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JSWolf · 10-15-2007, 06:00 AM

Why is it that ebook prices are all over the place. I'm not talking a dollar or two. This can be significant. Take a look at the book The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A. J. Jacobs.

At the Sony Connect Store the price is $13.59 for BBeB
At Simon & Schuster the price is $11.04 for Adobe, MS Reader, and eReader
At eReader the price is $15.29 for eReader
At BooksOnBoard the price is $10.99 for Adobe, MS Reader, and eReader while Mobipocket is $20.75
At Mobipocket the price is $25.00 for Mobipocket
At Fictionwise the price (non-club) is $13.59 for MS Reader and eReader.
And for reference at Amazon the price is $14.99 + $3.99 (roughly) shipping for a total of $18.98 for the hardcover

Why is it the price is all over the place? Why is it Mobipocket is the most expensive format? The ebook prices range from $10.99 - $25 for the very same content in an electronic file. I cannot see how it would be that much more expensive to create one format vs. another. Is it that much more time consuming ot make a Mobipocket edition that they have to charge so much more then the others? Heck, Mobipocket themselves are charging the cover price for the book even.

This illustrates one of the major issues we face today with ebooks. There is no such thing as a standard price. And to find the best price, you have to go looking on a number of different sites and possibly be willing to do some DRM removal and format conversion to get the best price. Can something be done to bring the prices more in line with what we expect of them?

10-15-2007, 06:00 AM	#1
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 74,488 Karma: 129668758 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Ebook prices all over the place Why is it that ebook prices are all over the place. I'm not talking a dollar or two. This can be significant. Take a look at the book The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A. J. Jacobs. At the Sony Connect Store the price is $13.59 for BBeB At Simon & Schuster the price is $11.04 for Adobe, MS Reader, and eReader At eReader the price is $15.29 for eReader At BooksOnBoard the price is $10.99 for Adobe, MS Reader, and eReader while Mobipocket is $20.75 At Mobipocket the price is $25.00 for Mobipocket At Fictionwise the price (non-club) is $13.59 for MS Reader and eReader. And for reference at Amazon the price is $14.99 + $3.99 (roughly) shipping for a total of $18.98 for the hardcover Why is it the price is all over the place? Why is it Mobipocket is the most expensive format? The ebook prices range from $10.99 - $25 for the very same content in an electronic file. I cannot see how it would be that much more expensive to create one format vs. another. Is it that much more time consuming ot make a Mobipocket edition that they have to charge so much more then the others? Heck, Mobipocket themselves are charging the cover price for the book even. This illustrates one of the major issues we face today with ebooks. There is no such thing as a standard price. And to find the best price, you have to go looking on a number of different sites and possibly be willing to do some DRM removal and format conversion to get the best price. Can something be done to bring the prices more in line with what we expect of them?