New Zealand gets first ebook store - but there's a catch

karenr_nz · 05-26-2010, 08:27 PM

Well, Whitcoulls NZ (part of Red Group) have finally started selling ebooks in New Zealand. They are also selling the Kobo reader. It seems like they are using the same search engine that Borders Australia use (Borders NZ isn't selling ebooks yet) and they seem to have ironed out a few of the bugs. So far, so good ...

Then I actually checked the selections and prices! In terms of selection, there is only one word I can use and that is CRAP! (Sorry about the profanity folks.) I just checked a couple of very prolific fantasy authors whose books are commonly available in NZ: Mercedes Lackey, Tanya Huff and Robert Jordan. Of those three authors, the only available ebooks are two prologue chapters for the last two Robert Jordan books.

So to find out about prices, I looked at some books by Jodi Picoult - and saw exactly what I expected to see. They are priced very similarly to paperback prices in NZ. (In other words, high!) So a couple of comparisons: The bulk of these books are available on BooksOnBoard at $10-13US, which is already high. At Borders Australia the same books are $17-19AUD (or about $14-15US) and in NZ they are $23-25NZD (or $15-16US).

So my question is this .... Do RedGroup think NZ and Aus ebook readers are stupid!!!! Why would we pay such prices when we can buy cheaper elsewhere - there are no borders on the internet!

Sorry about the rant ....

sherman · 05-26-2010, 10:37 PM

I've been looking at the store too.

As far as prices are concerned, they seemed to be all over the place. Some books are very expensive, others are not too bad. And I believe that in most cases, it's the publishers who set the prices.

Looking at the Jodi Picoult books, it looks like the author has sold books to many different publishers (in BooksOnBoards, I saw HarperCollins, S&S, Penguin...). It seems that in AU/NZ, the books are published by Allen & Unwin (an Aussie publisher), who don't seem to be noted for the reasonable ebook pricing

Selection: It seems that of the "Main" publishers, RedGroup have only got a selection from HarperCollins and Random House so far.

sherman · 05-26-2010, 10:46 PM

Whitcoulls now show the price of the Kobo reader.

$295 NZD.

It's on the high side for certain, especially as it should have been around $250 to be equivilent to the AU price.
On the other hand, it's about what I expected from them. I predicted it would be sold somewhere between $260-$300.

EDIT: Lets hope that they've already made allowances for the planned 2.5% increase in GST, and will not raise the price in October

duckbill · 05-27-2010, 03:36 AM

I am still trying to understand why anybody would use Whitcoulls to buy an ebook. Their site is not very advanced with respect to useability and the prices are very high.
I have lost my patience with most retailers and now buy most books from amazon. However, I would very much appreciate any recommendations to buy elsewhere.

neilmarr · 05-27-2010, 05:49 AM

***it's the publishers who set the prices***

Not always the case, I'm afraid, Sherman.

My own wee house's RRP on all titles in all ebook formats is $5.99. I often see them on sale at higher cover prices (same, but not as often, with our paperbacks).

It's one of the reasons I prefer to see folks buying direct from our own site. We can also be more sure that our ebooks bought from there are not having DRM imposed on them against our wishes, and that format conversion is perfect (though we don't have our own conversions of all titles into all formats yet, so we must rely on third party retail for some).

The other reason, of course, is that we don't charge ourselves retail commission, so all royalties are maximised for author, designer, artist, editor, tech, etc.

Cheers. Neil

ColinS · 05-27-2010, 01:46 PM

I've also been looking and the search functionality is rather primitive. It seems to work on any of the words entered, appearing somewhere in Author/Title/Blurb??
There's no way to refine/restrict the criteria.
Just try a search for J.D. Robb - none in ebook (yet) but even the paper versions list other authors first!

Pricing also seems to be all over the place - some look suspiciously like they are in $US. eg. Nora Roberts all $7.95

karenr_nz · 05-27-2010, 06:59 PM

Apparently Whitcoulls are doing a big push on e-books and are stating that they have 'over 2 million titles' (or something of the sort). I have to say that their 2 million titles don't include many recent bestsellers (or strong selling backlist titles).

@ Duckbill, the only reason that I would buy from Whitcoulls is the dastedly geographic restrictions thing. With the new agency pricing thing it seems like lots of books that I want to buy from BooksOnBoard are now geo-restricted and I can't. It makes me absolutely furious.

neilmarr · 05-28-2010, 02:56 AM

When an ebook retailer boasts of a catalogue of two million titles, Karen, that includes a whole bunch of classics and other public domain books freely available all over the net. Best. Neil

ronw · 05-28-2010, 07:12 PM

I so wanted a reader I forked out for the Kobo from Whitcoulls. As you noted the price is high as it appears to be advrtised fro $149 US Dollars which I make NZ$ 218 at todays exchange rate. I presume the extra $80 is to help Whitcoulls make some extra money.

Re the books available it looks as if Whitcoulls NZ Borders Aust (both owned by RED) and Kobo Canada are all using the same database of books. When I log into Kobo and price a book it comes up in NZ dollars so they are obviously related.
I guess it makes sense for WHitcoulls to join an established book database it saves reinventing the wheel.
I would not be buying any books from NZ stores digital or otherwise. Not sure who the best on-line digital book seller is. Might throw a question into forum and see what I get

denodan · 06-05-2010, 03:33 AM

I have looked at Whitcoulls also and has been said the prices are all over the price, and a lack of Si Fi books and what else there is, is pretty much junk. Also I have an iriver Story, which is so much better then the Kobo Whitcoulls sell, why they did not sell the iriver Story also here I cannot understand. It's made for the asian market, and we are part of that market.

But guess it's the price point, as the iriver Story is about twice the Kobo price, but well work it. It's so much better.

Anyway the trouble with ebooks is they are Geo restricted, so limits the choice of books you can buy, so we maybe stuck with Whitcoulls, just hope their selection improves.

The website I use is:

http://www.ebooks.com/

The great thing about this site, is it tells you if you can buy this, or not. Been caught out by some sites, bought the odd book only to find when I pay for it, it got Geo restrictions.

05-26-2010, 08:27 PM	#1
karenr_nz Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 820 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: New Zealand Device: PB360	New Zealand gets first ebook store - but there's a catch Well, Whitcoulls NZ (part of Red Group) have finally started selling ebooks in New Zealand. They are also selling the Kobo reader. It seems like they are using the same search engine that Borders Australia use (Borders NZ isn't selling ebooks yet) and they seem to have ironed out a few of the bugs. So far, so good ... Then I actually checked the selections and prices! In terms of selection, there is only one word I can use and that is CRAP! (Sorry about the profanity folks.) I just checked a couple of very prolific fantasy authors whose books are commonly available in NZ: Mercedes Lackey, Tanya Huff and Robert Jordan. Of those three authors, the only available ebooks are two prologue chapters for the last two Robert Jordan books. So to find out about prices, I looked at some books by Jodi Picoult - and saw exactly what I expected to see. They are priced very similarly to paperback prices in NZ. (In other words, high!) So a couple of comparisons: The bulk of these books are available on BooksOnBoard at $10-13US, which is already high. At Borders Australia the same books are $17-19AUD (or about $14-15US) and in NZ they are $23-25NZD (or $15-16US). So my question is this .... Do RedGroup think NZ and Aus ebook readers are stupid!!!! Why would we pay such prices when we can buy cheaper elsewhere - there are no borders on the internet! Sorry about the rant ....

05-26-2010, 10:46 PM	#3
sherman Guru Posts: 856 Karma: 2676800 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Taranaki - NZ Device: Kobo Aura H2O, Kobo Forma	Whitcoulls now show the price of the Kobo reader. $295 NZD. It's on the high side for certain, especially as it should have been around $250 to be equivilent to the AU price. On the other hand, it's about what I expected from them. I predicted it would be sold somewhere between $260-$300. EDIT: Lets hope that they've already made allowances for the planned 2.5% increase in GST, and will not raise the price in October Last edited by sherman; 05-26-2010 at 10:51 PM.

05-27-2010, 03:36 AM	#4
duckbill Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: New Zealand Device: PRS-505, Kindle 3 Wi-Fi	Why would anybody buy from Whitcoulls? I am still trying to understand why anybody would use Whitcoulls to buy an ebook. Their site is not very advanced with respect to useability and the prices are very high. I have lost my patience with most retailers and now buy most books from amazon. However, I would very much appreciate any recommendations to buy elsewhere.

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05-26-2010, 10:37 PM	#2
sherman Guru Posts: 856 Karma: 2676800 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Taranaki - NZ Device: Kobo Aura H2O, Kobo Forma	I've been looking at the store too. As far as prices are concerned, they seemed to be all over the place. Some books are very expensive, others are not too bad. And I believe that in most cases, it's the publishers who set the prices. Looking at the Jodi Picoult books, it looks like the author has sold books to many different publishers (in BooksOnBoards, I saw HarperCollins, S&S, Penguin...). It seems that in AU/NZ, the books are published by Allen & Unwin (an Aussie publisher), who don't seem to be noted for the reasonable ebook pricing Selection: It seems that of the "Main" publishers, RedGroup have only got a selection from HarperCollins and Random House so far.

05-27-2010, 05:49 AM	#5
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	*it's the publishers who set the prices* Not always the case, I'm afraid, Sherman. My own wee house's RRP on all titles in all ebook formats is $5.99. I often see them on sale at higher cover prices (same, but not as often, with our paperbacks). It's one of the reasons I prefer to see folks buying direct from our own site. We can also be more sure that our ebooks bought from there are not having DRM imposed on them against our wishes, and that format conversion is perfect (though we don't have our own conversions of all titles into all formats yet, so we must rely on third party retail for some). The other reason, of course, is that we don't charge ourselves retail commission, so all royalties are maximised for author, designer, artist, editor, tech, etc. Cheers. Neil

05-27-2010, 01:46 PM	#6
ColinS Addict Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Germany (from NZ) Device: Cybook Gen3	I've also been looking and the search functionality is rather primitive. It seems to work on any of the words entered, appearing somewhere in Author/Title/Blurb?? There's no way to refine/restrict the criteria. Just try a search for J.D. Robb - none in ebook (yet) but even the paper versions list other authors first! Pricing also seems to be all over the place - some look suspiciously like they are in $US. eg. Nora Roberts all $7.95

05-27-2010, 06:59 PM	#7
karenr_nz Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 820 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: New Zealand Device: PB360	Apparently Whitcoulls are doing a big push on e-books and are stating that they have 'over 2 million titles' (or something of the sort). I have to say that their 2 million titles don't include many recent bestsellers (or strong selling backlist titles). @ Duckbill, the only reason that I would buy from Whitcoulls is the dastedly geographic restrictions thing. With the new agency pricing thing it seems like lots of books that I want to buy from BooksOnBoard are now geo-restricted and I can't. It makes me absolutely furious.

05-28-2010, 02:56 AM	#8
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	When an ebook retailer boasts of a catalogue of two million titles, Karen, that includes a whole bunch of classics and other public domain books freely available all over the net. Best. Neil

05-28-2010, 07:12 PM	#9
ronw Enthusiast Posts: 27 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Auckland NZ Device: kobo	I so wanted a reader I forked out for the Kobo from Whitcoulls. As you noted the price is high as it appears to be advrtised fro $149 US Dollars which I make NZ$ 218 at todays exchange rate. I presume the extra $80 is to help Whitcoulls make some extra money. Re the books available it looks as if Whitcoulls NZ Borders Aust (both owned by RED) and Kobo Canada are all using the same database of books. When I log into Kobo and price a book it comes up in NZ dollars so they are obviously related. I guess it makes sense for WHitcoulls to join an established book database it saves reinventing the wheel. I would not be buying any books from NZ stores digital or otherwise. Not sure who the best on-line digital book seller is. Might throw a question into forum and see what I get

06-05-2010, 03:33 AM	#10
denodan Enthusiast Posts: 26 Karma: 110 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: iriver Story	I have looked at Whitcoulls also and has been said the prices are all over the price, and a lack of Si Fi books and what else there is, is pretty much junk. Also I have an iriver Story, which is so much better then the Kobo Whitcoulls sell, why they did not sell the iriver Story also here I cannot understand. It's made for the asian market, and we are part of that market. But guess it's the price point, as the iriver Story is about twice the Kobo price, but well work it. It's so much better. Anyway the trouble with ebooks is they are Geo restricted, so limits the choice of books you can buy, so we maybe stuck with Whitcoulls, just hope their selection improves. The website I use is: http://www.ebooks.com/ The great thing about this site, is it tells you if you can buy this, or not. Been caught out by some sites, bought the odd book only to find when I pay for it, it got Geo restrictions.

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