Feedback re: Pro bundle bonuses
Eden Evergreen
Posts: 326
It's becoming a trend that, when a new DAZ Original core character is released, buying the Pro bundle (usually with an add-on) comes with discounts for other DAZ Originals. That's cool! 
However, there is no lesser discount offered if someone buys the Starter Bundle instead. Cool as Pro Bundles can be, they are expensive. Sometimes, especially if some of the extra items in a Pro bundle are not of a style that appeals, the Starter Bundle might be a better choice for some customers. Yet there are no incentives to buy those. Other times, the character may appeal, though optons in its bundles do not.
It makes me wonder, why are there no added discounts, at all, for the Starter Bundle or the Character? Obviously, if there were any added discount incentives for those lesser purchases, the discounts would need to be proportionately less than those offered for the Pro bundle.
For example, the current new Pro bundle (plus an add-on) comes with $15 off of 5 different categories of select Daz Originals.
So, perhaps a Starter Bundle (plus an add-on) could come with $8 or $10 off of 3 different categories of DAZ O's. DAZ could even decide which 3 categories would be available for the smaller bundle.
And for those who only choose to buy the character (plus an add on), maybe $4-$5 off one category (which either DAZ or the customer could select, depending on DAZ marketing's preference).
Who knows ... if someone really wants a -lot- of select DAZ Originals, maybe they might buy all three options to get more discounts! Highly unlikely, though theoretically possible.
Anyhow, just thought I'd put that out there. Lesser incentives for lesser purchases might still yield more sales. So ... it might, perhaps, be worth considering. 
I do understand that the bigger, more expensive bundle will probably be bought less frequently without some incentives. Which is probably why so many incentives are offered. Just mentioning the idea that reduced incentives might help sell more of the smaller bundle, or even the character, at character launch.
My few coppers' worth. Take or leave as you see fit.
Hope you have a DAZ-tastic day!
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Comments
I've found that the items in starter bundles aren't as appealing to me as the additional units you get when you upgrade to the pro bundles. As a result I tend to either buy pro bundles, which open up later discounts, banners, etc., or else I buy the base character and one or two other items from the pro bundle.
sometimes like Dasan I only like the character and they really don't pay at all new on their own when most PA's offer HD characters for less.
there is not much incentive at all for buying just pro characters sans bundles
Over the years I've noticed that the Starter Bundles often include the extra character that was NOT the one everyone wanted and the hair that was NOT the one everyone wanted and an outfit that was the second or third choice of the Pro Bundle outfits. There is a disincentive to buy Starter Bundles, and the only ones I have were the ones that were given away as free. The Starter Bundle is the NOT Bundle to me.
yeah inspite of the protests of being disrespectful to creators by some, they know themselves which are the fillers
I think starter bundles are the worst thing you can buy. The pro bundles will most likely be offered at a much cheaper price later. If you buy the starter bundle now, you will get a lot less out of the pro bundle later (having many of the items already). And I don't think there's denying that buying the pro bundle at a cheap price is the most valuable purchase you can make.
I deny that, because I rarely see any Pro bundle with enough stuff in it, that I would be willing to pay money for.
The only way to make me regularly buy Pro bundles would be the option to build my own bundle from a pool of new items - like those that now are called "addon items" - so I wouldn't have to buy stuff that would just sit on my harddisk and never ever would get used...
I'm exactly the same. I've gotten 1 Pro bundle total for Genesis 8 in total, (which I have never even used the character or items from) because of the deal it came with.
Generally they're bulked out with pose packs and texture sets of limited use to me, so it makes more financial sense to buy the few items I want instead (which also usually have good deals on). I'll often see the "get this thing and get 2 pro bundles, think it's amazing, but then work out there isn't any Pro bundles I want. I've already gotten all the good bits too, usually for cheap.
I've also thought that a pick and choose bundle pack would be better. Pick 5 for a "starter" and pick 10 for a "Pro" (that also unlocks the elements). It would mean customers getting to choose more what they're actually after and would use.
Generally, when I see a pro pack with 4+ items that interests me, I buy it. Especially if it's one of those offers that add a big discount with add-ons, when enough of those add-ons interest me as well, or if those add-ons cost less than the total price reduction they create. Overall, this tends to bring the price of the pro-pack down to about $30-$35, which means the 4+ items I was interested in cost me less than $10 a piece, and I get a bunch of extras to boot. Yes, hard-disk space will become an issue eventually (it isn't yet), but when that happens, I can just uninstal all the stuff I have absolutely no use for, and set them to hidden within the DIM, so they won't bother me again.
I've never bought a starter bundle for the reason many have already highlighted here: they cost the same as a pro bundle could potentially cost during a good sales period, so I think you're better off just holding tight for the sales if you can. I'm also learning through more experienced Daz users that buying pro bundles can result in purple banners down the road, so that adds another reason to wait until you can afford to buy a pro rather than going for the starter bundles...
Which I guess highlights the main point of the OP: Daz are sort of taking a lot (some may argue all) salability away from their starter bundles by pushing so many benefits towards buying pro...
Usually, despite understanding the benefits I just can't afford to "go pro" so I'll just pick up a base character when it's in a sale (I've snagged a few for only $4-5 this way) and then buy additional wishlisted content as and when it's going cheap... but maybe if there was more honey in the pot for buying the starter I'd cash in on that level...
TBH, if I was in Daz marketing I'd scrap the starter bundles all together... maybe refashion them as "add-on theme" bundles of the same size/price, for example "[Character] 8 Gothic/Steam Punk/Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Historical Bundle" with the base character and themed content included (rather than just content without the base character, as per the Dain and CJ Fantasy bundles) as this seems more interesting to my mind than the Starter packs which are usually, as others have highlighted, just the pro bundles minus the most desirable content. And the themed bundles would interest pro buyers too, if they'd discount/receive a purple banner to make up for the cost of the base character they'd have already got from buying the larger pro bundle...
The thing is, you have to look at it as a business. DAZ ultimately makes more money off the sale of a Pro Bundle, even with the heavier discounting since that's usually dependent on buying other ancilliary items at the same time (we're talking overall gross and net, by the way, not on a product by product basis.). The discounts for buying the Pro Bundles are there to reward the customers who pay more money overall on the initial release, so rewarding someone for buying the Starter Bundle to a comensurate level would only result in fewer people buying the big money package and reduced earnings for DAZ overall. Why would they want to reward behavior that ultimately puts less money in their pocket?
As for the alternate bundle idea... it's interesting, but the two problems I see is that first, is not only would DAZ then have to generate even more content to tie into the initial product launch, so there'd be a LOT more upfront costs, but they would also be likely to cause an overall decrease in profit as a percentage of possible pro-bundles sales would go to the alternate format.
Back in Genesis 2 days, before I understood how things work in Daztopia, I bought elements of Pro Bundles. And inevitably I ended up owning most of several Pro Bundles, having paid more for the individual items than necessary. But now, since I'm interested in the best quality skins immediately, I know I'm going to buy the Core Figure (numbered character). So, as long as there are two other items in the Pro Bundle I want, I've found that it's cheaper in the long run to buy it upon release (especially since I'm definitely going to buy the HD Add-On in the hope that they have done them well). History shows that sales on HD Add-Ons are few and far between (though that could change).
Of course, Dasan 8 Pro Bundle is the most expensive in recent memory (even factoring in purple banner gratuities), and I have no use for most of its content, but the stacking discounts of the add-ons made all other options less feasible since I had the money.
Just an idea, but.. Maybe the Starter Bundles aren't really meant for selling on release? The only thing they really do, is emphasize how good a deal the pro-bundles generally are. Especially when the offer involves a discount system towards the pro-bundle. But even with the Dasan bundles, it was like: Get Dasan + some other stuff vs get Dasan for twice that price, but with a ton of other stuff.
The only times I was somewhat interested in Starter bundles, was with figures that actually totally didn't interest me, which had only 1 or 2 extras that gladly happened to be part of the Starter bundle. In those cases, I didn't buy it at launch, but just had them marked for the wishlist, in case they ever showed up in some other bargain.
I think you're right, and if they didn't then the quality of content would probably go down OR there would be huge gaps in between releases... not something anyone would want to see, but more varied bundle types would definitely be cool if it made financial sense for Daz.
To be honest, I already think Daz are one of the most generous (also see savvy, because companies can be both!!) stores I've ever come across. Shopping with them is so fun and addictive, if they actually started offering more sales and discounts and banners I'd probably have to remortgage and take a second job, or sell everything I own and go live with my rendering PC under a bridge...
At one time, when Daz debuted the latest version of a figure from a previous generation the usual promo was, "Buy Whoever 8 Pro, get Whoever 6 Pro & Whoever 7 Pro free" plus equivalent deals for the Starter & Base. I miss this promo, although I know it doesn't appeal to the people who buy all the core figures &/or bundles right away--which is probably why Daz stopped after Monique 8.
As someone new here, a promo like that seems fantastic. But for those that already have them is very unfair unless compensated some other way. Like they did with the "free vickys" last week. Still, old customers with all vickys got $20 coupon total. While those with not so many ones could get each one of them just spending $3 or less buying the bonus items. I got vicky 5 to 7 like that on 3 consecutive days. But purchasing the same bonus twice or more worked too. While $20 coupon included lots of items to choose, i think new people got a better deal there.
Back on the Pro Packs. I do find them expensive in general and full of things i don't need for that price. Lost of them have the same revisited poses that adds nothing once you have a couple. The hairs are hit or miss. Some are good, some are decent, some are bad (Vicky is a strange case as has one of the best ones in general and that is included in the starting bundle, on the other hand the ponytail of the pro is not that good and is actually bugged). Extra characters, i usally like more the one in the pro pack. Outfits goes more to a matter of taste and needs. With the right discount and good amount of items one likes at least 2 from the pro pack (on top of 2 of starting + base character of course, if not just buy individually). Today with the flash sale i bought my 3rd pro pack: Monique. 3 of the items i like more are from the pro pack and i find the rest pretty decent so paying 17 for it seems a good deal for me.
While i agree that quality may down a little i would love category bundles. Maybe is me that i'm getting tired of fantasy getting so many dedicated days and even weeks while proper sci fi only gets a couple items a a time.
I like DAZ and its store in general (what they offer), but the sale and benefits are obscured (like the double discounts on Dasan) and is all too unpredictable making people take rush choices. They exploit that making us addicts, that is how people make bussiness today sadly. and i don't like very much, as someone from 3rd world country, dollar is expensive even in small amounts. And i also need to save for a new machine, my laptop will catch fire rendenring one of these days
I think i actually would prefer a more expensive subscription that included bigger rewards and makes things more predictable in general. How much would you pay per month in advance (quaterly at least) if DAZ were to offer you to buy any new Pro Pack for $20 with at least 1 new one per month, (maybe more) and keeping regular promos(but no purple). I think would totaly pay $25 per month on top of PC+ and would not ask for more coupons, maybe a bigger discount on DO just to keeps things interesting all the time.
@wolfwood. the promo wasn't the ONLY debut core figure promo Daz offered then. Also, during the G3 to early G8 timeframe, when this promo was used, Daz released far fewer core figures and much less frequently than now. (Months apart vs. every couple weeks or so.) Daz's sales model was also very different, aside from PC. Daz didn't do a "new deal every day" (if not several) plus the big MM, PA, & Anniversary sales.
Thank you, DAZ marketing people, for offering lesser bonuses / incentives for buying only the figure, or just the starter bundle, for Daisy 8. Along with greater incentives for buying the Pro bundle.
I truly appreciate having more options. Perhaps others with tighter budgets are silently appreciating more options, also. I hope this consideration, on your part, generates many more sales for you!
Hope you all have a DAZ-tastic day.