Store Pet Pricing: When is the cost too high?

[ACat]

Disclaimer: This thread is not intended to be hateful in any way, please be respectful of staff, artists, and other players!

I absolutely adore the store pets this month and their entire alien theme, however I was pretty surprised by the 150 C$ price tag of them without much warning of the increase. I've played on and off over the years but most often I've seen the store sets be about 100 C$ (for the bundle) so this was quite a surprise. After browsing through the 'April Discussion' thread I noticed a few other players shocked or displeased about this sudden spike in price.

It should be considered that there are 8 pets in this set which does account for the higher price, but I'm unsure if this has been an issue with bigger store litters in the past or not. However there also raises the issue of having to buy the whole set if you want either just the cats, or just the caterpillars.

So I ask you this:
- What do you think of the pricing of the new pets?
- Has anything similar happened in the past?
- Should it have been addressed in advance?
- Do you think there should have been an option to purchase cats and 'pillars separately?
- Should all store sets have a standard price tag?

[Note: I personally have no issue with the set price since it is 8 pets, and I love the designs a lot!]

[kamukoma]

i think it makes sense given how much bigger the set is than normal (with each pet getting a caterpillar companion that is technically an entirely separate pet that can be traded independently). i dont think a warning is necessary because it's not like the standard price changed, its more C$ for more pets (8 vs the usual 5)

[Dakota Blue]

i think it makes sense given how much bigger the set is than normal (with each pet getting a caterpillar companion that is technically an entirely separate pet that can be traded independently). i dont think a warning is necessary because it's not like the standard price changed, its more C$ for more pets (8 vs the usual 5)

I agree with this, it would be upsetting if it was the same amount of pets for that price but we are getting more and it's totally worth it!! I feel like the caterpillars will be worth a pretty penny in the future for those who don't have the funds to get the whole set right away!

[Elm]

I feel its worth it, the dragon dogs last month were more expensive than these, 100c$ for the set of 4 (25c$ per pet)

I actually prefer more store pets being released at once like this <3

Edit- they were also worth it imo, they were stunning

[Celozon]

I think its good to keep in mind too that the actual price for the individual pets is actually lower than usual. Buying a set of two is 40C$, which is 20C$ each. The normal price for individual store pets lately has been 30C$ each, the last time they were at 20C$ each was early-mid 2022. I can understand not liking the higher price or not having enough for a full set anymore, but I think its understandable given the number of pets and the fact that the price overall was lowered from what it has been (probably to try and make it more affordable).

Also, this is the largest store pet set we've ever had, typically its only 4-5 pets (I can't think of any right now that had more than 5 but would have to double check the archives to be sure). I can understand people prefer the cats or caterpillars over the other or wanting them separately, but personally I don't think the caterpillars necessarily stand on their own as store pets (like having just those as a standalone store pet set) and it makes sense for them to be 'companion' store pets instead. This is new territory and not something that has been done before so if something is done like this again maybe it'll be sold in a different manner, but I think how it right now makes sense for what it is.

[ACat]

I think its good to keep in mind too that the actual price for the individual pets is actually lower than usual. Buying a set of two is 40C$, which is 20C$ each. The normal price for individual store pets lately has been 30C$ each, the last time they were at 20C$ each was early-mid 2022. I can understand not liking the higher price or not having enough for a full set anymore, but I think its understandable given the number of pets and the fact that the price overall was lowered from what it has been (probably to try and make it more affordable).

Also, this is the largest store pet set we've ever had, typically its only 4-5 pets (I can't think of any right now that had more than 5 but would have to double check the archives to be sure). I can understand people prefer the cats or caterpillars over the other or wanting them separately, but personally I don't think the caterpillars necessarily stand on their own as store pets (like having just those as a standalone store pet set) and it makes sense for them to be 'companion' store pets instead. This is new territory and not something that has been done before so if something is done like this again maybe it'll be sold in a different manner, but I think how it right now makes sense for what it is.

I'd love to see another companion type store set in future tbh it's a refreshing concept. The price break down totally makes sense too!

Agreed there's definitely going to be future demand for them as individual sets (cats and pillars)

[Gamezelle]

My main issue with the pricing is that we don't have a choice regarding which pets we want and the pairing doesn't really feel like a good deal.

While I'll probably buy the whole set, there are a few users who have to rely on trading with other people if they only care for the cats or the caterpillars.
With previous releases, they could just buy the outcomes they wanted and that was it, now they have to hope someone will split the litter and sell it.


As for the price, as much as I love the PPS they are not worth 20$ IMO. So it's more of a 30$ pet (recent standard pricing) with an extra mandatory 10$ small pet.

The discount for the whole set is also way too low, not even 10% off.


Honestly, I would have loved if they were split in 2 different litters. Keep the alien cats together and price it as usual. Add a new store litter that's less expensive with tiny pets for people with a tighter budget or not interested in the cats.

If CS needs more income, occasional release of caterpillar/PPS/anything with a small design/etc store pets seems like a good idea.

[Wookieinmashoo]

Honestly, I would have loved if they were split in 2 different litters. Keep the alien cats together and price it as usual. Add a new store litter that's less expensive with tiny pets for people with a tighter budget or not interested in the cats.

If CS needs more income, occasional release of caterpillar/PPS/anything with a small design/etc store pets seems like a good idea.

I really like the idea of a little, cheap store pet set. We've never really had a full PPS set except dogs, and I would really like to see some of the smaller line arts get a store pet, albeit cheaper

Also, I think the sloth set from a few years ago had 6 pets total

[Juliamon]

Honestly, I would have loved if they were split in 2 different litters. Keep the alien cats together and price it as usual. Add a new store litter that's less expensive with tiny pets for people with a tighter budget or not interested in the cats.

If CS needs more income, occasional release of caterpillar/PPS/anything with a small design/etc store pets seems like a good idea.

My gut reaction to this is to agree, because I love the idea of there being a smaller, more affordable option for store pets. But my brain says "now hold on there, why should a pet's specific image size dictate its value?" I'm obviously not a site artist but I can imagine that getting creative with the smaller linearts takes just as much work as larger pet linearts, and dragon store pets don't get priced higher than, say, cat store pets. So it doesn't really feel fair to me to 'devalue' the caterpillar buddies like that.

That said, I would really like to see CS find a way to make small pets like those caterpillars or hamsters viable as store pets. I think all pets deserve a turn in the store spotlight regardless of size!

[JayChirps]

That said, I would really like to see CS find a way to make small pets like those caterpillars or hamsters viable as store pets. I think all pets deserve a turn in the store spotlight regardless of size!

As someone who's been buying the store pets since I joined in 2019, I do agree that it'd be very nice to see more variety in the types and sizes of pets offered in the store!

But back to the main questions:
While on one hand I can see why there could be a need to address the jump in price from Feb's store pets to this months, I think its also self explanatory. Your getting 8 pets, therefore its going to cost 150 c$. I also think that it'd be a nice alternative to be able to buy the cats and 'pillers separately, in case some people don't want one pet type or the other.