Answer as to why ebooks cost more than print books (1 publisher)

[Sydney's Mom]

I sent an email to Harlequin, asking why their ebooks ($8.02) cost more than the same title in paper format ($7.99). This is their reply:

Thank you for your inquiry and thank youfor your interest in our books and eBooks There are many reasons why eBooks can sometimes cost more than print, such as the cost of converting text files into eBook formats, or the simple fact that some sites are able to offer a deeper discount on certain titles. Most of our customers find that there are more benefits to buying eBooks than price alone, such as convenience, immediacy, and portability.

In other words, ebooks are an afterthought, so we add on the incremental cost to the pbook price. And you like ebooks, so we can charge more.

Oh well. What did I expect - actual logic?

[queentess]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

There are many reasons why eBooks can sometimes cost more than print, such as the cost of converting text files into eBook formats

Yes, I can see how converting it once into a couple different file formats would cause the price to be increased.

[kindlekitten]

are they marketing bridges now as well?

[screwballl]

Older book only available in paper: scanning machine that can scan thousands of pages per hour and convert it to text. With company worker being paid to do this, + marketing + the little extras = approximately $2 per ebook.

Newer book in their possession in digital text format from the author: convert it, maret it, post it = $0.50 per ebook (plus $0.15 for the 10 seconds it takes to use an already configured program to create the DRM)


Forcing people to pay more by using lame excuses why ebooks are bad or cost more (DRM, piracy, time to "make" it) = priceless... for everything else theres smashwords.

[jlmwrite]

What absolute hogwash!

So all the costs for printing and distribution of a physical product --from paper to ink to machine maintenance, giant warehouses to store physical books, and then the costs of transporting those books from the warehouses to distributors and into the hands of booksellers -- are CHEAPER than formatting an e-book once and storing it on a server that has almost a zero-cost associated with the electronic distribution?

Puh-lease!

I wish Amazon and B&N would put some heat on the publishers -- but then that might upset their traditional book sales model too...

[Sydney's Mom]

They aren't exactly saying it costs more - they are saying they consider the ebook after the pbook, so any costs to convert (only 3 cents in this example) are added to the price of the pbook to arrive at a price for the ebook. And since the ebook is a more desirable product, we are charging more.

I just thanked her for responding. This was so illogical, it wasn't worth asking for clarification.

[Steven Lake]

This is more of of that stupid "value added pricing" BS. Honestly, it's stupid. But hey, who am I to tell some disconnected suit at the top of the golden corporate ladder that he's an idiot and his pricing schemes suck? I hate when people price stuff based on "value" to the end user rather than realistic cost/profit margin schemes like everyone else.

[Penforhire]

SM, yeah, any clarification has to include the fact that there are almost zero shipping and storage costs for e-books. It gets into a pissing contest and the seller wins... at least until you decide not to buy.

[screwballl]

A few years ago there was a "9.99 boycot" with amazon and other providers/publishers that were doing just this (have a paperback for $4 and the ebook version for $15).

In the case of the original poster, it is not a problem when 2 things occur:

1) the price is below $12.99, AND
2) the price is within $2 of the official physical paperback book price.

So $7.99 versus $8.02 is no big deal. Now if it was 7.99 paper versus 10.99 ebook, then it would be time to complain.

[Kali Yuga]

Of all the big publishers Harlequin pretty much "gets" ebooks, got it long before other publishers, and likely sells a much higher percentage of its books in digital form than most other publishers. Ebooks are definitely not an "afterthought" for almost any company that publishes romance books.

I suspect their paper costs are much lower than most other publishers -- which are already a fraction of what most people presume (typically around 15% of the cover price btw). Most of what Harlequin cranks out are cheap paperbacks on cheap paper, with lower expectation of keeping tons of back catalog titles around.

And, of course, ebooks are delivered instantly and for free. To make a real comparison, you'd have to include the shipping costs.


Regardless, I'd say it's clear that they're pocketing a little extra revenue from the ebooks, and people would squeal like stuck pigs over a 3¢ price differential no matter how good a reason Harlequin provided.

And ultimately, I don't see how it matters. Either they're offering you a book at a price you're willing to pay, or they aren't. If they're charging too much, by all means let them know. But it sounds more like you're indexing that number off of a paper price, which is increasingly irrelevant these days....

[CazMar]

Originally Posted by jlmwrite

What absolute hogwash!

So all the costs for printing and distribution of a physical product --from paper to ink to machine maintenance, giant warehouses to store physical books, and then the costs of transporting those books from the warehouses to distributors and into the hands of booksellers -- are CHEAPER than formatting an e-book once and storing it on a server that has almost a zero-cost associated with the electronic distribution?

Puh-lease!

I wish Amazon and B&N would put some heat on the publishers -- but then that might upset their traditional book sales model too...

Well - you have to pay for that expensive transport to your computer, I mean, internet costs are SO much more than running a big truck, aren't they? Oh - YOU pay the internet costs. Well, and of course it's much more expensive to convert an ebook to 3 or 4 different formats than pay for a whole printing factory isn't it?
Are these people for real? Do they actually think we are so stupid? Anyone who can count to 10 on their fingers could work out the cost-savings in production of an e-book over a paper book.

[Anthem]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

And ultimately, I don't see how it matters. Either they're offering you a book at a price you're willing to pay, or they aren't. If they're charging too much, by all means let them know. But it sounds more like you're indexing that number off of a paper price, which is increasingly irrelevant these days....

This bears repeating.

Also, your pointing out the need to include shipping in any price comparison is spot on. Physically moving the object from place to place is required and should be thrown in to any pricing equation (which are also becoming more and more irrelevant these days!)

The Digital life is different, and the things we regarded as important or obvious yesterday may not be today or tomorrow. We buck the reigns while the whole earth is shaking but we don't really know how things will settle in our Digital future. This is one of the many reasons I don't view every shift, shake, or perturbation as fiercely offensive as many people do. It is difficult to fight when the cause is vague and the definition of victory remains embryonic or entirely unknown.

[SeaBookGuy]

Something I fail to understand --

Publishers are incredibly firm on NO DISCOUNTS for agency ebooks. Ever. Period. End of Story.

New (not used!) print copies of the exact same text can be had as much as 50% off with Borders coupons.

[HansTWN]

As much as I feel for those who long for cheaper e-books, Kali Yuga is, of course, right. Costs don't really matter, the publishers are perfectly within their rights to try to squeeze us ebook buyers. And I really can't agree with people who say an ebook should cost only 50% of the paper version. Sure, they might rack up more sales from some customers who would never buy at the higher prices -- but they would be unable to sell to anyone at higher prices. It would degrade the value people see in the book and greatly reduce profits for the publishers. No, publishers are not just suits, they have regular employees, too, who want to be paid living wages. That money must come from somewhere.

The only question is, is overcharging us a smart move. I used to buy a lot with coupons and discounts, now I am working off my TBR list, freebies, and classics. Of course, for me shipping costs to overseas would be extremely high -- so in the end an ebook almost always works out to be cheaper, even if the sales prices is higher. However, I do feel offended by the big 5's policies (especially the "never discount" one) and therefore try to avoid buying from them.

I think they just don't feel the negative impact from their steep price increases yet, since there were so many new reading devices last year they just haven't noticed that old ebook customers probably have been buying a lot less than before. But give it another year or two and they will come around, especially on the discounts. Or publishers might become marginalized soon, anyway.

Just pay what you are willing to and boycott those whose prices you find too high. Let the market work. If, however, enough people are perfectly happy paying these prices, then no complaining will ever help us.

[CWatkinsNash]

As Kali Yuga said, Harlequin is not clueless publisher new to ebooks. They are quite established in that area, and have been doing it very well, in my opinion. I've been buying ebooks from them since long before I decided to buy an ereader. Three cents more for a book I don't have to find room for? Worth it, definitely.

Yes, their response was silly. If they had said "converting paper books" instead of "converting text files" I might throw them a point, even if it would still be partially inaccurate. As someone who has converted many text files, I can't cut them any slack on that excuse. But the added value thing - if we were talking about $5, I'd take issue with it, but not for $0.03. Even though I try to stretch my dollars till they break when it comes to books, it's definitely worth at least that much. Yes, I want the ebook version and yes, I'm willing to pay a little bit more for it if I have to and it's in my book budget, especially since Harlequin gives me easy access to all of their imprints via their site. It's a heck of a lot easier than going to a publisher site, finding the newest books from an imprint, then going somewhere else to actually buy the book. I'm willing to pay a little more for that convenience.

To me, Harlequin is to Romance what Baen is to SciFi/Fantasy. The both do this direct-to-consumer thing really, really well. I guess because of that, I'm willing to cut them more slack than I would a different publisher.