Price as Criterion for Book Selection?

[JDK1962]

On this and other forums, I've read a number of posts about boycotting books above a certain price level, or books by the six major publishing houses that are doing agency pricing.

My question: does anyone buy books with price as the ONLY criterion?

I think my major criteria for fiction book selections are story and author (add in subject for non-fiction choices). Price doesn't figure into it, except as an overall budgetary constraint in the back on my mind (max $50 in one month). If, say, Michael Ondaatje comes out with a new book, my thinking is never going to be "I'm not buying that! Vintage is an imprint of Random House, and Random House is evil! I'm going to buy 6 indie books instead!"

My puzzlement is that many people, from their posts, seem to use price as a major/only criterion, and treat books as fungible objects, like interior decorators who buy books by the foot. And I don't get that at all. Isn't one great book worth 10 (or 20 or 50 or 100) average books? Aren't we all reading to find that book that strikes us as great?

Bonus points: what criteria do you apply that you believe helps you find great reading material?

[CWatkinsNash]

The cases in which price is the only criteria for me is backwards from what you describe - if it's free, I'll download it if it seems even slightly interesting.

For books that cost money, it's kind of a scale factoring in desire & price in inverse proportions. The more I want it, the less price matters. The only reason I check the publisher is because some houses are known for putting out crappy ebooks.

I do have budget considerations, and I try to maximize my ebook dollars, but that alone isn't enough to move me too much in either direction. Last night I spent this week's ebook budget on one book because I just discovered an author I really like and I think he's more than worth the price I paid.

[carld]

Well no, buying by price ALONE would be completely nonsensical. I don't know of anyone who does that. However, If a book is in a genre I read, or covers a subject I'm interested in, and it's offered at what I consider a fair price I'm liable to download the sample. I will not purchase books I consider over priced, and I'm very reluctant to purchase anything from the Price Fix Five.

[JDK1962]

Originally Posted by carld

Well no, buying by price ALONE would be completely nonsensical. [...] I'm very reluctant to purchase anything from the Price Fix Five.

But carld, isn't your latter point still a decision to [not] purchase based on price alone? You've described a situation in which there may be something you're interested in reading, but for reasons extraneous to the book, i.e., publisher and/or price, you're giving it a pass.

[Salgueiros]

Does anyone chooses their books based on price??? I understand if someone does not buy a book because it may be too expensive, but deciding what to read based on that criteria is completely irrational for me...

[Assassin]

A price to quality ratio has got to come into play for serious readers who appriciate good story line and mechanics. But low price is also important in e-publishing because of the cost difference between pbooks and ebooks. I think ebooks above eight or nine dollars are too costly for all but the most successful/popular aurhors.

[bgalbrecht]

I don't buy on price alone, but I've got a huge backlog of ebooks, and I went from mostly buying used MMPBs to buying ebooks, so it matters a lot. I just looked at an ebook mystery series, and saw that the first book has a teaser $2.99 price, but the rest of the books in the series are $10 or more. While the series sounded mildly interesting to me, the overall price of the series was enough to decide not to take a chance on book 1. I've done enough book and ebook hoarding, that I may never finish reading everything I've purchased over the years, so yes, I think it makes sense for me to choose not to buy something, especially for an author unknown to me, based on price alone.

[Piper_]

Originally Posted by JDK1962

I think my major criteria for fiction book selections are story and author (add in subject for non-fiction choices). ...
My puzzlement is that many people, from their posts, seem to use price as a major/only criterion, and treat books as fungible objects, like interior decorators who buy books by the foot. And I don't get that at all. Isn't one great book worth 10 (or 20 or 50 or 100) average books? Aren't we all reading to find that book that strikes us as great?

I think most of the complaints are about ebook prices in relation to the pbook prices.

Titles/contents aren't fungible, but the sources for them are.

e.g, I want the SKPenman trilogy. The second two ebooks in the trilogy are a crazy 19.99 each ($10 in hard and paper). I purchased the first book new at Amazon in paper, so they'd be paid, intending to go get it off the darknet*. Of course, then I couldn't find it.

The next 2 in the trilogy, I'll just buy as used copies for a few bucks, and scan them. And curse them that I have to. I totally lost the desire to see that they're paid even a dime.

For my bonus answer: I choose 90% historical fiction, and I try to read in order - I'll read all I can about a certain decade or family line.

The other 10% is given to indulging in a bodice-ripping romance. I still usually stick with medievals or regency, but I don't expect it to be informative or accurate. It's just a sweet desert.


*eta: at the time, it was not available for sale as an ebook. It was taken down for about 9 months, ostensibly to fix typos. It is back up now, and I would buy it at the current price of 11, if I hadn't been sucked into paying for the pbook, and if the two following weren't priced at $19.99.

[carld]

Originally Posted by JDK1962

But carld, isn't your latter point still a decision to [not] purchase based on price alone? You've described a situation in which there may be something you're interested in reading, but for reasons extraneous to the book, i.e., publisher and/or price, you're giving it a pass.

Yes, a decision to NOT purchase based on price, which is different than a decision TO purchase base solely on price.

[Catlady]

My two major criteria are:

1. Familiarity with the author. I read various mystery series, and just automatically pick up new books in a series. (Pre e-reader, I pretty much had to limit myself to this criterion because of space considerations.)

2. Synopsis. Certain elements appeal to me; others are a total turn-off. Even if a book is highly recommended and has great reviews, I'm just not going to read something that sounds plotless and pointless.

Price isn't a major factor if I want the book, though I still grumble about it. I download a lot of free books, as long as they seem marginally interesting, but I pretty much stick to the major publishers.

However, when it comes to backlist books that I already own in paper, price is definitely the deciding factor. I've gone as high as $12.99 for a couple of them, but I'm more likely to buy in the $5-$10 range.

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by JDK1962

On this and other forums, I've read a number of posts about boycotting books above a certain price level, or books by the six major publishing houses that are doing agency pricing.

My question: does anyone buy books with price as the ONLY criterion?

I'm not really sure how it could be the only criterion. What do you do about two books that are both in your price range? Just go with the cheaper one?

I generally will restrict myself to <= $10, but I'll make exceptions on a case by case basis up to $15. Over that, and it would have to be something I've already read in paper form that I want to have on my Kindle.

[ebusinesstutor]

Free ebooks certainly do entice me to try new authors if they are in a genre I read and the description sounds interesting.

For paid ebooks, I look for my favorite authors then compare the ebook price to the price I can get it for new (usually Amazon) or used (locally). If the ebook is higher than the new price, I pass. If the ebook is close to the used price (within a couple of bucks), I buy the ebook version because of portability and I want to reward the author.

The only way I try new authors is:

1. Free ebooks
2. Library
3. Lent from a friend

This is for fiction only, my buying habits for reference books are different.

[ficbot]

Price is a factor for me simply because I am not a picky reader. In any given month, there may be one or two releases by authors I know. And I don't always buy them---I do like Jodi Picoult as a rule, for instance, but her latest book did not appeal to me when I read the summary. It turned out my mother wanted it, so I bought it for her (she shares my Kobo account) but absent that, I would not have bought it at all.

So, if I am facing a situation where I want to buy a new book, don't have a specific title in mind and am just browsing, I will sort by price and start looking for a summary that interests me. If I find it at the lower price point, great, I will buy. If I don't, I will keep browsing up to the upper range of the price point I will tolerate.

[Worldwalker]

It's not that books are fungible, it's that there are so many more books that I want to read than there are hours in the day, and for my actual reading time, there are hordes of books clamoring to be read. So I have to have some criteria for picking which books off my "want to buy" list I'll actually buy, and one of those criteria is price. If there are two books that are equally interesting to me (and it's rarely only two; more like twenty) I'll generally buy the cheapest. That leaves me with more money to ... buy other books with!

When practical, I also don't reward companies for doing things that are harmful to me. Sometimes I can't avoid it for necessities, but as much as we sometimes think otherwise, books are a luxury. So I don't buy (or download free samples of, or otherwise obtain) DRM-locked ebooks, not because I can't or won't strip the DRM, but because even though my wallet has a tiny vote, I'm voting with it nonetheless. People always talk about "well, if the market wanted X..." but we are the market. We're the ones who have to act, not some nebulous "them". I guess it's part of the "be the change you want to see" thing: if I say "DRM is bad" and then go right out and encourage the people who impose DRM, I'm talking the talk but not walking the walk, and it's the walk, not the talk, that matters when it comes to business. I find I have no shortage of books despite this. I'm still buying pbooks, too (bought three yesterday, all reference of some type), as well as adding DRM-free ebooks to the collection, and my TBR list is growing instead of shrinking.

Price matters in the same way a catchy cover matters: If two books are of otherwise equal interest, odds are I'll buy the one with the niftier cover. I have to decide somehow.

[vulcan_girl]

No. If I feel the price is too high, I get it from the library in e or paper. I'm more likely to base my purchase on author and plot. I don't find books that interchangeable because I want the book I want, not A book.