So why did I get charged money to buy the Player’s Handbook to view on DnDBeyond, if it isn’t an actual copy of the book? In all honesty, his answer isn’t really telling me anything. Both the physical book and the digital copy on DnDBeyond are the Player’s Handbook. D&D Beyond presents a reproduction of the "Players Handbook." If something has gone awry in that reproduction, please let @DnDBeyond know, and they'll fix it. They're committed to being as accurate as possible.
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) July 27, 2018
Its called monetizing…
Yes I like the generator in DnD beyond but it sure is frustrating to have bought the book but not have digital access to the same information.
DND Beyond is owned by Curse which is owned by Amazon. Neither of those companies own or are owned by Wizards of the Coast or Hasbro.
Curse provides services & goods for money.
Wizards of the Coast also provides services & goods for money.
But, the goods Curse provides in D&D Beyond are owned by Wizards of the Coast.
Curse had to pay Wizards of the Coast in order to license their content for use. Curse has to turn a profit for D&D Beyond, like any business does if they want to continue being a business.
Wizards of the Coast and Curse do not have an arrangement to reimburse Curse for goods purchased by those who already have the physical copies. This would be too hard post-release of 5E products. There is no way to track those purchases and validate ownership for everyone that’s bought the books the years before D&D Beyond was running.
D&D Beyond’s recreation of any D&D 5th Edition book is not just the text from the book being resold at a cheaper price. All D&D Beyond products are meant to work within the website to make things easier to search, note, browse, etcetera. When you hover over a monster that has spellcasting and immunities to conditions, you can hover your mouse pointer over those spells and conditions and immediately read what they are without having to page through multiple pages or books. You can filter spells and creatures to your specific needs. Want to find the perfect creature, tailored to your player’s strengths and weaknesses? Advanced filter settings on creatures helps far more than reading every single creature entry in each book.
To finish this all off, remember that all D&D Beyond products are sold at ~60% the full price of any hardcover book. You’re paying ~40% less for the same words and with greatly improved functionality. That’s before coupons and before the Legendary Bundle discount.