All about Community Pricing
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What is Community Pricing?
Have a say in the next generation of Verbum resources!
Community Pricing is one of the ways new products get into Verbum. With Community Pricing, you tell us which of the products listed you want to become Verbum resources by bidding on them, and subsequently you get great deals on classic works. Choose your favorite products, and bid the highest amount you would be willing to pay for each one. The first price point to gather enough bids to fund the project wins! When that happens, we send it into production.
How it works
- Explore the available titles and bid on the ones you want. Remember to bid the highest amount you are willing to pay, and watch to make sure your bid doesn’t fall below the winning bid amount. Keep an eye on the real-time revenue chart for each product—it will visually track how many people have bid for each price, and the first price to gather enough bids to cross the 100% line wins!
- If the projected bid level moves above your bid, increase your bid anytime to ensure you will get the final Community Pricing price. If you don’t, you will miss out on the savings when the product ships.
- Once enough people have bid on a price to move the graph over the line, you will be notified so you can make sure to bid at or above the winning price so you don’t miss out. If your bid is above, don’t worry! Everyone who bids at or above the winning bid will pay the winning bid amount. For example, if the winning bid is $20 and you bid $25, you will only pay $20.
- The product will then move into production and become a Pre-Pub. At this point, the price will increase, but the product will still be discounted until it ships. The Community Pricing bid price is usually the best pre-production price, so don't miss out!
- It’s risk-free. If you change your mind, you can easily cancel your Community Pricing bid at any time—up to 30 days after it ships. Your card will not be charged until the product is fully produced and shipped, and we will give you plenty of notice in case you decide to opt out.
Get started now, and take a look at all of the exciting products currently on Community Pricing!
Check out the other ways we bring new products into Verbum.
Frequently asked questions
Q. Why should I enter a high price?
- You don’t have to. You can pick the lowest price for every product—but if not enough people bid for that price, it will never reach the 100% line. If you want to see a product produced, the best way is to pick whatever true maximum price you’d be happy to pay. Plus, if more people bid for a higher price, you could lose out on the Community Pricing price and have to pay more.
Q. Why does the production cost look the same for every product?
- We don’t reveal the actual production cost or number of pre-orders needed to fund the project. The revenue curves and production cost lines are accurate; they’re just shown at such a scale that the 100 percent line is the same size on every graph.
Q. How frequently are the graphs updated?
- We update graphs in real time. After you place your order, press F5 to refresh the page—you might see a corresponding change in the graph. (This depends, of course, on both the amount you bid and the total amount needed to produce the product.)
Q. What kinds of books are offered through the Community Pricing Program?
- Community Pricing is best suited to titles that are public domain or are out of print—titles for which a market value is difficult to establish and to which no licensing restrictions apply. Most of the products offered will fall into this category.
Q. Will the electronic editions of Community Pricing titles be any different than other Verbum electronic editions?
- No. They will be fully tagged, full-text electronic editions. The production process and the end result will be exactly the same as for other Verbum resources.
Q. Are all the products listed guaranteed to go into production?
- No. Only products that get enough bids to reach the 100% line will go into production.
Q. After submitting a bid, can I change my selection?
- Of course. Until bidding closes, you can change your bid at any time. Every time you click a price circle, you change your bid—the green shaded arrow on the graph shows your current price. You can see all your current and former bids and orders on the Community Pricing orders page.
Q. What if I bid $50 for a product, but the bid that succeeds (the “winning price”) is $80? Can I then place an order at the $80 price?
- Yes, but only if you hurry. Place your new bid before the product status changes to “Under Development” and enters the Pre-Pub program. Status changes occur on Fridays at noon (PST).
Q. How do I know when I’ll be charged?
- Once a title receives enough bids to go into production, we’ll notify you by email. We will notify you by email again before the product ships. You can cancel your bid at any time during the production process, and up to 30 days after the resource ships.