Simonsays books 40% off

[fulsome]

I didn't see this posted anywhere and just noticed it myself the other day. All the Simon Says ebooks appear to be 40% off. I bought six today and am contemplating the Irene Kelly series.

Ebook home

[rlauzon]

Originally Posted by fulsome

I didn't see this posted anywhere and just noticed it myself the other day. All the Simon Says ebooks appear to be 40% off. I bought six today and am contemplating the Irene Kelly series.

They only support DRMed formats. Even at 40% off, the prices are exorbitantly high for DRMed eBooks.

[rlauzon]

When you buy a car (or anything physical, for that matter), part of the value you get is the residual value of the car when you are done with it - i.e. you can sell it to someone else who can use it.

How much would you pay Ford for a new car if they told you that you couldn't sell it to someone else when you were done with it? That only you could use the car - you couldn't give it to your teenager, or your brother - and when you were done with it, all you could do was take it to the scrap yard - where you couldn't even get the scrap metal price for your car.

You wouldn't pay much, would you? You'd pay what I call the "throw away" price for the car. The price that you feel OK throwing away if, after a few days (or years - depending on your research), you find that you no longer want the car.

So why do DRMed eBook companies think that people will pay almost paper prices for DRMed eBooks? (Come to think of it, why are many people foolish enough to pay money for an eBook that they probably won't be able to read next year?)

[xdalaw]

I don't know. I think the prices are pretty low for commercial books that I can't find for free. And, with the ability to strip out the DRM for MSLit books and fair use, I'm not worried that I won't have them to read next year.

I'm enjoying "1776" by David McCullough right now.

If you like their authors/books, and you can't find them free, why not save some money over paperbacks and actually enjoy the activity of reading if you like?

[rlauzon]

Originally Posted by xdalaw

I don't know. I think the prices are pretty low for commercial books that I can't find for free.

Well, let's pick a book from Simonsays: Cell by Stephen King. Normally priced at $15, on sale for $9.

Looking up the same book at Amazon.com, it's $17.80 - granted hard cover. Let's estimate half for softcover - $8.90.

So the price of Simonsays for an eBook is the same as the price for a paper book. The price of a non-transferrable, non-portable item is the same price as a transferrable, portable item.

This does not make sence no matter how you cut it.

Originally Posted by xdalaw

And, with the ability to strip out the DRM for MSLit books and fair use, I'm not worried that I won't have them to read next year.

But the tool that strips out the DRM is not legal under the DMCA and most people won't have access to it.

After I read a book, I make a decision: keep or not. Keep books I usually don't get around to re-reading for a couple years. Not keepers get food-chained or sold. DRM potentially blocks me from doing both for eBooks.

Originally Posted by xdalaw

If you like their authors/books, and you can't find them free, why not save some money over paperbacks and actually enjoy the activity of reading if you like?

I think you missed the point.

Selling eBooks for the same price as a paper book is inexcusable - for the simple reason that the cost of the eBook is far less than the cost of a paper book.

Selling eBooks that have DRM for same price as a paper book even worse - since the book is now only disposable (you can't food-chain it, you can't sell it, you can only throw it away if you don't want it anymore).

Simonsays is simply a clueless company. They are selling $1 items for $9. Well, that's not really clueless, but anyone who would pay $9 for a $1 item gets what they deserve.

[xdalaw]

I understand your point, and I agree that selling an ebook for the same price as a paperback is a bit obnoxious. But, if there are not alternatives, and if you really want the convenience of ebook reading for a popular title, than I'm willing to pay for it. I'd probably be less inclined without ConvertLit, though.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rlauzon

Well, let's pick a book from Simonsays: Cell by Stephen King. Normally priced at $15, on sale for $9.

Looking up the same book at Amazon.com, it's $17.80 - granted hard cover. Let's estimate half for softcover - $8.90.

So the price of Simonsays for an eBook is the same as the price for a paper book. The price of a non-transferrable, non-portable item is the same price as a transferrable, portable item.

This does not make sence no matter how you cut it.

You are comparing the ebook of the hardcover to an uinreleased paperback. The question will be how much is the ebook going to cost once the paperback is out. That's the real issue. $17.80 for the hardcover and $8.90 for the ebook. That seems fair to me. And you get the ebook now and can read it when you want. Now that the paperback is out at $9.99 retail, the $8.90 price is too high. With the discounts you can sometimes get via being a preferred reader or email coupons, you can get the paperback for less then the cost of the ebook. So now that the paperback is out, forget the ebook. It was a decent price when only the hardcover was available.