Quote:
Originally Posted by kiwipippa
I know this topic has been discussed at length before, but I have noticed it getting worse.
The prices of epubs purchased through kobobooks in New Zealand has gone up substantially in the last month. This is because kobo has moved to agency pricing for one of the biggest publishers - Hachette and all its associated labels.
It has made epubs completely uncompetitive with traditional paperback books, or with the Amazon kindle store. How can agency pricing differ between retailers? Is it because Amazon has greater clout than kobo?
Here's some examples from my "wish list" to show how prices compare. Needless to say, I won't be buying these books.
Sea of Poppies-Amitav Ghosh 16.99NZD Kobo 10.16NZD Kindle
More than you can say-Paul Torday 24.99NZD kobo 12.06NZD Kindle
The Irresistible inheritance of Wilberforce-Paul Torday 16.99NZD kobo 10.16NZD Kindle
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party-Alexander McCall Smith 24.99 NZD kobo 16.20NZD kindle (on sale at my local bookshop for $15)
Bossypants-Tina Fey 24.99NZD kobo 12.10NZD kindle
$24.99 for an ebook - they must be kidding. I feel sorry for kobo who have no control over this, but unfortunately they will wear it because people will not buy.
Agency pricing must be the biggest con in the ebook world - the model is broken, will it ever be fixed?
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Tell me about it. Several $5.99 paperback books that I purchased around 1998/9 are being hawked for $9.99?! WTF?! That's nearly a doubling in price in c. 12-3y and for a CHEAPER electronic version that has no storage, disposal, transport, etc. costs?! (These are pretty short books too...)
Unfortunately I felt inclined to bite on one with my $10 store credit as it was a 5th book in a 6 book series of which I am only able to find 4 that I acquired about 10 or so years ago. #6 is likely going to sit there for a LONG time at $9.99. I was even shocked when perusing the mystery section at Borders when I went to look at the Touch that even some of the tiny paperbacks were @ $9.99, but I guess this is why the publishing industry is in trouble. This again is nearly a 70% increase in price in less than 10y.
(Amazon had both #5 & #6 but listed pb price @ $18?! PAPERBACK?! These publisher's have lost what few marbles that they ever had.)
Oddly enough some of the MASSIVE tomes in the SF&F section were $6.99 and $7.99, which closer to sane pricing for a paperback. I refuse to pay $10 for a crappy little pb, not even a trade pb at that!
Ebooks pricing: I'm at $3 is a fair value for an ebook that is at the pb stage. Might consider $5 or 6 for a few items, but only rarely.