Would you like to see the return of agency pricing with no discount?

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Anything under $20 seems perfectly reasonable to me. Like Harry, I generally don't care what a book costs--if I want it, I want it.

Now, if it's a new-to-me author, I might be a bit more hesitant to spend as much, and look in the library or decide to read something else.

I think what really gets me is not being allowed to use a coupon if I have one. Also I never used to buy books from Amazon because I didn't want to reward their walled garden, but with the prices being the same that's where I will buy. Are the publishers too stupid to realize that they are just strengthening Amazon if they do this?

[tubemonkey]

Buy low, then liberate

[Snow Sciles]

I won't pay over £10 for an ebook, I don't care who it's from. Price does matter to me. Between £6 and £10 is a stretch, it'll have to be some kind of special edition thing. I just don't think ebooks are worth that much. I know people will say otherwise, but really they are not.

And tbh, if people are in a position to not care about money, okay, good for you. But not everyone is. I think it's shitty that books are being placed out of the budget of many people, just because the industry is looking to price gouge.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Snow Sciles

And tbh, if people are in a position to not care about money, okay, good for you. But not everyone is. I think it's shitty that books are being placed out of the budget of many people, just because the industry is looking to price gouge.

Didn't say I didn't care about money. It's a matter of priorities. I am very frugal about most things--which means I can afford to buy the books I want.

[EowynCarter]

Originally Posted by Snow Sciles

I won't pay over £10 for an ebook, I don't care who it's from. Price does matter to me. Between £6 and £10 is a stretch, it'll have to be some kind of special edition thing. I just don't think ebooks are worth that much. I know people will say otherwise, but really they are not.

And tbh, if people are in a position to not care about money, okay, good for you. But not everyone is. I think it's shitty that books are being placed out of the budget of many people, just because the industry is looking to price gouge.

It not that I don't care about money. France have fixed prises for books, us / uk publishers are cheaper even without discount.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Snow Sciles

I won't pay over £10 for an ebook, I don't care who it's from. Price does matter to me. Between £6 and £10 is a stretch, it'll have to be some kind of special edition thing. I just don't think ebooks are worth that much. I know people will say otherwise, but really they are not.

Not even if it's an omnibus edition of several books? I think, for example, the 12-volume complete set of George MacDonald Fraser's "The Flashman Papers":

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flashman-Pap.../dp/B00DFPDBBM

is reasonable priced at £32.53 - that's £2.71 a book. I bought it in a special offer at £9.98, but I would have happily bought it at the full price had I not done so.

[Sydney's Mom]

I can tell you who would like that--Indie authors. A lot of us found them when we refused to pay ridiculous Agency prices. If we go back to that, I go back to not buying books. I have enough to read--even though I am 25 out of 56 for my library's 2 copies of Mr. Mercedes, I am enjoying Under the Dome right now (that I remember was windowed, back in the day, and as a form of protest I went out and got the book on the dark net a day or two after it came out, and then bought it when it finally came out in ebook form and deleted the pirated copy. And I am just now reading it. That is the kind of principal I like--it hurt me not at all!)

[HarryT]

Why do you consider agency prices to be "ridiculous"?

[jbjb]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Not even if it's an omnibus edition of several books? I think, for example, the 12-volume complete set of George MacDonald Fraser's "The Flashman Papers":

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flashman-Pap.../dp/B00DFPDBBM

is reasonable priced at £32.53 - that's £2.71 a book. I bought it in a special offer at £9.98, but I would have happily bought it at the full price had I not done so.

Aargh - I missed that omnibus. I've already bought most of the Flashman Papers individually, so too late for the omnibus for me.

Wonderful books - I love everything about them - very well written, lots of fascinating historical detail, a brilliant basic concept and, above all, enormous fun to read.

On the main topic of the thread, I agree with Harry and others - most books are already phenomenal value for money - compare the price a book with the price of a take-away meal or a drink in a pub.

/JB

[Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Why do you consider agency prices to be "ridiculous"?

I find hardcover books at Target that are cheaper than the Agency books were. I find the inability to lend the ebook to a friend or donate it to the library to be a significant detriment. Therefore, I think an ebook should cost less than the hardcover version, both because of the increased costs of pbooks and the decreased rights with ebooks. But I remember during Agency I wanted to read King's JFK (can't remember the title, I believe it was the date JFK was assassinated) and it was $16.99 for the ebook. But the pbook was at Target for $14.99. That is why I hate Agency. I feel taken advantage of. I wouldn't care if that money was going to the author (not King, he is rich enough), but I know it was going to the publisher, and was not because that was the value of the ebook, but because they wanted to prop up the value of the hardcover.

[HarryT]

I honestly don't think you'll find an eBook that costs more than the list price of a hardback. Supermarkets massively discount popular books as a loss-leader for other sales. That doesn't (IMHO) make the undiscounted eBook price "ridiculous". Prices always fall enormously if you wait for the paperback release - you'll really pay through the nose by buying newly-released books.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Supermarkets massively discount popular books as a loss-leader for other sales.

Amazon should be allowed to do the same thing with ebooks.

[Barty]

I voted yes because obviously everyone else voted no.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

I find hardcover books at Target that are cheaper than the Agency books were. I find the inability to lend the ebook to a friend or donate it to the library to be a significant detriment. Therefore, I think an ebook should cost less than the hardcover version, both because of the increased costs of pbooks and the decreased rights with ebooks. But I remember during Agency I wanted to read King's JFK (can't remember the title, I believe it was the date JFK was assassinated) and it was $16.99 for the ebook. But the pbook was at Target for $14.99. That is why I hate Agency. I feel taken advantage of. I wouldn't care if that money was going to the author (not King, he is rich enough), but I know it was going to the publisher, and was not because that was the value of the ebook, but because they wanted to prop up the value of the hardcover.

Originally Posted by HarryT

I honestly don't think you'll find an eBook that costs more than the list price of a hardback. Supermarkets massively discount popular books as a loss-leader for other sales. That doesn't (IMHO) make the undiscounted eBook price "ridiculous". Prices always fall enormously if you wait for the paperback release - you'll really pay through the nose by buying newly-released books.

11/22/63 by Stephen King is now $2.99 and has been since November.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Why do you consider agency prices to be "ridiculous"?

Because some books are just worth it, and many people read too much of those to pay that kind of money.

Take the newest Terry Brooks Shannara book ("The High Druid's Blade"), for example. In the Netherlands, it retais for €19.95, for both the hardcover and the ebook. In the US, it retails at $19.95 for the hardcover (€14.70). At Amazon and Kobo US, the ebook retails for $13.99 (€9.50).

I can imagine the hardcover being more expensive in the Netherlands, as it has to be imported, and taxes and VAT are levied. For the e-book however, the price difference is 50%! I can buy it in the UK, or US, or anywhere, and have it delivered within seconds. I don't need to buy it in The Netherlands.

Now, imagine this book had been agency priced, costing the equivalent of €19.95 everywhere; it would have cost $27.15. Wouldn't that be a bit much for a 320 page book, that some people can read in two or three days?

Even going with the lower price of $14, many people don't have the money to spend $14 per three days on books. That would be $1700 a year. I could do it, but I don't want to. A 300-ish page fantasy story isn't worth that much for me.