Would you buy the print or the ebook for the same price?

[Ricky D'Angelo]

Before buying my ereader(s), if there was a hardcover book that just came out that I wanted, I would be willing to pay $20-$30. Now, I prefer paying less for the ebook version of the book and saving a lot of space on my shelves at the same time. However, if there was a hardcover book that I particularly wanted I would be willing to pay $30 -$40 for it if it had the additional feature; If a hardcover book could integrate a small mp3 player w/ headphone jack to listen to the audiobook version I would purchase it. Currently I have to settle using my kindle tts feature to listen to the text while reading for this.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

What I can't quite grasp is the hostility to publishers charging what they want to for ebooks, and the great desire to resell books
Helen

Before the publishers started their price fixing, I didn't compare prices to paper books. I could use coupons to lower the price or look at different stores so it didn't matter. When they started price fixing, no matter where I bought the book the price was the same. That's when I noticed that quite often the price was higher than the cheapest paper version available (regular retail only) . I had so many books on my tbr list I quit buying. I also started borrowing from the library at that time. Even now that books are being discounted again, I don't like buying from the big publishers anymore. I just don't like being cheated which is what price fixing felt like to me.

[danskmacabre]

My reading habits have changed dramatically since I got an ereader.
I don't buy print books anymore, but then I don't buy ebooks from big publishers either because of the DRM.
What I read mostly now is books from the gutenberg site and from Indie authors who sell their ebooks DRM free.

So in answer to the question, I don't really buy either. If I could buy DRM free ebooks I would expect to pay less for the Ebook version. I would not pay the same price for an ebook as a pbook.
I would expect to pay roughly half the price.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by DuskyRose

Don't forget that for a while there were a few on-line book trading sites available to those in the US. Many with good selections and better prices than a UBS.

I know some have closed, but the one I belong to is still doing a great amount of trading. As of today, they have 4.8 million books available, 632,000 of those unique titles. The cost for a credit to get any of those books is media mail costs, what you can buy them for from other members. (I last bought a batch at $2.60 each last time) or from the club Kiosk at $3.95.

Cheaper than most of the catalog at my local UBS, especially for hardbacks. Better selection too.

They're coming up on 15 million books traded since they opened, and now are selling books themselves.

For a lot of people, it's very important that a book be tradeable, because that's how they keep their TBR piles rotated out for fresh book. So they're geared to want books that can be traded and keep their stash full at a price they can afford.

For me, I value the portablility of the ebooks, the better readability, and will only pay what I think one reading is worth to me. Just like I decide which movie I'll pay for VIP tickets, which I'll pay general seating, and which I'll wait until it shows up on tv. And since I'm a re-reader, that second read is just icing on the cake.

And some just like paper first and foremost. They always will.

All valid points.

I was not clear in my post unfortunately.

My point was that the amount of savings when trading in books for credit is not that high.

Trading a $10 book bought new will get you maybe $5.00 credit and generally only $2.50 to $3.75 and sometimes less. To use the credit you often have to pay an equivalant amount of cash.

You must travel to the store, browse unorganised shelves (which can often be enjoyable) and on occasion not find anything you want.
And on more than one occasion I have had 1/2 of the books I brought to trade refused because the store was already overstocked on them. I am talking new condition current bestsellers here.

Buying used books seems to be a buyers market these days, with, prices being very low as mentioned by yourself and Katsunami.

The fact that you can buy low, means that generally you cannot sell high.

If you get more than 10% return on your original cover price you are doing well. If you bought it for $1.00 and sell it for $0.99 you are doing well percentage wise, but is it worth the time and trouble to get that $0.99. I have seen posts suggesting that you can buy for $10 and sell for $9.99 well good luck with that there.

I have bought, traded and even sold thousands of used books, (I read way too much) and it was great when you traded two for one and bought a few more in the process. Still fine for a long time, but then many started selling at 90% of cover and one store I went to charged half in cash and another 20 % surcharge on top of that. Quite bizarre I thought.

This switched me to the library and buying new when I could afford it.

It is way cheaper to buy second hand, perfectly fine practice, especially if you prefer paper. Counting on a substantial savings through resale or trade-ins seems like pie in the sky. Better to use the time and effort involved more profitably by collecting cans, taking in sewing or getting a part time job

Helen

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

My point was that the amount of savings when trading in books for credit is not that high.

If I understand DuskyRose's post correctly, it's not about the credit when trading on that site: it's about "a book for a book" trading. You seem to only pay shipping costs, and get the book essentially for free.

Therefore, if you can trade away 20 books of your own (all at once, for convenience, if at all possible), and acquire 20 others, preferably from the same seller to combine shipment costs, then you will have new stuff to read for a very low price.

It seems that the traders are not after profit, but after the possibility to constantly get new material for next to nothing.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

If I understand DuskyRose's post correctly, it's not about the credit when trading on that site: it's about "a book for a book" trading. You seem to only pay shipping costs, and get the book essentially for free.

Therefore, if you can trade away 20 books of your own (all at once, for convenience, if at all possible), and acquire 20 others, preferably from the same seller to combine shipment costs, then you will have new stuff to read for a very low price.

It seems that the traders are not after profit, but after the possibility to constantly get new material for next to nothing.

Correct.

I not only can get stuff on-line trading a lot cheaper than my UBS, the selection is better. Beats the Amazon 1cent books by a couple of dollars if you do it right, just by consolidating the postage on orders.

Of course, you can get cheaper at some thrift stores and library sales, but frankly if your area isn't fond of your favorite genres, they don't buy them new so they don't show up at thrift stores or garage sales. You'd be waiting forever.

So, yeah, it matters to a lot of people that they can trade out pbooks for other pbooks. For them, many of the ebooks they'd like are priced too high for them to spend the money, when the paper books will keep them in the trading loop and save them in the long-term.

So they stick to freebies or really cheap ebooks, and stay with paper otherwise.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by latepaul

I only buy print if I really want the book and can't find it as ebook. And what I'll pay for the ebook is based on how much I want it not how it relates to the print price.

Same here. I don't mind paying the same price for ebook as print but if the print edition costs less (particularly hard cover), that usually gives me pause unless I really, really, really want the book.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Sregener

There are people who value an eBook higher than a pBook, for portability and storability reasons. But I think they're the exception, not the rule.

The current ebook and pbook market trends would suggest you are 180 degrees wrong.

eBooks are growing, pbook dealers are scrambling to stay alive.

Obviously people see the value that ebooks give over paper.

And since at least some of the pbook lovers I know refuse to lend out books on principle, I'd anecdotally suggest the people who place a higher value on sharing then on all the other benefits of ebooks are the minority, especially since you CAN share ebooks in many cases, regardless of how vocal they seem on forums like this one.

[speakingtohe]

@Katsumani and Dusky Roe

I have never done online trading so obviously I know nothing about it

In Canada it is pretty expensive to shipl a small or large parcel unless I did it wrong.

I am curious as to the actual cost as in a trade one or more books need to be mailed each way. I do agree that books, both paper and ebooks cost a fair amount when bought new, but I still do not see the big advantage of trading used over buying used.

Buying a book for 99 cents plus shipping does cost an additional 99 cents. but the time spent parcelling the book you are trading and shipping it is worth 99 cents or even 1 cent to me. And if the books being traded are rare, surely one would be better of selling them?

And if you are collecting them you aren't going to want to trade them.?

I don't plan to buy any paper books either way in the near future, but I am curious as to the advantage unless it is you really enjoy the process. I totally understand buying used, but I am still at a loss to see a big advantage to trading these days.

Helen

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by ApK

And since at least some of the pbook lovers I know refuse to lend out books on principle...

I'm one of those people. I don't lend out *anything* anymore, not even to friends. It's happened too often that I lend out something and get it back partially broken, or I don't get it back at all.

Once burned, twice shy.

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

@Katsumani and Dusky Roe

I have never done online trading so obviously I know nothing about it

In Canada it is pretty expensive to shipl a small or large parcel unless I did it wrong.

I am curious as to the actual cost as in a trade one or more books need to be mailed each way. I do agree that books, both paper and ebooks cost a fair amount when bought new, but I still do not see the big advantage of trading used over buying used.

Buying a book for 99 cents plus shipping does cost an additional 99 cents. but the time spent parcelling the book you are trading and shipping it is worth 99 cents or even 1 cent to me. And if the books being traded are rare, surely one would be better of selling them?

And if you are collecting them you aren't going to want to trade them.?

I don't plan to buy any paper books either way in the near future, but I am curious as to the advantage unless it is you really enjoy the process. I totally understand buying used, but I am still at a loss to see a big advantage to trading these days.

Helen

As said, many people that take part in trading sites don't do so for profit. They do it to get new books. In the Netherlands, shipping a packet under 20 kilograms costs 6.75 euro.

Therefore, you could, let's say, "buy" 30 books from someone, and pay €6.75 shipping. Someone else buys 30 books from you, and he also only pays the shipping costs. Then you will have 30 "new" books to read for only €6.75, and you can store them in place of the 30 you've traded away.

If you don't want to trade, you'll have 30 books for almost nothing, but I've seen some sites in the past that don't allow you to only get books without trading them. You can only get one book for each book you trade yourself, to prevent people from just buying up everything for only the costs of shipment.

edit: As DuskyRose explains below, it's possible to set credits for a book, on some sites. Therefore, I could offer a book, but want 4 credits for it because it's a rare item. If someone accepts it, I'll get 4 credits after they receive the book (and they loose 4 credits, of course), and I can use those to buy two 2-credit books, or 4 1-credit books.

[Rbneader]

For me the format prices aren't really linked. I've got prices I'm willing to pay for physical, and prices I'm willing to pay for digital. Each format has advantages and disadvantages and I weigh those when deciding what I want to get. I'm the same way with games.

I like to read physical books much more, and I'm willing to pay more for them when I want one. Unfortunately I'm pretty mobile lately (averaging 1 move / year ), which is why I'm even using eBooks.

[Ripplinger]

I expect ebooks to be cheaper than a hardcover book and keep that in mind when I'm purchasing ebooks. I certainly won't pay more for an ebook than the paperback price for the same title, that seems to be a fair price to me.

I do realize that once in awhile they might have a good sale on an overstock of a particular hardcover book. I'm overflowing with books though, I'd still buy the ebook version at that point if the hardcover was cheaper.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

I am curious as to the actual cost as in a trade one or more books need to be mailed each way. I do agree that books, both paper and ebooks cost a fair amount when bought new, but I still do not see the big advantage of trading used over buying used.

Katsumani explains it well, as it is buying used the way the site is set up. I send you a book I no longer want, and I get a credit from you.

I have a book listed, someone orders it. I pay Media Mail rate (Now about $2.50 for a MMPB, my average costs) and send it to the person who's ordered it. They get the book, (Could take 21 days) and I get a credit. My cost for that credit is what I paid to send it to someone else. If I offer, say 3 books from my shelf for 2 credits, the postage costs won't go up that much. I'd pay around about $3.50 to send all three. They get three books (they're happy) and those two credits cost me $1.75. (I'm happy)

With those credits I can order any book in the system, and pay nothing. The sender has to pay the postage to me, just as I've paid the postage to someone else. Each credit I have is a pre-paid used book of my choice.

Cheaper for me than buying a 1cent book from Amazon's used book list where the shipping is set at $3.99 and no consolidating shipping on multiple orders. Especially when they're books that I'm not finding locally.

[Edited. In this case "Trade", "Swap" or "Trading out" doesn't mean you'll get that book back. It's basically a sale, so it's only postage one way for each transaction.)

[speakingtohe]

@DuskyRose and Katsunami

Thanks for the explanations. I am seeing your point mostly. Shipping is higher in my experience in Canada but if I didn't prefer ebooks by far I would be giving the online trading a try.

Three years ago, I would lug home 30 books from the library, or thrift stores etc, without a thought, but the convenience of ebooks has totally won me over.

But I have some friends who prefer paper, so I will mention what you have told me to them

[spindlegirl]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I'm one of those people. I don't lend out *anything* anymore, not even to friends. It's happened too often that I lend out something and get it back partially broken, or I don't get it back at all.

Once burned, twice shy.

I do however, willingly give a "misfire" buy (thought the paperback looked good in the store, but in the end went, 'meh') to someone for whom the novel/book is a better fit. That makes my frugal mind think the money is at least not ALL wasted.

I also love the Bookcrossing concept, where books are freely traded and given and in some cases a physical copy is successfully tracked in how far it has travelled. Try getting away with that with an e-book

That having been said, I also don't lend out my 'keepers'.