[fjtorres]

There's so many factors involved in the buy/no buy decision...

My decision tree, for what it's worth, starts with the title; I tend to just skim the shelves (real or virtual). If the title catches my eye, I'll look to the author, the promo blurb, and *then* the price. Samples don't really factor in it for me 'cause I've run into too many "three-chapter rip-offs" to give samples much credit.

That said, I don't see an inherent issue at US$7.99, regardless of pedigree.
(I'm assuming the story is fiction--cause for current affairs/non-fiction pedigree really matters. But that's a matter of authority not quality.)

Me, if a story intrigues me enough to read, I'm not going to sweat the difference between $4 or $8 or even $20.
The way I see it: I'm not a speed reader so when you get down to it, the biggest investment I put into reading a book is my *time*.
(My personal boycott of the price-fix five is not over the price but the principle. I've bought $16 ebooks before, I'll do it again. But not at gunpoint.)

So, as far as I'm concerned, the availability of a sample (large or small) has no valid linkage to the price.

I do see a linkage, however, between sample size and the publisher's (or author's, in the case of self-published works) confidence in the product's worth. A big sample suggests *to me* they're not sure the story will grab you with a smaller sample. And if the sample is a significant chunk of the total product it would lead me to think it probably needs work.

Add-in a price out of line with the retailer and/or genre and I'd guess the author/publisher doesn't understand the business. Doesn't mean they're greedy (that word gets used waaayyy too much on forums the 'net over) just inexperienced/misinformed.

Fair'nough?