# Kindle books that cost more than new paperback books



## kmmkiwi (May 13, 2010)

Today I wanted to purchase a book for kindle that I was interested in reading. So I hop on the kindle bookstore website and find the title I'm looking for. Turns out the kindle price for this particular book is $12.99 (text to speech not enabled) and the price for a brand new paperback from Amazon is $10.88 and the Audiobook version for $11.69.

Maybe its just me, but I think there is really something very wrong with this picture. A digital book that essentially costs them nothing make is more expensive than an actual book with physical pages that cost money to make and ship. This seriously makes my head hurt. For that I'd rather just go to the book store and buy the physical copy of the darn book, that way I can resell it when I'm done and get half my money back.

I thought kindle books were supposed to be somewhat cheaper than their physical versions. That's why I invested in a kindle. Had I known that some kindle books were going to cost more, I would have just stuck with going to the bookstore and purchasing physical copies of books. I don't know whether to blame amazon or the publishing companies.


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## CandyTX (Apr 13, 2009)

Most of the publishers set their own prices with the new agency model (google amazon agency model if you want to read more). Amazon does not set most book prices nowadays. It sucks, but it is what it is. I suspect it won't be the last version we see of pricing for eBooks though. I, as a rule, will not pay more than $10 for an ebook. I read over 100 per year, after all! When the price goes down, I buy it. Until then, I'm not gonna run out any time soon because there are still PLENTY of good quality ebooks at reasonable prices.


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## David Derrico (Nov 18, 2009)

It's ridiculous, but I found one even worse:

Hardcover: $9.87
Paperback: $10.19
E-Book: $14.29

Excuse me &#8230; what??


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

This is one of our most frequent topics. We have dozens of threads about this.


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

pidgeon92 said:


> This is one of our most frequent topics. We have dozens of threads about this.


Yep, and the replies are usually about the same: "Don't buy them to protest the price" or "If it's a new release you can wait 6 months for the price to come down." or "I'll just buy the DTB version."


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## RiddleMeThis (Sep 15, 2009)

I have decided that on NEW releases I am ok with a SLIGHTLY (as in .25) price. 

I just pre-ordered the new Chronicles of Nick: Infinity at $9.99. The hardcover is currently priced at $9.79. I choose to do this for a few reasons. 1. is that I have always been ok with the $9.99 price for new releases. 2. is because I REALLY want to read this book the day it comes out and 3. to show my support for the $9.99 as it is published by a MacMillan publisher.


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

I was giving this more thought, and while paperback books are much more expensive in Australia (making kindle books much cheaper for us Aussies), paperback books cannot read to you, are heavy to carry, and clog up your shelves.  The actual cost of printing simply isnt that great.  So, going against the grain, I dont think I have a problem with the pricing structure of kindle books, given everything they offer over paperbacks!


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## Pirate (Jul 5, 2009)

When I see an ebook priced like this, I just wait until I can get it used.


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## mrscottishman (May 18, 2010)

You know, I don't mind spending a buck or two to support Amazon.  Sometimes we get a little nearsighted and complain about the little stuff, but just look at how much they have got right.  I have never had to use them, but you can't read a thread that doesn't have someone saying how good kindle customer support is.  I order gift cards and items from the main Amazon all the time and never had a problem.  No company is perfect, it is how you handle things overall that make the company.  I shop at at wholesale club that will remain nameless (but has four letters in the unnamed name) every week for my business.  Here I really have no choice in this area.  When you look at Amazon, that wholesale club is into negative customer satisfaction numbers.  There is another chain store that was bought out a year or two ago and they are the only store in my small town.  They have changed their policies.  My wife was taking back clothes to get another size with a receipt and they told her she had to get exactly the same dollar amount from the same department.  They lost about $100 a week from us or so after that.  She was so frustrated, she couldn't get things to add up the same as her receipt. 

I will get off my pro-Amazon soapbox now.

Scott


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## cheerio (May 16, 2009)

David Derrico said:


> It's ridiculous, but I found one even worse:
> 
> Hardcover: $9.87
> Paperback: $10.19
> ...


wow


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## Boston (Nov 7, 2008)

Given the agency model is not what Amazon wants, I am not convinced giving in to it is the right answer for anyone in the long run.  It basically takes away competitive pricing...something that both Amazon and we as consumers have benefited from in the past.


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## CaroleC (Apr 19, 2010)

I enjoy reading books more on the Kindle than in DTB form. That is why I got my Kindle. When I am done with a book on the Kindle, it is stored for future reading but there is no necessity to buy expensive bookshelves in which to store them. When I move, I don't have to box up my Kindle books and throw my back out, or pay a mover, to move my Kindle books. My Kindle books do not get lost, they do not lose pages, and they do not attract silverfish, either. Not only that but DTBs are exactly that... dead tree books.... ugh, not so environmentally friendly I am guessing.

For all these reasons I don't really have a problem with paying a little more than I would pay for a DTB.


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## observer1 (Mar 17, 2010)

It will be interesting to see what ebook prices are like a year or two from now.  The market decide how much they should be priced at.


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## VondaZ (Apr 21, 2009)

For agency books, be prepared to find lots of examples of print versions that are cheaper than digital copies. Amazon cannot control the price of the digital copy but it can discount its print editions all it likes. Thus, all these publishers who tell us that they are working to price their e-books inline with the least expensive print version are really full of it. They have absolutely no means to do this, because they do not set the purchase price for the print edition - just the list price. And we all know that we rarely pay list price on Amazon. If this is the price they are using to guide their e-book prices, then e-book prices will continue to be unreasonable by comparison to the print edition.

I believe the market will eventually sort all of this out. But that takes time. In the interim, expect to see a lot of this.

Vonda


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## jason10mm (Apr 7, 2009)

I think most publishers consider e-books to be an entirely seperate market, therefore print pricing has ZERO affect on the e-book pricing system. We, as consumers, like to compare and I agree that the e-book should ALWAYS be the cheapest option, but from the publisher perspective I doubt they even care as they probably have reams of market research that show most e-book readers don't cross over to DTBs when the price differential is only a few bucks. Some probably consider ANY e-book sales as gravy, which is where that $35 e-book pricing comes from. Heck, I bet the audiobook department is handeling e-books at some publishers.

Also consider that most of that nice DTB pricing comes from loss leader sales and overstocks. Once a book run has been made, it MUST sell. So if up front sales are bad, there could be a huge supply that gets dumped at low prices. But in the e-book world there is limitless supply with no storage considerations, so that messes with the pricing model as well.


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## fancynancy (Aug 9, 2009)

Even if this topic has been discussed in other threads, it is a very recent phenomenon.  I understand that the publishers set the price and that Amazon has no say, but I still don't understand how the paper book can cost more than the e-book.  Is it because Amazon discounts the paper books but is not permitted to discount the e-books?  And if so, why?  Like the original poster, saving some money was one of the reasons I purchase the K2.  However, I also enjoy the reduced clutter and other aspects of the K2.  I'm considering limiting my buying to books that cost no more than the paper, if any exist anymore.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Everyone has to find their own price point for a product.  For me, I never much cared what the paper book cost vs the ebook; I only cared if the ebook was above the price I wanted to pay for a book, which has always been $7-$8; I never bought hardback books unless they were on the bargain table or used.  I brought that same price point to the ebook market.  Ebooks are a product, and as in every product, cost of production is only one part of the price equation.  Demand is another.  Where it fits in a company's product line is another.  This is a very volatile time for the ebook industry; I look for things to shake out over the next couple-three years.

Betsy


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## Wisteria Clematis (Oct 29, 2008)

I appreciate the fact that (at least until recently) ebooks have been relatively inexpensive. I was one of the first buyers to get a K1 when it originally came out and I admit that the cheap ebook prices were a big part of my decision to get a kindle. But even though I've enjoyed the savings (well, not really savings because I haven't been able to control my one-click finger very well and I seem to buy twice as many ebooks as I used to buy paperbacks) I've never understood exactly how this low-pricing (of ebooks) model would continue to work in a free market economy. The thing is, price is usually determined by how valuable something actually is to you. I think we've established (in numerous other threads) that reading books on the kindle is addictive. Easier on the eyes, instant gratification, an entire library of accessible books, built-in dictionary, yada, yada....I know that if I have a choice now between the same title in paperback or in kindle format it is a no brainer--I will go for the kindle version in a heart beat. That being the case--if we truly enjoy reading on our kindles a heck of a lot more than we like reading paperbacks--why wouldn't we be willing to pay the same or even slightly more for the kindle version than we'd pay for the paperback? I'm not talking about accepting huge price differences, but if having a title available in kindle format is important to us why wouldn't we be willing to pay the same for it that we would for a DTB?

I think we are dreaming if we think we can keep prices under $9 in the long term.


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## arshield (Nov 17, 2008)

Wisteria Clematis said:


> I think we are dreaming if we think we can keep prices under $9 in the long term.


I think there will be a shake up. And I think that there will be a new 'standard' price. But my guess is that it is unlikely to be more than $10. If you look at other mediums, the digital cd is now $10 vs the physical cd that is around $15. The digital video rental is around $3-4 (on demand, amazon, etc.) but the physical rental is now stablelizing around $1 a day (Redbox), or a monthly subscription. The physical product from a store is $6 but they are all going out of business.

My guess is that if ebooks do not stablize at a price point below the physical, that people will rebel. We all know that bits and bytes cost less than physical paper. Publishers are dreaming if they think they can make people believe that digital is more expensive.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

fancynancy said:


> Even if this topic has been discussed in other threads, it is a very recent phenomenon. I understand that the publishers set the price and that Amazon has no say, but I still don't understand how the paper book can cost more than the e-book. Is it because Amazon discounts the paper books but is not permitted to discount the e-books?


Yes. . .and it's because the contracts for selling paper books are different than the ebook contracts. And, in fact, I read somewhere that publishers are not happy with Amazon about this because it makes _them_ look bad. Oh well.

Personally, I don't have any threshholds. I may decide NOT to buy a book at $3.99 and decide to buy a book at $9.99. . .totally depends on the book. Price is just one factor for me, and not even the major one.


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## PhillipA82 (Dec 20, 2009)

Well, I don't think there is something that we can do about it unfortunately.


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

I don't mind paying more for the convenience of having the book on my Kindle. Even though they don't have to pay for printing e-books, publishers still have to promote the book. I'm sure they have editing costs, advertising, etc. and they have to pay their employees. As long as it is within reason, I will always buy the e-book vs. the printed copy.


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## vickir (Jan 14, 2009)

I do mind paying more than the paperback price. In fact, I won't. I'll either borrow from library or wait for price to come down.


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## Labrynth (Dec 31, 2009)

vickir said:


> I do mind paying more than the paperback price. In fact, I won't. I'll either borrow from library or wait for price to come down.


Let me second that. While I love reading on the Kindle, I read way too much not to go for the cheapest option. And if that's the library or a used book store, then so be it. I spent 30+ years reading DTBs... I think I can hand a few more years of it.


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## G. Henkel (Jan 12, 2010)

Price is not an issue for me. If I feel like a book is worth reading then I'll pay its price. I do not mind if a Kindle book is more expensive than a paperback. It is more convenient and instantly accessible, so why would I even prefer the paperback? I also have never borrowed a single book from a library in my adult life. I do read a lot but I usually go and buy what I read and one of the main reasons I do that is because I want to make sure the authors are actually paid for it. If I borrow a book in a library they do not see a single dime from it.


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## Melonhead (Jan 1, 2010)

Maybe not a whole dime, but libraries actually buy their books new. So if your tax dollars support your local library, in theory you are profiting authors even if you don't check out the book.  So they're no worse for authors than used bookstores, which doesn't profit the authors either.

As a librarian I can tell you that many of our patrons NEVER buy books with their own money. Ever.

I know many adults who are big readers that never use the library. As a librarian, I'm cool with that.

Now, back on topic, I don't need to buy any ebook that's priced more than the paperback. I can always go read something else. If I wait long enough maybe the price will come down. A girl can hope, right?


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

Most of my friends and colleagues use the library and never buy books.


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## Robinelli (May 4, 2010)

I will not pay more than 9.99 for an ebook. If it is above that price I'll wait and get it in used paperback. I am actually holding out on several books right now because they are in the $10 range. If they were $5 each I'd buy them all! More money would be made if the prices were lowered. People would buy more.


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## MAGreen (Jan 5, 2009)

I used to agree with this, but since I don't want DTBs anymore, I don't care how much the DTBs cost. If the Kindle version is a price I am willing to pay then it just doesn't matter to me if I can get a copy for less in another format.


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

MAGreen said:


> I used to agree with this, but since I don't want DTBs anymore, I don't care how much the DTBs cost. If the Kindle version is a price I am willing to pay then it just doesn't matter to me if I can get a copy for less in another format.


My feelings exactly. My husband is so happy to see books leaving he encourages me to buy all Kindle. It doesn't make sense to me to buy anything but e-books. I used to be in the airport and realize I had finished my book. The first thing I did was head to buy a new one. They were always at the highest prices and not discounted at all, so know matter how must the e-book is I still save money.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

I think it's really dumb for publishers to price their ebooks so high.

That being said, I don't mind *my* book getting sales because all of the big time competition is way over priced.  Bwa ha ha ha ha!



Vicki


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

MAGreen said:


> I used to agree with this, but since I don't want DTBs anymore, I don't care how much the DTBs cost. If the Kindle version is a price I am willing to pay then it just doesn't matter to me if I can get a copy for less in another format.


That's me as well. Having just read "Dead in the Family" in hardback (which I'll pass on to my daughters and they'll pass on to their friends) I can honestly say I don't want to buy another DTB. Period. I've got some here that I'll try to make myself read since they're books I want to read and I'd already bought them used pre-Kindle (and I just gave away a bag full because the print was just too small). But it won't be easy. I'd have been finished with DitF in half the time if it had been on Kindle - it wasn't the content, it was the format.

I've never paid more than $9.99 for an e-book, and I doubt that I will anytime soon. There are too many other books already on my Kindle (and Sony) waiting to be read. But I have to admit I don't look at the Kindle price vs the DTB prices. It just doesn't matter to me. I'll pay more than the paperback price to get a book in my preferred format - as long as the ebook price is in my comfort zone (which is generally under $9.99 - more like under $6. Most of the books that I've paid $9.99 for were for someone else on my account - 4 of us are on my account).


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## derive_cz (Apr 10, 2011)

Hello,

I'm willing to start an online petition on this. If you are keen to join, please email me at [email protected] suggesting wording (i'm not a native English speaker, so would like to find somebody to phrase the petition correctly and profesionally ) and also suggesting the publishers that you note that have this behaviour. Thank you, let's make our point.


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## Lenc324 (Feb 16, 2011)

I agree.  I will never pay more then 9.99 for an ebook.  I love my kindle and the convience, but 14.99 for an ebook is just nuts.  I will start using the library again.


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## jaimee83 (Sep 2, 2009)

What really bothers me is when ordering a Kindle book from Amazon, it'll list the Kindle edition $14.99 and right below it'll show a used edition of the same book for 1 cent.  I love my Kindle but I'm wasting so much money feeding it.  Last year I spent >$1000.00 on books I could have bought used for $1.00 and passed onto someone else to read.


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## Jan Strnad (May 27, 2010)

My DTB is out of print so there's no direct comparison, but it was $6 in pb. Now that I have the rights back, $3 seems about right to me for the ebook. People's biggest investment in my book, if they're interested, is their time. If it isn't worth $3 to them, it isn't worth the time it takes to read! If they do get a few hours' enjoyment from it, $3 is a bargain.

I think that publishers could easily price their backlist, out-of-print books at $5 or less and steal some sales from used bookstores. What's to lose at that point?

Overall the price of ebooks has  to go down because of the law of supply and demand. As the supply of ebooks goes up and up to the point where new books are competing, virtually, with everything that's ever been published, readers will simply have too many alternatives to support high prices on anything but the most massive bestsellers with the most heat.


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## lori_piper (Oct 7, 2010)

Meemo said:


> That's me as well. Having just read "Dead in the Family" in hardback (which I'll pass on to my daughters and they'll pass on to their friends) I can honestly say I don't want to buy another DTB. Period. I've got some here that I'll try to make myself read since they're books I want to read and I'd already bought them used pre-Kindle (and I just gave away a bag full because the print was just too small). But it won't be easy. I'd have been finished with DitF in half the time if it had been on Kindle - it wasn't the content, it was the format.
> 
> I've never paid more than $9.99 for an e-book, and I doubt that I will anytime soon. There are too many other books already on my Kindle (and Sony) waiting to be read. But I have to admit I don't look at the Kindle price vs the DTB prices. It just doesn't matter to me. I'll pay more than the paperback price to get a book in my preferred format - as long as the ebook price is in my comfort zone (which is generally under $9.99 - more like under $6. Most of the books that I've paid $9.99 for were for someone else on my account - 4 of us are on my account).


This is pretty much exactly how I feel. I take the paperback price out of the equation, because--regardless of what decision I ultimately come to regarding the eBook--there is no way that the paperback is an alternative for me. Since I won't buy the paperback--or the hardback--the price of those is irrelevant.

However, I do have a comfort zone for eBooks, and my soft ceiling is $10. For a new author, or a book that's pretty well reviewed, I will not pay more than $9.99. I have a list of books as long as my arm that are more than that, and I won't pay for them. I'll just read something else till their price comes down.

The one exception I would allow myself would be a new book in a series that I am already in the middle of. In that case, the book/author is a known quantity, and it's a book that I am actually waiting for. In that case, I will allow myself to go to $14.99, which is still less than I would have paid for the hardcover.

I guess that means that my limit is $9.99 for books that I would have bought in paperback, and $14.99 for books that I would have bought in hardback. 

That said, I'm much more likely to take a chance on an unknown author or new series, if the ebooks are in the $6 to $7 range. That's really my comfort zone.


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## Russell Brooks (Dec 23, 2010)

kmmkiwi said:


> Today I wanted to purchase a book for kindle that I was interested in reading. So I hop on the kindle bookstore website and find the title I'm looking for. Turns out the kindle price for this particular book is $12.99 (text to speech not enabled) and the price for a brand new paperback from Amazon is $10.88 and the Audiobook version for $11.69.
> 
> Maybe its just me, but I think there is really something very wrong with this picture. A digital book that essentially costs them nothing make is more expensive than an actual book with physical pages that cost money to make and ship. This seriously makes my head hurt. For that I'd rather just go to the book store and buy the physical copy of the darn book, that way I can resell it when I'm done and get half my money back.
> 
> I thought kindle books were supposed to be somewhat cheaper than their physical versions. That's why I invested in a kindle. Had I known that some kindle books were going to cost more, I would have just stuck with going to the bookstore and purchasing physical copies of books. I don't know whether to blame amazon or the publishing companies.


IMO, you have every reason to believe that you're being ripped off. With paperback books, publishers are paying for paper, printing, shipping and handling, and also have to deal with returned copies that bookstores couldn't sell. Digital books eliminate ALL of those costs. The only reason that publishers are pricing eBooks so high is so that they can maximize profits in an unsrupulous manner to take advantage of customers that are used to spending $10-$15 on books. Furthermore, since publishers are losing money every year and have lost millions due to low print sales, they're screwing around with the public by overpricing their eBooks, and they'll continue to do so until the majority of general public catches on to their scam.


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## Kia Zi Shiru (Feb 7, 2011)

Wisteria Clematis said:


> That being the case--if we truly enjoy reading on our kindles a heck of a lot more than we like reading paperbacks--why wouldn't we be willing to pay the same or even slightly more for the kindle version than we'd pay for the paperback? I'm not talking about accepting huge price differences, but if having a title available in kindle format is important to us why wouldn't we be willing to pay the same for it that we would for a DTB?


Because we already paid well over 100 pound/dollar to be able to read those books? with a DTB we buy it and we have it. But for kindle books we need a kindle to read them. Most people choose this because of cheaper ebooks and they even out the pricing of the ebook vs the DTB. But is prices are higher for ebooks, where is this profit for the reader?
I could buy cheaper audiobooks if we want a nice voice to read them to us, or buy a DTB and wear glasses to change font size... These are both cheaper options than the kindle with the overpriced publisher ebooks.

I for myself tackle the problem of expensive books by tracking the free kindle books and getting the free books onn Smashwords and stuff. If I buy one more expensive book I also buy a couple of free or low priced books. I don't read as much published books as I used to, and most of those I got from the library anyway...


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## patrickt (Aug 28, 2010)

Well, didn't that feel good. People got to say what they would and wouldn't do--not true of course--and we had just a really lovely pity party. And, we all get to pretend that others care what we'll spend for a book.

It must be fun. That's why we do it so often.


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## Elk (Oct 4, 2010)

These threads intrigue me.

When asked, the majority state they greatly prefer reading on a Kindle; it is vastly superior to reading a physical book.

Yet this proclaimed better experience is not worth more money.  In fact, many argue that they should pay less for what they perceive as a better product.


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## Kia Zi Shiru (Feb 7, 2011)

Elk said:


> Yet this proclaimed better experience is not worth more money. In fact, many argue that they should pay less for what they perceive as a better product.


I think by buying a kindle we already paid for that "better product" so why would we have to pay even more on top of that large first sum? I wouldn't mind if the prices were equal, I do mind about prices being higher.


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## Elk (Oct 4, 2010)

kiazishiru said:


> I think by buying a kindle we already paid for that "better product" so why would we have to pay even more on top of that large first sum?


Interesting interpretation.

When you buy a Kindle you are buying only a device - not content. You now own only the means to read an ebook.

It is a little like a high performance sports car. You pay a premium for the capability. You then pay more to put premium gas in it and for higher maintenance costs.

I understand the arguments that claim that ebooks are less expensive to distribute, etc. What intrigues me however is the dichotomy of claiming that the ebbok experience is far superior to reading a physical book while simultaneously complaining that the better experience should come at an equal cost. Of course, this being a large forum, these positions are not necessarily taken by all of the same people.


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## lori_piper (Oct 7, 2010)

Elk said:


> These threads intrigue me.
> 
> When asked, the majority state they greatly prefer reading on a Kindle; it is vastly superior to reading a physical book.
> 
> Yet this proclaimed better experience is not worth more money. In fact, many argue that they should pay less for what they perceive as a better product.


I don't mind paying more for a Kindle book than for a paperback. I mind paying more than $10.


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## Elk (Oct 4, 2010)

lori_piper said:


> I don't mind paying more for a Kindle book than for a paperback. I mind paying more than $10.


Very reasonable.

Do you similarly mind paying more than $10 for a paperback, or is there a different valuation in effect?


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## Paul G (Apr 9, 2011)

When I buy a book, I am buying content and entertainment. The package that book is in is just a delivery mechanism. For me, I would rather pay MORE for a book on my Kindle than a hardcover because it's WAY more convenient and easier to read on my Kindle and that is worth a lot. 

I look at it like this...I have bought hard cover books before for $15-$25 so I have no problem paying that much (or even more) for an ebook on my Kindle. I would actually pay more to have it digital and think it's more valuable that way. 

For my sake and all of the other author's on here, I wish many others felt the same way!


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

Paul G said:


> When I buy a book, I am buying content and entertainment. The package that book is in is just a delivery mechanism. For me, I would rather pay MORE for a book on my Kindle than a hardcover because it's WAY more convenient and easier to read on my Kindle and that is worth a lot.
> 
> I look at it like this...I have bought hard cover books before for $15-$25 so I have no problem paying that much (or even more) for an ebook on my Kindle. I would actually pay more to have it digital and think it's more valuable that way.
> 
> For my sake and all of the other author's on here, I wish many others felt the same way!


For me it's a matter that I never bought hard covers (unless on the bargain book rack) and mainly bought mass market paper backs since I only read once. Reading is down on my hobby list behind movies, sports, tv, video games etc. I'm just not willing to spend much money on it as I personally get more enjoyment out of other forms of entertainment. So $10 is about my upper limit to spend for a book I'm only going to read once most likely.


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## lori_piper (Oct 7, 2010)

Elk said:


> Very reasonable.
> 
> Do you similarly mind paying more than $10 for a paperback, or is there a different valuation in effect?


When I stopped buying paperbacks, they had just gotten to that $10 mark, and it made me physically sick every time I walked to the cash register.


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## Elk (Oct 4, 2010)

lori_piper said:


> When I stopped buying paperbacks, they had just gotten to that $10 mark, and it made me physically sick every time I walked to the cash register.


Makes sense.

You are wonderfully consistent. Not many of us are.


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## CaroleC (Apr 19, 2010)

The prices of many other items other than Kindle books is unrelated to the cost of producing these items. What about CD's? They can't cost much to manufacture. 

I didn't buy a Kindle with the misconception that I would then be entitled to free or nearly free books for the rest of my life. I don't expect free or nearly free CD's, either.

Where I draw the line on price depends on the book, but generally it is somewhere between $15-$20.


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## robins777 (Aug 10, 2010)

I have found the same in the UK, a lot of Kindle books are more expensive than the DTB versions. I still buy many DTB because of the price of the Kindle version and at the last count I had purchased about 95% DTB and 5% Kindle and until the price of Kindle book fall dramatically I will continue to do so.


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## SilverMaple (Oct 20, 2010)

The publishers are losing money hand over fist because ereaders are growing in popularity by leaps and bounds.  If they sell less 'real books' they lose buying power for paper and printing, etc. and have to price their products higher, thus losing them even more money.  They can convince many to purchase a real book over an ebook by pricing the paperback, etc. version cheaper.

I refuse to pay more than $9.99 for an ebook or kindle book.  Some publishers are listening and changing their strategies to include the growth of the ereader market. Others refuse, so I won't be buying their products for inflated prices.


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

The reason for most of the high prices is that Apple won't let them sell in the Ibooks store unless the publisher sets the price at other ebook stores at least as high as the price at Ibooks.


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## Kia Zi Shiru (Feb 7, 2011)

mlewis78 said:


> The reason for most of the high prices is that Apple won't let them sell in the Ibooks store unless the publisher sets the price at other ebook stores at least as high as the price at Ibooks.


As far as I know this is the same policy on Amazon too...


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

CaroleC said:


> The prices of many other items other than Kindle books is unrelated to the cost of producing these items. What about CD's? They can't cost much to manufacture.
> 
> I didn't buy a Kindle with the misconception that I would then be entitled to free or nearly free books for the rest of my life. I don't expect free or nearly free CD's, either.


I don't think many did that. We just expected e-books to cost the same or less than the print version. That's my only expectation. I'm not paying more for a cheaper to produce e-book than I could for a print book. I'll pay the same amount though as content is what matters.

Same with mp3s vs. cds. Though there the mp3 album must be cheaper since I can easily (and legally) buy a CD and pop it in the computer and have a MP3 album copy of it.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

mlewis78 said:


> The reason for most of the high prices is that Apple won't let them sell in the Ibooks store unless the publisher sets the price at other ebook stores at least as high as the price at Ibooks.


Not exactly - the publishers participating in the agency model set the prices period (the "Big Six" publishers - Hatchette, HarperCollins, MacMillan, Penguin, Random House, and Simon & Schuster). At iBooks and everywhere else. They don't have to be the same, I suppose, but they generally do seem to be pretty much the same across the board. And it means none of the "middlemen" (like Amazon, B&N or iBooks) can discount the books from those publishers.

On the other hand *Water for Elephants* is $4.17 on Kindle right now, $7.99 on iBooks. It's from a non-agency-model publisher though.


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## JEMedrick (Feb 28, 2011)

Kmmkiwi - I feel your pain! I wanted to pick up Robin Hobb, but what a disappointment to find it cost MORE as a digital version!!



Wisteria Clematis said:


> I think we are dreaming if we think we can keep prices under $9 in the long term.


I absolutely disagree! There has a been a flood of very excellent (and some not so excellent, but that's what sampling is for!) Indie work. Do you bounce around in the Indie Author community? John Locke, Amanda Hocking, Blake Crouch (though he had a previous platform) and others (like myself) work hard to produce a quality of product as good as or better (and often more original) than the high-priced agency model books. Many of us price our works in the $.99 ~ $2.99 range to entice new readers and show them we exist!

Give us a shot, and for 3 - 10 of our books, you can skip one of those $10 ones 



Robinelli said:


> I will not pay more than 9.99 for an ebook. If it is above that price I'll wait and get it in used paperback. I am actually holding out on several books right now because they are in the $10 range. If they were $5 each I'd buy them all! More money would be made if the prices were lowered. People would buy more.


I would say - there ARE more priced lower! Don't hold out for those few big names. If you don't want to pay those outrageous prices - don't! There are lots of great pieces out there begging for 1/3rd... even 1/10th of that price tag 



lori_piper said:


> That said, I'm much more likely to take a chance on an unknown author or new series, if the ebooks are in the $6 to $7 range. That's really my comfort zone.


How about the $.99 ~ $2.99 zone?


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

Meemo said:


> Not exactly - the publishers participating in the agency model set the prices period (the "Big Six" publishers - Hatchette, HarperCollins, MacMillan, Penguin, Random House, and Simon & Schuster). At iBooks and everywhere else. They don't have to be the same, I suppose, but they generally do seem to be pretty much the same across the board. And it means none of the "middlemen" (like Amazon, B&N or iBooks) can discount the books from those publishers.
> 
> On the other hand *Water for Elephants* is $4.17 on Kindle right now, $7.99 on iBooks. It's from a non-agency-model publisher though.


Apple won't let them sell in the ibook store unless they make that agreement with the other booksellers that the publisher sets the price. I do recall when this first happened over a year ago that other ebook stores would be prohibited from selling at a lower price than in the Apple store. That was the point. Screw the consumer!


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## JEMedrick (Feb 28, 2011)

mlewis78 said:


> Apple won't let them sell in the ibook store unless they make that agreement with the other booksellers that the publisher sets the price. I do recall when this first happened over a year ago that other ebook stores would be prohibited from selling at a lower price than in the Apple store. That was the point. Screw the consumer!


Isn't that basically just price-matching? Amazon and B&N both already do that, automatically price-match to the lowest competitor.


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## luvmykindle3 (Dec 5, 2010)

I like the the ease of buying ebooks, but if the book I want is a few dollars cheaper in paper than ebook, I will go ahead and get the cheaper book. If it's only a few cents, I will go for the ebook. I guess it depends on the book and bad I want it. I do shop around before I make my purchase. Since I've had my ereaders, I have been buying from Borders a lot less. Every once in a while, I still like to curl up with a real book : )


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## Cardinal (Feb 24, 2010)

mlewis78 said:


> Apple won't let them sell in the ibook store unless they make that agreement with the other booksellers that the publisher sets the price. I do recall when this first happened over a year ago that other ebook stores would be prohibited from selling at a lower price than in the Apple store. That was the point. Screw the consumer!





JEMedrick said:


> Isn't that basically just price-matching? Amazon and B&N both already do that, automatically price-match to the lowest competitor.


No, what Apple did wasn't "just price-matching". To sell books in the Apple bookstore, a publisher must use the Agency model (the publisher sets the price) with ALL the stores it sells eBooks to. Apparently, Apple also has a clause that the publisher can't set their prices lower at another eBook store (ie B&N or Amazon). Not only did Apple enter the eBook market, they instituted a new agreement with publishers that raised prices for all consumers no matter which eBook store they bought books from.

On January 29, 2010 Apple unveiled their new product the iPad. During the presentation when they announced their new bookstore, iBooks, they had a slide showing best selling books in their store for prices higher than what Amazon was currently selling those books for. After the presentation, reporters were allowed to see and handle the iPads.

During that event, a reporter asked Steve Jobs, "Why should she buy a book for $14.99 on your device when she can buy the book for $9.99 from Amazon and Barnes and Nobles?"

Steve Jobs: "Well, that won't be the case."

Reporter: "Mean you won't be $14.99 or they won't be $9.99?"

Steve Jobs: "The prices will be the same". Smiles.

Shortly after that, the world was introduced to the Agency Model for eBooks, and on April 1, 2010 it went into effect and the prices increased for a lot of books at Amazon Kindle store and B&N Nook store. I read this is the first time increased competition has lead to higher prices for the consumer.

I could not find the actual video that I was looking for, this one is much more chopped up but you will see the conversation with Steve Jobs at 1:58 to 2:18.

http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-jobs-publishers-are-going-to-pull-their-books-from-amazon-2010-1


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## JEMedrick (Feb 28, 2011)

Huh, that's really interesting.  I'm sorry, from what was said before, it sounded like price-matching.

I was in Japan when most of this was going down - didn't even know about all the rigmarole over the various markets until I recently decided to offer my work for sale


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

mlewis78 said:


> Apple won't let them sell in the ibook store unless they make that agreement with the other booksellers that the publisher sets the price. I do recall when this first happened over a year ago that other ebook stores would be prohibited from selling at a lower price than in the Apple store. That was the point. Screw the consumer!


True of the agency model publishers. But my point is that there are non-agency-model publishers selling in iBooks who aren't bound by that agreement.

The publisher always sets the "list" price. But what you're talking about only applies to the agency model publishers. They set the price that the "agencies" (Amazon, B&N, iBooks, etc) can sell for - and none of the agencies can discount books - that's across the board. iBooks can't sell them for less than Amazon either. (Frankly it feels like price-fixing to me, but what do I know, I'm just a lowly reader...)

But non-agency publishers do sell in iBooks as well - and those books can be discounted by the sellers - hence *Water for Elephants* being less at Amazon right now than it is in iBooks. Full list price at iBooks, $7.99. Amazon - or maybe the publisher, who knows? - has discounted it for now to $4.17. And B&N has the nook edition discounted to $6.39; Sony to $6.29. So it's not true that Apple won't let a publisher sell in iBooks unless they participate in the agency model. I know it's popular to put all the onus on Apple for the agency model, but I don't think they had to do a lot of arm twisting (except maybe Random House, who did hold out for a year) - I suspect it just gave those publishers the opportunity to make a change they were more than happy to make.


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