iPad drives Kindle prices higher, readers revolt

Author Gail Farrelly is among the Kindle owners faced with increased prices for e-books, now that big publishing houses have created a new model with Apple's iPad. In this guest post, Gail takes a closer look at the issue:

The Amazon Kindle Discussion Forum has not been a happy place lately. Higher prices, a side effect of the arrival of the iPad (http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/books/blog/2010/04/ipad_pushes_ebook_prices_highe.html), dominate the discussion. In fact, the forum's been marked by a Tea Party atmosphere, with complaints, indignation, and boycott plans. Whether consumers are willing to pay the higher prices remains to be seen.

To get an idea about some specific prices, I looked at the Kindle price and availability as of this writing for each of the five top hardcover fiction and nonfiction books on the April 18 print copy of the The New York Times best-seller list. Neither the top fiction book ("Changes" by Jim Butcher) nor the top non-fiction book ("The Big Short" by Michael Lewis" -- see recent post on Read Street) is available on the Kindle at this time for U. S. customers. Huh? This is surprising, especially given the fact that the Association of American Publishers has estimated that, while book sales fell by 1.8% in 2009, e-book sales were up last year by 176.6%. Yikes! That publishers cannot develop a profitable business model to make top-selling books available to e-book users in a timely way is a sad commentary on the state of the industry. I just hope that, in a year or two, one or more of the publishers won't be asking for a bailout from taxpayers.

Regarding Kindle prices for the other eight bestsellers, five of them are priced at $9.99, traditionally the Amazon price for most bestsellers. "The Bridge" by David Remnick is $14.82; "Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang" by Chelsea Handler is $12.99; "A River in the Sky" by Elizabeth Peters is $12.99.

Most buyers of e-books agree that the Kindle version should not be priced higher than the lowest-priced DTB (dead tree book) version. They balk at the fact that one can buy, for example, the mass market paperback version of M. C. Beaton's "Death of a Witch" for $6.99, while the Kindle version is priced at $11.99. A legitimate complaint, since costs like distribution, inventory and storage are so much lower for e-books. Most e-book users are horrified at the thought of "subsidizing" print books. One of the publishers did say that paperbacks are at times published by a company other than the one that published the hardback and Kindle versions, so that may explain some pricing that seems inconsistent. To be fair, I must also point out that there are some forum users who seem unperturbed by the new pricing schemes and are very quick to defend the publishers on a number of issues.

On a positive note, there have also been some terrific bargains and freebies offered on the Kindle this month. For example, about two weeks ago, for a brief time, 10 of the 13 books by Lemony Snicket ("A Series of Unfortunate Events") were free. As of this writing, "The Dark Tide" (with bonus material) by Andrew Gross is free. Two short story collections are bargain priced: "Hardly Knew Her" by Laura Lippman is $.99; and "The Price of Love and Other Stories" by Peter Robinson is $1.99. An added attraction of all these books is that the text-to-speech feature is enabled.

Like many other Kindle users, I downloaded a ton of books before the iPad invasion. Until prices stabilize, I'll be buying very little but making good use of Jungle-Search to find bargains on the Kindle. And I don't think I'll be alone!

Source: http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/books/blog/2010/04/ipad_drives_kindle_prices_high.html

So to summarise: prices for some books have gone up a couple of dollars, but major publishers like Harper Collins are now running promotions where they give their books away for free.

Are readers 'revolting' against the idea of free books?

Good work on using one book where Hachette got the pricing wrong to suggest some nonsensical conspiracy and ignoring all the others where it's moving to get it right (M. C. Beaton's 'Death of a Macho Man' - PB $6.99, Kindle $6.99 etc, etc).

Amazon were apparently keeping the price artificially low at $9.99 in order to build market share. They were reportedly willing to take several dollars LOSS on the books that should have been above that ceiling, in the cause of establishing a dominant position. (Source: New Yorker article).

So we could probably not realistically expect them to keep that position going indefinitely.

Pricing anomalies across different editions are hardly new in the publishing world. It really boils down to whether the asking price is worth it for whichever format you want at the time.

I'll certainly be shopping around, but I won't be wasting too much time moaning or catastrophising about it. I think that if we give it a bit more time the market will find a workable level.

Cheers,

Chris

*deleted*

The link to the New Yorker article is in Kali Yuga's thread below.It's worth a read.

Publish or Perish - New Yorker on the Ebook biz (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80813)

Amazon was not selling all of their ebooks at a loss. Like many physical discount stores, Amazon used bestsellers as their loss leader to get customers in the door, so to speak. Amazon did the same thing with physical books when it was establishing a web presence.

I will not pay more than $9.99 for any ebook. Not when I can walk into a physical store and buy the new physical book for the same or less than for the current ebook price. I don't see the publishers pushing the Agency Model with physical books. And, so far, the ebook prices rarely reflect the paperback price. That tells me that the publishers are using agency pricing to prop up hardcover sales.

There are plenty of non-Agency Model authors out there for me to read.

Well, the above is rather incomplete reporting. The reason Changes and the Micheal Lewis book isn't available for Kindle isn't because the Publisher can't or won't get an eBook out in a timely manner, it is because of the Amazon and Penguin Inc contract is still in dispute.

As for the this book is $9.99 vs this one at $12.99, I think it should have mentioned that one extremely large Publisher (Random House) is still fine and dandy with Amazon and other retailers discounting their publications to drive sales.

Also one thing I hardly ever see mentioned anywhere is that Random House books are unavailable through the iBookstore. I guess it is probably a minor point since iPAD users can simply buy them through another APP.

Scary to think that in a year we could be going through another major shake-up as the iPAD contracts with the Publishers expire.

Amazon was not selling all of their ebooks at a loss. Like many physical discount stores, Amazon used bestsellers as their loss leader to get customers in the door, so to speak. Amazon did the same thing with physical books when it was establishing a web presence.

Agreed. I don't think anybody ever suggested that they were taking a loss on all their books. The issue seems to be that Amazon was artificially creating a $9.99 barrier for e-books in the public mind. For some books that's fine, but for others it's just not always realistic to sell that low.


I will not pay more than $9.99 for any ebook. Not when I can walk into a physical store and buy the new physical book for the same or less than for the current ebook price.

That's fine, and many would agree with you, or not even be prepared to go that high. But I am prepared to do so, and I guess that's fine too. :)

There are many e-books that I'd be regularly prepared to pay as much or more for than a pbook. For instance, material where the speed, accuracy and convenience of searching is important. But even going to a store to buy a printed book can cost me more in time and running costs than the price of the book itself (as opposed to buying an ebook in seconds with a few clicks). I certainly do prefer to get an e-book cheaper, but I'm not going to be inflexible about it. If I think the content is worth the asking price I'm not too fussed about always paring off the last few bucks by hiking off to a discount book store.

I think there's room for all of us. :thumbsup:

That's fine, and many would agree with you, or not even be prepared to go that high. But I am prepared to do so, and I guess that's fine too. :)


I think there's room for all of us. :thumbsup:

Well.. No. There is room for you at $9.99 pricing, there is no room for me in $15 and more pricing range.
How would you feel, if some yacht owning oil billionere will defend pricing model by saying he will pay $1000 for the ebook he likes? Does it prove anything to the rest of us?
I think not.

Well.. No. There is room for you at $9.99 pricing, there is no room for me in $15 and more pricing range.
How would you feel, if some yacht owning oil billionere will defend pricing model by saying he will pay $1000 for the ebook he likes? Does it prove anything to the rest of us?
I think not.

Are you really saying that there's no book that you'd pay $15 for?

If your billionaire finds an ebook that he'll pay $1000 for that's fine by me. In fact, I believe that there are already some ebooks that do have an asking price in that sort of range. If I remember rightly they were some kind of very low volume medical research or reference texts. The sort of things where the costs of paying someone to put it all together in the right format can only be set against a very small number of sales.

If cheapness of books are what drives your buying then I'm sure there will continue to be some that cater for you - just like there are cheaper cars, clothes, or whatever. But I don't see why you should expect me or anybody else to be too upset if you want to stick to your own self imposed ceiling. Hey, I'd like to buy a Ferrari for the price of a regular sedan too, but sometimes you just have to save up more or make do with something cheaper.
;)

Are you really saying that there's no book that you'd pay $15 for?

If your billionaire finds an ebook that he'll pay $1000 for that's fine by me. In fact, I believe that there are already some ebooks that do have an asking price in that sort of range. If I remember rightly they were some kind of very low volume medical research or reference texts. The sort of things where the costs of paying someone to put it all together in the right format can only be set against a very small number of sales.

If cheapness of books are what drives your buying then I'm sure there will continue to be some that cater for you - just like there are cheaper cars, clothes, or whatever. But I don't see why you should expect me or anybody else to be too upset if you want to stick to your own self imposed ceiling. Hey, I'd like to buy a Ferrari for the price of a regular sedan too, but sometimes you just have to save up more or make do with something cheaper.
;)

First of, I don't expect you to be upset - be happy all you want. I am against you saying there is place for all when you mean for you.

Second of all let's not be absurd ok? I am not talking medicine books or grimories I am talking NY list bestsellers which are usually closer to Saturns and Geos not Ferrari. And I am not talking about $2 ceiling I am talking about $10, that was set not by me, but by retailer who knows a little more about pricing then you or me. If I had my way it would've been $7.99 ceiling, so I am already compromising :).

First of, I don't expect you to be upset - be happy all you want. I am against you saying there is place for all when you mean for you.



OK, I'm sorry that you think there's no place for you. I do understand that not everybody has plenty of money to spend. :(

But I still think that your limit is imposed by yourself and that you do still have options (room) to buy the books. Obviously you can just buy less books for each $100 you spend, but you can also wait for access through libraries, second hand bookshops etc. I also don't see why ebooks won't also come out in cheaper versions over time, perhaps bundled in sets or whatever in much the same manner as some pbooks do.

Second of all let's not be absurd ok? Hey, you started it with your $1000 a book yacht owning billionaire. You think that's not just a tad absurd? ;)


I agree that it sucks when things cost more than we'd like to pay, but I still feel that $15 is good value for the hours I get from a book, and that if I miss out on a book that is a bit pricey for me (which regularly happens with pbooks) then there's plenty of other stuff to read in the meantime. And I'll wait for the opportunity another time. I just got hold of a book two weeks ago that I've waited over twenty years for. :)

Anyway, I hope we can agree to disagree on our price ceilings.

Cheers,

Chris

An ebook should be at least half the price of the cheapest paper copy of the book. If the paperback version is $5.99, the ebook should be $2.99. Almost no ebook is worth $15 unless it is a scientific or scholastic book.

Steve "People Don't Read Anymore" Jobs sold the iPad to the publishing industry as the miracle which will save them. And he promised them higher prices in the bargain.

Steve is there just to sell his miracle gadget, and to sucker as many as he can into his walled garden. He found a way to throw a wrench in Amazon's steamroller and the publishers are happy about it.

But, I personally don't see the iPad as the publishing industry savior. Jobs is not a book seller and he is using books as an interim driver only. Particularly since the movie/TV industry spurned his overtures to bring them into his iworld.

Bottom line, we'll get higher prices for a while, until sales drop and piracy increases. Then the publishing industry will wake up in the same dark place the music industry inhabited a few years ago.

Steve "People Don't Read Anymore" Jobs sold the iPad to the publishing industry as the miracle which will save them. And he promised them higher prices in the bargain.

Steve is there just to sell his miracle gadget, and to sucker as many as he can into his walled garden. He found a way to throw a wrench in Amazon's steamroller and the publishers are happy about it.

But, I personally don't see the iPad as the publishing industry savior. Jobs is not a book seller and he is using books as an interim driver only. Particularly since the movie/TV industry spurned his overtures to bring them into his iworld.

Bottom line, we'll get higher prices for a while, until sales drop and piracy increases. Then the publishing industry will wake up in the same dark place the music industry inhabited a few years ago.

Let him sell his Ipads, I just hope that he doesn't sell many ebooks via Itunes. Then this whole nonsense will go away by the end of the year. My TBR list is full, I will just wait and sit it out, and there are many public domain books I also want to read. By buying now we would support their price fixing.

For me it is also a matter of principle, no ebook should cost more than the paperback version.

Heck, I would be happy if the ebooks were priced better. I was looking at NYT bestsellers at Amazon and many that are also available as paperbacks have their ebook edition priced higher than the paperback but lower than the hardcover.

Still won't buy above $9.99 and prefer not to go above $7.99. I have plenty of books to read and can wait for this fiasco to die.

The belief that the iPad is a trojan horse into the publishing industry seems mis-guided to me. There are benefits to "visually enriched" book or magazine content but for those publications which are about words -- The New Yorker -- an iPad is a "nice to have".

Tablet computers are really more about the whole computing experience as a consumer, not producer, of content. So they occupy a fuzzy space between "full function but portable" netbooks and "full function but high quality output" desktops. The tablet is "partial function high quality output" ... with lots of gotchas.

There is room for "budget" dedicated e-readers; mid-range larger "magazine readers" in b&w and colour; netbooks for portability; tablets for playback; advanced laptops / desktops for everyday heavy duty work. In this mix of "tiers", tablets have the least compelling raison d'être and will have a hard time justifying the $829 price point for 9.7" 3G and minimal 64 GB storage. (And that SIM card to run 3G: it's a special model, not the one in your phone. And that USB cable -- it's extra. Extra too for: the docking station. And the external keyboard. And the leather case. And each and every app that runs on it since it can't run a single Mac or Windows app.)

There is room for "budget" dedicated e-readers; mid-range larger "magazine readers" in b&w and colour; netbooks for portability; tablets for playback; advanced laptops / desktops for everyday heavy duty work.

I'd agree with that. I think we'll see a whole range of options tried over the next decade or so. For instance, as manufacturing costs come down it might even be possible to make a more or less "disposable" reading device. Such an item might have something like a preloaded set of "The Complete Works of..." a copyrighted author, or all the volumes in a popular series, or whatever bundling could be marketed at a price which could include the cost of a simple device with no wifi, no USB, no ability at instal more material, and the bare minimum of electronics needed to read the content. It's not my preferred way of doing things, but we've already seen that philosophy working in many other product areas.



In this mix of "tiers", tablets have the least compelling raison d'être and will have a hard time justifying the $829 price point for 9.7" 3G and minimal 64 GB storage. (And that SIM card to run 3G: it's a special model, not the one in your phone. And that USB cable -- it's extra. Extra too for: the docking station. And the external keyboard. And the leather case. And each and every app that runs on it since it can't run a single Mac or Windows app.)

I'm with you there too. I can't guarantee that I won't eventually fall for an iPad, out of sheer 'gadget greed' but right now my full function tablet PC is a much more attractive option for what I expect to be able to do.

Cheers,

Chris

Heck, I would be happy if the ebooks were priced better. I was looking at NYT bestsellers at Amazon and many that are also available as paperbacks have their ebook edition priced higher than the paperback but lower than the hardcover.

Still won't buy above $9.99 and prefer not to go above $7.99. I have plenty of books to read and can wait for this fiasco to die.

Personally, I won't set exact figures for the most I will pay for a book, but one thing that is certain for me is that I won't pay more than price of the main paper edition at the time for an ebook and with issues like drm then I would tend to expect a noticeable discount on that current price. For some authors that would mean that I was prepared to pay just under the hardback price, but for most I would ignore them until they dropped down to paperback levels.

I'd agree with that. I think we'll see a whole range of options tried over the next decade or so. For instance, as manufacturing costs come down it might even be possible to make a more or less "disposable" reading device. Such an item might have something like a preloaded set of "The Complete Works of..." a copyrighted author, or all the volumes in a popular series, or whatever bundling could be marketed at a price which could include the cost of a simple device with no wifi, no USB, no ability at instal more material, and the bare minimum of electronics needed to read the content. It's not my preferred way of doing things, but we've already seen that philosophy working in many other product areas.


I don't think they would actually strip things down to quite that extent as leaving out such things as usb prevents them from selling you new stuff, they have got the ereader into your hands by selling you it as part of the complete works you bought and now they would use it to flog you more ebooks.

Yep, the market is just starting up for ebooks and ebook readers. Different people have different requirements which require different devices. For that matter, different devices can meet different needs. I use an iPad for most of my reading right now, but I also have a Sony 505 and an iPhone. I wouldn't take the iPad on a backpacking trip, but I would take the Sony. Competition is good for consumers.

From the ebook price stand point mentioned earlier in the thread, my comment is that authors have to eat. If they can't make enough money to feed themselves, then they will stop writing and go into another line of work.

The title of the article is misleading. What is more expensive are ebooks for Kindle, not Kindles themselves. When I entered this thread, I did it from the main board, and the title was cut where it said "iPad drives Kindle prices..."; I understood it would drive Kindle (the device's) prices lower as a counterstrike from Amazon.

I don't think they would actually strip things down to quite that extent as leaving out such things as usb prevents them from selling you new stuff, they have got the ereader into your hands by selling you it as part of the complete works you bought and now they would use it to flog you more ebooks.

I agree that a fuller functioned reader + book bundle would be one possible way of marketing a package deal. But that's not much of a step from where we are now.

The whole point of a "disposable" style is that it's not designed for that kind of re-use, and cost savings are made by making it as minimalist as possible. The makers can also keep making money by selling you the same thing multiple times.

We've seen it in things like razors, for instance, where the original cut-throat razors were used for years on end and carefully re-sharpened. They were replaced by the 'safety razor' which had a re-usable handle and blade holder but used disposable blades. In turn, they were followed by 100% throw away razors. They're cheap and convenient but you buy them every week instead of once or twice a lifetime. It's a trend that crops up in an increasing number of fields now.

In the games world you can buy anything from a full on Gaming Monster PC, through to various reasonably well specced consoles, right down to cheap little hand held gaming devices that run only what comes on them, with no capacity to add more (if I'm not mistaken, virtually throw away mini game devices have been around for years). I don't see any real reason why the same range might not spread to e-reading.

Lots of options there for customising the case with a content related theme.
It could be as simple as putting a large sticker on the back that would be the equivalent of a book cover, through to fancy plastic pressing or colours. Dedicated themed readers just stuffed with Thomas the Tank Engine, or Winnie the Pooh, the Discworld series, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy or whatever... geez they'd fly off the shelves wouldn't they? I want one already.... :D

We already have apps for iTouch etc which have built in collections of books that you can neither add to nor delete from. Simpler software, less cost to make.

It certainly seems possible to me, but of course that doesn't mean it will happen. ;)

Cheers,

Chris

I was looking at NYT bestsellers at Amazon and many that are also available as paperbacks have their ebook edition priced higher than the paperback but lower than the hardcover.
Ah. And I though the US publishers, unlike the french ones, had understood this...

I dont remember seeing Amazon raise prices on the Kindle itself

I dont remember seeing Amazon raise prices on the Kindle itself

That is what they were talking about in previous posts -- the title of the thread should be "drives prices of Kindle books higher" not "drives Kindle prices higher".

Just let's hope Amazon wouldn't start selling bargain Kindles at $99 as way to create an effective doorway into their ebook store so they can rise ebook prices to a level of the Apple price point.

Just an aside, going back to the original article, I bought "A River in the Sky" for $9.99 at Books on Board - they have agency pricing now, too, so I'm not sure why Amazon would have it higher.

And I was still able to use my rewards, so I got it for less than $5.00 in real money.

Just an aside, going back to the original article, I bought "A River in the Sky" for $9.99 at Books on Board - they have agency pricing now, too, so I'm not sure why Amazon would have it higher.

And I was still able to use my rewards, so I got it for less than $5.00 in real money.

Really? Checking right now and...

Amazon $12.99 - http://www.amazon.com/River-Sky-Novel-ebook/dp/B003D20RSC/ref=tmm_kin_title_0

BoB $12.99 - http://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?BODY=viewbook&BOOK=668491

Really? Checking right now and...

Amazon $12.99 - http://www.amazon.com/River-Sky-Novel-ebook/dp/B003D20RSC/ref=tmm_kin_title_0

BoB $12.99 - http://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?BODY=viewbook&BOOK=668491


Well, it WAS $9.99, I swear!

For instance, as manufacturing costs come down it might even be possible to make a more or less "disposable" reading device. Such an item might have something like a preloaded set of "The Complete Works of..." a copyrighted author, or all the volumes in a popular series, or whatever bundling could be marketed at a price which could include the cost of a simple device with no wifi, no USB, no ability at instal more material...

Throw in fixed fonts and sizes, a reflective display with great contrast in good light - and you've pretty much described a paperback, no?

Cheers, Pete

Changes HB by Jim Butcher on Amazon costs $9.99, why would I buy an ebook (if it was available) at a higher price, or even the same price when I could get my HB signed by Jim and sell it on ebay or even trade it to a used book store for credit or money.

There is no inherent value to an ebook besides what the buyer places in it. Once it is payed for it has no true monetary value.

Throw in fixed fonts and sizes, a reflective display with great contrast in good light - and you've pretty much described a paperback, no?

Cheers, Pete


:D

But don't forget that old saying - "Size does matter". ;)


The complete works of Agatha Christie, for instance, might be a little tricky to slip in a handbag in one go. I can visualise a row of cheap 'one shot' compendium readers taking up a fraction of the space in a bookshelf, or even stacked in something like a CD rack. Despite having bookcases in every room, including the laundry, we ran out of shelf space years ago.

Cheers,

Chris

I have a view that due to the reduced shipping and storage costs, I should not be paying any more for my e-book than I should for the hardback or paper back.

Smashwords have proved that it does not take masses of people to convert these books, as long as the author has written it in MS Word in the first place (And MS Word has been round since the late 80's)

so I cannot see any justification as to why an Ebook is higher priced than a Dead Wood Book (And its far more environmentally friendly)

as for individual book prices, its all ready been said that some specialist books can cost a lot. In fact ive just paid $75 for a specialist ebook, and that happens to be $25 less than the paper back version (Which I all ready own a very dog eared copy)

iPad drives Kindle prices higher, readers revolt

To get an idea about some specific prices, I looked at the Kindle price and availability as of this writing for each of the five top hardcover fiction and nonfiction books on the April 18 print copy of the The New York Times best-seller list. Neither the top fiction book ("Changes" by Jim Butcher) nor the top non-fiction book ("The Big Short" by Michael Lewis" -- see recent post on Read Street) is available on the Kindle at this time for U. S. customers.

I bought Jim Butcher's Changes at the Sony store on April 7th for $9.99.

Regards, Daryl