Do you regret your ebook impulse buying?

ficbot · 01-12-2010, 11:55 AM

Last year, I went a little nuts with the Fictionwise sales and bought a ton of junk I didn't really need to buy. I regret it now. Between magazine subscriptions, quality freebies and the stash books I bought by authors I really want to read, my plate is over-full and I just have too much stuff. Looking over my unrated Fictionwise buys, there are so many entirely forgettable mysteries I bought because the rebate made them $2 or something, and there is meanwhile a stash of equally large classic mysteries I could get for free and could be reading instead. I feel a little obliged to read the things I pay for, and I wish I hadn't bought half this stuff. What was I thinking? If these were physical books I would need a house for them all, but at least I could sell them and not have to look at them anymore

The ebooks will just sit there taunting me with the money I wasted on them.

I think I won't even load them on my new Kindle for now; I'll load up the quality stuff first. And then if I run out of stuff to read, I can go back to these random impulse buys and see if there are any hidden gems in there. But honestly, I wish I never bought them and I have learned my lesson. If I really do want it, it goes on my wishlist until the next sale. If I don't really want it, I won't buy it---no matter how cheap it is. And now that I will have a Kindle, I will take advantage of the free samples to make sure it is quality stuff before I plunk down money.

I have not bought a single ebook in 2010. I will break this rule tonight to buy a French dictionary to use on the Kindle, but other than that, I have more than enough to read right now. And I want to spend my reading time reading better stuff!

Fwiw, here are the ones I decided made my 'quality' cut for the time being. These will be first on the Kindle when I get it home.

Want to Read

CURRENT:

FICTIONWISE

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin
Under the Dome by Stephen King
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Oryx and Crake/Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
Great Tales from English History by Robery Lacey
Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving
The Neanderthal Parallax by Robert J. Sawyer
The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler
Obedience by Will Lavender
Eragon by Christopher Paolini

FREEBIES/OTHER

Mary Roberts Rinehart
Raymond Chandler
Sax Rohmer
Dashiell Hammett
E W Hornung
P G Wodehouse
Dorothy Sayers
Earl Derr Biggers
Ernest Bramah
Raffles Series
Arsene Lupin Series
Wilkie Collins
Anna Katharine Green
Scarlet Pimpernel Series
G.K. Chesterton (Father Brown)
Augusta Groner
Jerome K Jerome

rcuadro · 01-12-2010, 12:18 PM

I get a ton of books from Amazon that are free and I have a ton... and to be honest, I think that there are going to be a ton of them that I am going to end up forgetting about. I have also bought a bunch of books that are from independent authors whose books are about $1 or so.. and I also think that some of them are going to be forgotten also. The problem that I have is that I have a list of books to be read but then someone like James Rollins will come out with a new book and that jumps right to the top.

It is the 12th of Jan and I have already bought 4 books... one of them being Under the Dome and another being Altar of Eden.. Under the Dome is done and Altar of Eden is about 1/4 done so we will have to see.
My uncle accused me of reading too much but I told him that I could be spending y money on drugs or something and that reading was better than the alternative

Terisa de morgan · 01-12-2010, 03:42 PM

Well, what can I say? Please, can we avoid to talk about books bought in 2010? Only four, thanks to God but... I will never confess how many unread books I have

And regret about purchases... not a lot, I've got control now

omk3 · 01-12-2010, 03:48 PM

I'm actually trying to impulse-buy a dozen books at the moment, but WHSmith won't let me!

I have a lot of unread books waiting to be opened, but I firmly believe I will eventually get to read all of them... Sometime in the future... Meanwhile, I feel good having them waiting for me.

Alisa · 01-12-2010, 03:52 PM

I don't impulse buy ebooks. I download the free samples and only buy the book when I've finished it unless I know I won't have Whispernet access. So when I know I'll be on a plane or out of the country, I'll buy without but that's not terribly often. When I bought paper books, I bought on impulse all the time. I would guess at least 20% of my book purchases went unread. I bought a lot of new hardback releases, too.

phenomshel · 01-12-2010, 03:55 PM

I'm on a limited enough budget and I have a narrow enough genre of interest, that so far that hasn't been a problem for me. I won't download something just because it's a freebie, I have to think I might actually read it

. Even with that, though - I have huge "to buy" lists at Amazon, BN, and Books on Board. And I've started a list of new releases in the genres I'm interested in, so I can keep up with what's coming out when. I can tell you that the list is already a lot longer than the available money I'll have.

fugazied · 01-12-2010, 04:38 PM

I don't regret impulse buys as much as I regret not having more time to read

Every book has something to offer I think... But I also have a huge list of unread books on my Kindle (well 30+ now), so it's a little harder to impulse buy now.

pdurrant · 01-12-2010, 04:54 PM

I don't think I bought any junk. But I certainly bought more than I intended to. I've resolved not to buy any more ebooks until May at least, and even after that I shall try to restrict myself to buying no more than one for every two books I read.

Who knows? I might even make my goal of having my "to be read" folder below 200 by the end of the year!

Terisa de morgan · 01-12-2010, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phenomshel

I'm on a limited enough budget and I have a narrow enough genre of interest, that so far that hasn't been a problem for me. I won't download something just because it's a freebie, I have to think I might actually read it

. Even with that, though - I have huge "to buy" lists at Amazon, BN, and Books on Board. And I've started a list of new releases in the genres I'm interested in, so I can keep up with what's coming out when. I can tell you that the list is already a lot longer than the available money I'll have.

I'm curious, what genres? My TBB includes till end of 2010

Kali Yuga · 01-12-2010, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alisa

I don't impulse buy ebooks. I download the free samples and only buy the book when I've finished it unless I know I won't have Whispernet access...

+1

For me, the "samples" function largely avoids impulse buys. For the most part, I'll wait until I finish a book. Then I'll see what I have, and if I'm not in the mood for any of the 200+ books I already have on the device, I'll peruse the samples and pick one out.

Dr. Drib · 01-12-2010, 05:29 PM

I'm on a limited budget and can only afford to buy Ebook Readers this year - no fiction at all!

Bodda-Bing.

Seriously, I've bought too many books and will continue to buy too many books. It's part of the disease - like herpes or smoking - it keeps coming back or you just can't stop!

Don

phenomshel · 01-12-2010, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

I'm curious, what genres? My TBB includes till end of 2010

Mainly cozy mystery and paranormal without the sex. Or at least without a LOT of sex, LOL. My list has til August 2010, which is so far the latest I have any information on new releases.

KarenH · 01-12-2010, 06:25 PM

I guess I do very little true "impulse" buying - I bought a ton of books during the Fictionwise sale (well, it would have been a ton if they were paper

) but the purchases were well planned out and I definitely don't regret them. Almost all were either filling in series that I enjoy and know I will read (eventually) or replacing pbooks that were keepers because they're potential rereads. Now that I've found good homes for those pbooks I actually have a little bit of space available on my bookshelves for the first time in years!

KindleMan · 01-12-2010, 06:29 PM

It's funny this question has come up. A friend of mine accused me of having "a problem" with impulse buying of books and never reading them. I went to my Kindle account and counted 11 books out of the 68 that I've purchased that I haven't read yet. Out of that 11, 7 books are freebies that I wouldn't have bought otherwise, which leaves 4 books that I haven't read. (Mostly Non-Fiction, I keep trying to read something useful!) I don't think that's too bad. I have purchased over 130 on eReader.com and have read most of them, the ones I haven't read again were Non-Fiction. I have though gone 4-6 months without buying while I catch up!

The question I want to know is.... What is the record for most eBooks purchased? Anyone over a 1000? And I'm talking about books paid for and not the freebies from Gutenberg or Google!

: book2:

wpeace · 01-12-2010, 06:50 PM

I've had my EZReader for about 6 months now and purchased 2 books total in that time.

I'm defintiely on a budget and actually downright cheap. I've got close to 300 books on the device with more than 50 free installed during that period (Most are books I've had for years transfered over from my PPC).

Currently I'm getting the majority of my newer material from at least two local Public Libraries that appear to have a fairly decent selection. I've just identified a 3rd Public Library that seems to have an affiliation with a statewide collection of eBooks.

While I end up reading about 4 - 5 books a month (now) I think I'll keep my purchased down to about 5 this year.

01-12-2010, 11:55 AM	#1
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Do you regret your ebook impulse buying? Last year, I went a little nuts with the Fictionwise sales and bought a ton of junk I didn't really need to buy. I regret it now. Between magazine subscriptions, quality freebies and the stash books I bought by authors I really want to read, my plate is over-full and I just have too much stuff. Looking over my unrated Fictionwise buys, there are so many entirely forgettable mysteries I bought because the rebate made them $2 or something, and there is meanwhile a stash of equally large classic mysteries I could get for free and could be reading instead. I feel a little obliged to read the things I pay for, and I wish I hadn't bought half this stuff. What was I thinking? If these were physical books I would need a house for them all, but at least I could sell them and not have to look at them anymore The ebooks will just sit there taunting me with the money I wasted on them. I think I won't even load them on my new Kindle for now; I'll load up the quality stuff first. And then if I run out of stuff to read, I can go back to these random impulse buys and see if there are any hidden gems in there. But honestly, I wish I never bought them and I have learned my lesson. If I really do want it, it goes on my wishlist until the next sale. If I don't really want it, I won't buy it---no matter how cheap it is. And now that I will have a Kindle, I will take advantage of the free samples to make sure it is quality stuff before I plunk down money. I have not bought a single ebook in 2010. I will break this rule tonight to buy a French dictionary to use on the Kindle, but other than that, I have more than enough to read right now. And I want to spend my reading time reading better stuff! Fwiw, here are the ones I decided made my 'quality' cut for the time being. These will be first on the Kindle when I get it home. Want to Read CURRENT: FICTIONWISE The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin Under the Dome by Stephen King Still Alice by Lisa Genova Oryx and Crake/Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood The World Without Us by Alan Weisman The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick Great Tales from English History by Robery Lacey Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving The Neanderthal Parallax by Robert J. Sawyer The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler Obedience by Will Lavender Eragon by Christopher Paolini FREEBIES/OTHER Mary Roberts Rinehart Raymond Chandler Sax Rohmer Dashiell Hammett E W Hornung P G Wodehouse Dorothy Sayers Earl Derr Biggers Ernest Bramah Raffles Series Arsene Lupin Series Wilkie Collins Anna Katharine Green Scarlet Pimpernel Series G.K. Chesterton (Father Brown) Augusta Groner Jerome K Jerome

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01-12-2010, 12:18 PM	#2
rcuadro Wizard Posts: 1,686 Karma: 874275 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Device: Kindle DX	I get a ton of books from Amazon that are free and I have a ton... and to be honest, I think that there are going to be a ton of them that I am going to end up forgetting about. I have also bought a bunch of books that are from independent authors whose books are about $1 or so.. and I also think that some of them are going to be forgotten also. The problem that I have is that I have a list of books to be read but then someone like James Rollins will come out with a new book and that jumps right to the top. It is the 12th of Jan and I have already bought 4 books... one of them being Under the Dome and another being Altar of Eden.. Under the Dome is done and Altar of Eden is about 1/4 done so we will have to see. My uncle accused me of reading too much but I told him that I could be spending y money on drugs or something and that reading was better than the alternative

01-12-2010, 03:42 PM	#3
Terisa de morgan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,229 Karma: 11768331 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Madrid, Spain Device: Kobo Clara/Aura One/Forma,XiaoMI 5, iPad, Huawei MediaPad, YotaPhone 2	Well, what can I say? Please, can we avoid to talk about books bought in 2010? Only four, thanks to God but... I will never confess how many unread books I have And regret about purchases... not a lot, I've got control now

01-12-2010, 03:48 PM	#4
omk3 Wizard Posts: 1,454 Karma: 37243 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Europe Device: pocketbook 360, kindle 4	I'm actually trying to impulse-buy a dozen books at the moment, but WHSmith won't let me! I have a lot of unread books waiting to be opened, but I firmly believe I will eventually get to read all of them... Sometime in the future... Meanwhile, I feel good having them waiting for me.

01-12-2010, 03:52 PM	#5
Alisa Gadget Geek Posts: 2,324 Karma: 22221 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Paperwhite, Kindle 3 (retired), Skindle 1.2 (retired)	I don't impulse buy ebooks. I download the free samples and only buy the book when I've finished it unless I know I won't have Whispernet access. So when I know I'll be on a plane or out of the country, I'll buy without but that's not terribly often. When I bought paper books, I bought on impulse all the time. I would guess at least 20% of my book purchases went unread. I bought a lot of new hardback releases, too.

01-12-2010, 03:55 PM	#6
phenomshel ZCD BombShel Posts: 4,793 Karma: 8293322 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: The Frozen North (aka Illinois, USA) Device: iPad, STB Kindle Oasis	I'm on a limited enough budget and I have a narrow enough genre of interest, that so far that hasn't been a problem for me. I won't download something just because it's a freebie, I have to think I might actually read it . Even with that, though - I have huge "to buy" lists at Amazon, BN, and Books on Board. And I've started a list of new releases in the genres I'm interested in, so I can keep up with what's coming out when. I can tell you that the list is already a lot longer than the available money I'll have.

01-12-2010, 04:38 PM	#7
fugazied Wizard Posts: 1,305 Karma: 1958 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: iPod Touch	I don't regret impulse buys as much as I regret not having more time to read Every book has something to offer I think... But I also have a huge list of unread books on my Kindle (well 30+ now), so it's a little harder to impulse buy now.

01-12-2010, 04:54 PM	#8
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 71,496 Karma: 306214458 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Voyage	I don't think I bought any junk. But I certainly bought more than I intended to. I've resolved not to buy any more ebooks until May at least, and even after that I shall try to restrict myself to buying no more than one for every two books I read. Who knows? I might even make my goal of having my "to be read" folder below 200 by the end of the year!

01-12-2010, 05:29 PM	#11
Dr. Drib Grand Sorcerer Posts: 44,737 Karma: 55645321 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Peru Device: Kindle: Oasis 3, Voyage WiFi; Kobo: Libra 2, Aura One	I'm on a limited budget and can only afford to buy Ebook Readers this year - no fiction at all! Bodda-Bing. Seriously, I've bought too many books and will continue to buy too many books. It's part of the disease - like herpes or smoking - it keeps coming back or you just can't stop! Don

01-12-2010, 06:25 PM	#13
KarenH Addict Posts: 281 Karma: 37762 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: NW Washington State, USA Device: K3	I guess I do very little true "impulse" buying - I bought a ton of books during the Fictionwise sale (well, it would have been a ton if they were paper ) but the purchases were well planned out and I definitely don't regret them. Almost all were either filling in series that I enjoy and know I will read (eventually) or replacing pbooks that were keepers because they're potential rereads. Now that I've found good homes for those pbooks I actually have a little bit of space available on my bookshelves for the first time in years!

01-12-2010, 06:29 PM	#14
KindleMan Enthusiast Posts: 37 Karma: 22 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Kindle	It's funny this question has come up. A friend of mine accused me of having "a problem" with impulse buying of books and never reading them. I went to my Kindle account and counted 11 books out of the 68 that I've purchased that I haven't read yet. Out of that 11, 7 books are freebies that I wouldn't have bought otherwise, which leaves 4 books that I haven't read. (Mostly Non-Fiction, I keep trying to read something useful!) I don't think that's too bad. I have purchased over 130 on eReader.com and have read most of them, the ones I haven't read again were Non-Fiction. I have though gone 4-6 months without buying while I catch up! The question I want to know is.... What is the record for most eBooks purchased? Anyone over a 1000? And I'm talking about books paid for and not the freebies from Gutenberg or Google! : book2:

01-12-2010, 06:50 PM	#15
wpeace Seer Posts: 54 Karma: 12 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Maryland Device: Nook WP7 Pocket PC/SmartQ7/Pocket Pro/A5A iPad Streak 5	I've had my EZReader for about 6 months now and purchased 2 books total in that time. I'm defintiely on a budget and actually downright cheap. I've got close to 300 books on the device with more than 50 free installed during that period (Most are books I've had for years transfered over from my PPC). Currently I'm getting the majority of my newer material from at least two local Public Libraries that appear to have a fairly decent selection. I've just identified a 3rd Public Library that seems to have an affiliation with a statewide collection of eBooks. While I end up reading about 4 - 5 books a month (now) I think I'll keep my purchased down to about 5 this year.