usually that is the case but on one occasion the reverse was the case. i placed an order for Tozer's collection only to find out later that it had been reduced
Thanks for pointing that out, Ted. But even in a rare case like that one, we take care of customers who pre-ordered earlier at the higher price and make sure that they get it for the lower price.
Hi Phil will you guy's be making such mistake at logos again? i promise not to tell any one - come on phil you can tell me. lenski commentary is on pre-pub i did try to get in first but no mistake was made by you guys. can i get an email when the next price mistake will be made? i will not tell anyone trust me!!
Would have liked to get in on that deal! Make a few mistakes in our favor. Hee hee!
Thanks for the great deal!
I know... I dreamed about the Barth collection for years!!! I asked and asked for it to be offered. Finally, it was offered... but at the worst possible time when I was out of work and just starting my church plant. So I could either buy Barth, or buy food for my kids... well, my kids won that one. I saw the other day the price went up a lot higher. Wow, what a deal on the original Prepub!
I am still bummed I missed out, but try to keep an eye out for good, and cheap, deal!
Keep up the good work Phil!
I wish to preorder the Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament 3 volumes on CD. I understand that the price is 59.95. I understand that this qualifies me for the free How To Write Book.
Dr Arthur Jones
I have enjoyed the pre-pub program for some time. Thank you for this program. Maybe it's just my computer but the free "How to Write..." download doesn't seem to work. I click on the preorder button but nothing happens. Thanks for checking and thanks for Logos; I love it.
I have saved a LOT of money through this program. It is WELL WORTH signing up for this!