Price Competition

ElaineMomNC · 10-31-2009, 09:01 AM

Hi, I've had a Sony PRS300 for a couple of months. I've been watching a book by popular author Danielle Steel...Southern Nights. Sony's price is $15.40 so I've been waiting. I checked Amazon Kindle and they carry the same title for $9.99. Barnes & Noble have it for $14.99.

I wrote to Sony e support and their basic reply was the publishers set the price for ebooks and other retailers have special arrangements. They mainly put the blame on the publishers.

As I have an iPod Touch, I will most likely download that book on Kindle. It's a shame retailers will not match competitor's prices.

Elaine

=X= · 10-31-2009, 10:57 AM

Hi Elaine,
Welcome to mobileread.

Yes pricing differences are a known issue and have been a source of angst for many eBook readers, except for those that bought Kindles. Right now nobody beats the kindle price, though there are exceptions here and there.

To do a good price comparison I'd recommend a newly created site called inkmesh.com. They do a great job of collecting prices from the more popular online bookstores.

One way to get good prices on eBooks is to wait for sales by BooksOnBoard(BoB), FictionWise, and eReader.com. Unfortunately only offers books with DRM that works on the SONY. Many however buy books and remove the DRM and convert them the ePUB/LRF so they can be read on their ereading device.

=X=

FragFrog · 10-31-2009, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by =X=

Right now nobody beats the kindle price, though there are exceptions here and there.

Strangly enough, a local (dutch) store is selling a majority of it's ebooks for far lower prices than tree-books (for example, The Art Of War - 2.99, The Amazon's Curse, 2.99, The Hunt For Red October, 5.99), and those work fine on a lot of non-kindle devices. Yet the same company manages to charge 79.99 for the eBook version of a 45.99 paperback, and sadly for you they don't seem to offer digital versions of books by Danielle Steel. One I did find was Foyles, which charges $8.33 for other books by Steel, but don't seem to have the one you want either - handy, no?

Still, the internet is big, there are a lot of retailers around, it can't hurt to look around. Especially if you have a device that also accepts DRM'ed books from other publishers.

ElaineMomNC · 10-31-2009, 07:48 PM

Thanks for the information!

I went ahead and downloaded the book to the Kindle on my iPod Touch. The price difference simply was too big for me to go with Sony

The Touch is nice and portable, and has a nice big clear type.

Who knows, I might get a Kindle someday, goodness knows I have too many books!
I'm rather disappointed that Sony wouldn't match the price. Lots of women like Danielle Steel novels, look to me like it would be lucrative for the ebook distributers to give a better price.

pdurrant · 11-01-2009, 04:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElaineMomNC

I'm rather disappointed that Sony wouldn't match the price. Lots of women like Danielle Steel novels, look to me like it would be lucrative for the ebook distributers to give a better price.

Amazon are selling some ebooks at a loss, and hoping to make it up on (future) volume.

Other books distributors are unwilling to do this. Well, Fictionwise is also sort-of selling the New York Times bestsellers at a loss, and hoping to make it up on other purchases. (They're selling them with 100% micropay rebate, and a discount to $20.00. So you can buy two for $10 each, if you buy one and then use the micropay to buy another.)

jasonkchapman · 11-01-2009, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Amazon are selling some ebooks at a loss, and hoping to make it up on (future) volume.

That's pretty much been their strategy since day one. That's why it took them roughly seven years to post their first quarterly profit.

DawnFalcon · 11-01-2009, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by =X=

Yes pricing differences are a known issue and have been a source of angst for many eBook readers, except for those that bought Kindles. Right now nobody beats the kindle price, though there are exceptions here and there.

Only if you're American. Outside America, I'm seeing Amazon's prices being equivalent or slightly higher. It's the price premium they add which tips the scale...

kennyc · 11-01-2009, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElaineMomNC

Thanks for the information!

I went ahead and downloaded the book to the Kindle on my iPod Touch. The price difference simply was too big for me to go with Sony

The Touch is nice and portable, and has a nice big clear type.

Who knows, I might get a Kindle someday, goodness knows I have too many books!
I'm rather disappointed that Sony wouldn't match the price. Lots of women like Danielle Steel novels, look to me like it would be lucrative for the ebook distributers to give a better price.

This ongoing price differential

is the main reason I went ahead and bought a Kindle2 to go along with my Sony.

10-31-2009, 09:01 AM	#1
ElaineMomNC Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: Sony PRS-300	Price Competition Hi, I've had a Sony PRS300 for a couple of months. I've been watching a book by popular author Danielle Steel...Southern Nights. Sony's price is $15.40 so I've been waiting. I checked Amazon Kindle and they carry the same title for $9.99. Barnes & Noble have it for $14.99. I wrote to Sony e support and their basic reply was the publishers set the price for ebooks and other retailers have special arrangements. They mainly put the blame on the publishers. As I have an iPod Touch, I will most likely download that book on Kindle. It's a shame retailers will not match competitor's prices. Elaine

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10-31-2009, 10:57 AM	#2
=X= Wizard Posts: 3,671 Karma: 12205348 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Galaxy S, Nook w/CM7	Hi Elaine, Welcome to mobileread. Yes pricing differences are a known issue and have been a source of angst for many eBook readers, except for those that bought Kindles. Right now nobody beats the kindle price, though there are exceptions here and there. To do a good price comparison I'd recommend a newly created site called inkmesh.com. They do a great job of collecting prices from the more popular online bookstores. One way to get good prices on eBooks is to wait for sales by BooksOnBoard(BoB), FictionWise, and eReader.com. Unfortunately only offers books with DRM that works on the SONY. Many however buy books and remove the DRM and convert them the ePUB/LRF so they can be read on their ereading device. =X=

10-31-2009, 07:48 PM	#4
ElaineMomNC Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: Sony PRS-300	Thanks for the information! I went ahead and downloaded the book to the Kindle on my iPod Touch. The price difference simply was too big for me to go with Sony The Touch is nice and portable, and has a nice big clear type. Who knows, I might get a Kindle someday, goodness knows I have too many books! I'm rather disappointed that Sony wouldn't match the price. Lots of women like Danielle Steel novels, look to me like it would be lucrative for the ebook distributers to give a better price.

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