02-18-2013, 11:50 PM | #1 |
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Has B&N completely left the discount world?
I've been noticing more and more on the monthly Discount/Freebies section for mystery/fiction/whatever topics that there's less and less from B&N, or pretty much ANYBODY in epub format. Is this just 'cause Amazon has taken over the entire world or is there something else going on?
For example, in February, Scott Pratt had 4 books at $.99 at Amazon (they're not $.99 any more, but that's a different problem). I can't even FIND them for the Nook at B&N. And I frequently check when I find something in this area where it's $.99 or $1.99 or $2.99 at Amazon, and if I DO find it at B&N it's $7 or $8... It's not a huge deal 'cause I've got a Kindle reader on the Nexus, but I much prefer other readers to the limitations of the Kindle reader... And yeah, I know I could probably convert everything, but I'd prefer not to get into the whole legal/illegal converting thing... So, is B&N just not interested in competing with Amazon, figure most people won't check prices elsewhere, or are they in so much trouble they CAN'T compete any more? |
02-19-2013, 12:02 AM | #2 |
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In my experience, B&N has always been "more expensive" than the other guy...whoever that "other guy" was. Back before ebooks, B&N was the last place I went for books unless it was the only place I could find the books.
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02-19-2013, 12:34 AM | #3 | |
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02-19-2013, 05:51 AM | #4 |
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It is not that B&N doesn't wish to compete, it is that Amazon insists on exclusivity and many authors think that they are better off acceding to Amazon than being available on multiple platforms.
Supposedly, Amazon controls 50% to 60% of the ebook market. That leaves 40% to 50% for the ePub market. Yet most authors only think of Amazon when it comes to selling their ebooks. I have stopped looking at the freebies/deals postings here at MR because they are almost all Amazon-only deals. Occasionally someone will post a freebie/deal for B&N, Kobo, Sony, or Smashwords, but so rarely that it is a waste of time to read all of the freebie/deals posts. |
02-19-2013, 09:32 AM | #5 | ||
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Last edited by xendula; 02-19-2013 at 09:34 AM. |
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02-19-2013, 10:44 AM | #6 |
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Just checked Amazon, B&N and Kobo for Clive Davis' memoirs. These are prices in the United States:
Amazon $12.74 B&N $16.99 Kobo $14.99 For a sample size of one book, B&N is more expensive. Anecdotally I have seen B&N more expensive than other companies for the books, music and movies I have checked but it may just be whatever I checked at that time. |
02-19-2013, 10:47 AM | #7 | |
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02-19-2013, 01:07 PM | #8 | |
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That's so frustrating. There are some authors whose books I had to buy at Amazon because they don't have their book in any other market. When they are told this, the response is usually something along the lines of "Well, maybe in the future it'll be available in other formats and other stores". This usually means never. [/rant] As for B&N, I have to agree with FizzyWater. I never thought the store was very inexpensive, even when they and Borders pretty much controlled the US book market. I preferred Borders because they seemed to have better prices. So I'm not surprised that B&N usually charges more than some other book sellers. |
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02-19-2013, 02:25 PM | #9 |
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The issue goes beyond KDP Select (which is only a 180K titles or so).
The reality is that where other vendors run promos (free or non-free) for a few dozen ebooks at a time, Amazon runs promos for a few *hundred* at a time. And, on *top* of that, they allow/encourage KDP Select participants to run their own promos. (5 Free days over 3 months.) If you're a bargain-hunter you will at any point in time find a whole lot more deals with Kindle than with the epub crowd. And then you factor in all the *Free Kindle ebooks!* websites picking up eyeballs and clicks by sorting through the freebies and highlighting them and the visibility of the Kindle bargains starts to swamp out the visibility of the competition. (There's money in promoting free Kindle books even if they're not *your* books.) So, no; B&N (and Kobo and Sony) still run promo discounts. But not as many people notice or pass the tips on... Last edited by fjtorres; 02-19-2013 at 02:27 PM. |
02-19-2013, 03:54 PM | #10 |
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Amazon doesn't only run their own promos, they price match practically everything Apple and B&N discount as well, so their reputation of having the lowest price is well earned.
I like deals and I rarely bother looking at other sites (except Kobo with their discount codes), it's not worth the effort. |
02-19-2013, 04:36 PM | #11 |
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02-19-2013, 05:29 PM | #12 |
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B&N has Daily Find discounts similar to the Kindle Daily Deal. That's how I make most purchases from them. B&N also has a weekly "Free Friday" promotion on their Nook blog.
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02-19-2013, 05:37 PM | #13 |
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B&N also has 101 Nook books under $2.99:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/eboo...less/379003856 Like other people have said: Deals from other bookstores just not get the same publicity as those by Amazon. |
02-19-2013, 05:52 PM | #14 | |
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Amazon *starts* with the "100 Kindle books..." monthly promo. http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.htm...cId=1000706171 And it grows from there... They have more discounted books, they have more books priced at $2.99-6.99 before promos, and they have all those discount book web sites. It adds up. Last edited by fjtorres; 02-19-2013 at 05:54 PM. |
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02-19-2013, 06:27 PM | #15 | |
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