MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - An interesting conversation with Kobo about ebook prices

xwolfi · 07-29-2013, 02:33 PM

The prices in France were so exagerated that I had to fake my ID and subscribe to the US store. I'm glad that rakuten is not enforcing geoip checks !

I heard that in the US, more books are read on ereader than on paper, in France we are SO far from this, and our publishers are totally scared.

Often the difference in price tag can be explained by the need for translations, which is only created by our global sloppiness in teaching english anyway xD

A good exemple of the stupidity of such publishers is "the song of ice and fire" (game of thrones): in the US on the kobo store, you can find an english bundle for approx 40 USD, which is like 30 euros give or take. In France, translated, the books are subdivised in 10 parts (instead of five originally) and are sold for 10 euros each... in ebook format, on the Kobo store ! So the equivalent bundle would be 100 euros, 300% more expensive ! Translation and taxes can't explain this, only greed could don't you agree ?

So I don't really mind anymore, I leave my language on the side of the road and I go on with english. I'm sure I'm not the only one, and these publishers are digging their own grave. The day we all read english, they won't be needed anymore. Wouldn't that be an interesting development ?

07-29-2013, 02:33 PM	#4
xwolfi Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 87260 Join Date: Feb 2012 Device: Kobo	The prices in France were so exagerated that I had to fake my ID and subscribe to the US store. I'm glad that rakuten is not enforcing geoip checks ! I heard that in the US, more books are read on ereader than on paper, in France we are SO far from this, and our publishers are totally scared. Often the difference in price tag can be explained by the need for translations, which is only created by our global sloppiness in teaching english anyway xD A good exemple of the stupidity of such publishers is "the song of ice and fire" (game of thrones): in the US on the kobo store, you can find an english bundle for approx 40 USD, which is like 30 euros give or take. In France, translated, the books are subdivised in 10 parts (instead of five originally) and are sold for 10 euros each... in ebook format, on the Kobo store ! So the equivalent bundle would be 100 euros, 300% more expensive ! Translation and taxes can't explain this, only greed could don't you agree ? So I don't really mind anymore, I leave my language on the side of the road and I go on with english. I'm sure I'm not the only one, and these publishers are digging their own grave. The day we all read english, they won't be needed anymore. Wouldn't that be an interesting development ? Last edited by xwolfi; 07-29-2013 at 02:39 PM.