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Old 02-23-2014, 02:29 AM   #1
greenapple
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How do you feel about authors playing with their book prices?

Recently, an indie author announced his newest book collection at $4.99 (if I remember correctly), and I bought it.

Today, couple days after I bought the ebook, the price has dropped to $0.99. And I have not even started reading the book yet.

I'm not terribly upset by the big drop in price, but I'm not overjoyed by it either. How do you feel about authors (esp the indie authors) who seem to enjoy playing around with their book prices, $0.99 one day and $3.99 the next, and $1.99 the next..? It's not stock market, but it sounds like it.
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Old 02-23-2014, 02:37 AM   #2
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If you only bought it a couple days ago, you can return it. Then just buy it again.

Same thing, but from the other side.

I usually wait till I see a deal on BookGorilla, unless I really REALLY need the book right now... Doesn't really happen as my TBR is already 146 books long.
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Old 02-23-2014, 04:33 AM   #3
greenapple
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I bought from the book from Kobo. I'm not too clear about their return policy. Wish I had got it from Amazon.

Anyway, I don't really mind too much. I did think the book was worth $4.99 at the point of purchase (I bought it with the 30% coupon). But it did raise my eyebrowse to see the new price.

For those who are interested, this is this book:
The Last Hunter - Collected Edition by Jeremy Robinson
http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Hunte...dp/B00H5B82UC/

Last edited by greenapple; 02-23-2014 at 04:37 AM.
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Old 02-23-2014, 07:32 AM   #4
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Not that much difference between buying a hardback at the normal price and then seeing it at 50% off the next week. For that matter, it happens all the time in regular stores.

I would imagine that a lot of indie writers will play around with prices trying to find that sweet spot that maximizes profits. Such things don't bother me. When I buy something, I simply consider if the current price is something I'm willing to pay. If so, I buy it, if not I don't. I don't worry too much about what the price for is the next day, week, or month.
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Old 02-23-2014, 09:14 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by greenapple View Post
I bought from the book from Kobo. I'm not too clear about their return policy. Wish I had got it from Amazon.

Anyway, I don't really mind too much. I did think the book was worth $4.99 at the point of purchase (I bought it with the 30% coupon). But it did raise my eyebrowse to see the new price.

For those who are interested, this is this book:
The Last Hunter - Collected Edition by Jeremy Robinson
http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Hunte...dp/B00H5B82UC/


He dropped a five book omnibus to $0.99?!

I did pay $5 (or more accurately, €3.60) without a coupon, and thought it a good deal already. That omnibus is about a 1000 pages.
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Old 02-23-2014, 09:21 AM   #6
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Is the price cut permanent or a temporary sale?
He might be releasing a new volume in the series and looking to raise the series visibility.
A common enough practice. (Though doing it on an omnibus is a bit less so.)
Not too different in concept from the BAEN promo CDs.
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Old 02-23-2014, 10:29 AM   #7
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I don't buy from people that do that. Whether you're a writer, publisher, developer, etc. And yes, I WILL return something if I see it a dollar less or even free the next day.
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Old 02-23-2014, 10:34 AM   #8
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Playing devils advocate, if someone drops a price there is always going to be some people who bought at the higher price just before it went down.

I probably wouldn't be too impressed but if I bought it in the first place I must have figured it was good value.
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Old 02-23-2014, 10:41 AM   #9
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I think it's great that authors can promo their own books by experimenting with prices. Yay for them (or anyone).

If I was attracted to the book at whatever price I decided to buy it at, dropping the price (even the next day/hour) doesn't suddenly make it any less attractive to me. I don't feel cheated in the least. They didn't know I was getting ready to click the "buy" button. OK, maybe a tiny bit bummed if I found out, but, oh well; "thems the breaks" in the world of buying, you know ... STUFF.

Are people really in the habit of checking the prices on books they already purchased to see if they've changed? How odd.
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Old 02-23-2014, 10:47 AM   #10
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As an author, who has changed the prices on my self-published books, I can share what I did, and why I did it.

Book 1. Released at $4.99 - minimal sales, so after 6 months or so, dropped to $2.99. Still not selling but have significant prodding from She Who Must Be Listened To to write sequel, so may drop price on sequel release. Unsure at this time.

Book 2. Released at $2.99 - with promotion it would be free the following 3 days. Free those three days, then back up to $2.99. There were paid sales before the book went free. (Original plan had been to go free immediately on release, but combination of time the book went live and how the promotion was scheduled caused about a 10-12 hour window of availability.)

Hope that helps.
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Old 02-23-2014, 11:00 AM   #11
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These 5 books are short little novels, so the current price is probably where there is a perceived value. I DO wish they would stop using my picture for their cover!
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Old 02-23-2014, 11:12 AM   #12
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Are people really in the habit of checking the prices on books they already purchased to see if they've changed? How odd.
Of course not. Some of us do have wishlists and price drop notifications though.

I think it's fine the way Lemurion is doing it, and that is a perfect timespan of when these things should be done. Learning how your first book did is a very good way to structure your price for the next one.
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Old 02-23-2014, 11:13 AM   #13
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I don't buy from people that do that. Whether you're a writer, publisher, developer, etc. And yes, I WILL return something if I see it a dollar less or even free the next day.
I don't really care if it happens on small items such as books.

A five-book omnibus, totalling somewhere around 1000 pages, is a good deal at $5. Now the price has been dropped to $1, probably temporarily, to get the author and/or his series some more attention.

I don't fret about that. Shit happens. I've bought computer stuff for €500, which dropped to €300 three months later in a sale, and to €200 a month after that because a new model was introduced. That was a bit painful.

But yes, if I buy something at a store, and the next day there's a 30% sale, I'll return there and ask for 30% of the money. If they won't do that, I'll return the item and immediately buy it again. I did do so with my internet connection more than a decade ago. (The provider completely dropped the setup/installation fee two days after I ordered a subscription, and in the Netherlands, you can cancel almost anything, within a week of ordering, if the order is by phone or internet.)

Last edited by Katsunami; 02-23-2014 at 11:16 AM.
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Old 02-23-2014, 12:40 PM   #14
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I went ahead and bought the book.

I now need someone to blame. --- Who's going to come forth?!!!
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Old 02-23-2014, 01:07 PM   #15
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I went ahead and bought the book.

I now need someone to blame. --- Who's going to come forth?!!!
Ah! The modern USA (North-American) Way.
Blame someone else!
No matter how much you contributed to the deed.

I paid too much. It is the sellers fault.

My (cheap/closeout) product model does not function with today's media. It is the manufacturers fault.

My house that I built/bought on a creek bank flooded in the last storm. It is the Flood districts fault.

I have no plan/supplies to survive a winter storm extended utility outage. It is the Utilities fault.

Just own up to it and try to do better next time.
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