Do you buy ebook versions of books you already own?

texasnightowl · 05-12-2009, 10:46 AM

Do you buy ebook versions of books you already own?

I was clicking through Fictionwise the other night and was really tempted to buy a couple of books...but, they are books I already own in paperback version and I couldn't quite bring myself to buy them again. Curious what everyone else does.

Do you buy a book you currently own?
Do you not?
If you do, what makes the decision to buy the ebook copy or not?

zelda_pinwheel · 05-12-2009, 10:50 AM

i am trying to replace the majority of my paper books with ebooks, but i started with all the old classics in the pd (so, free). i don't want to get rid of a paper book before i have an ebook of it, in case i want to read it again.

for the rest of them, some of them i love so much i might be willing to pay for them twice, but it depends on the book. perhaps i might for a book i know i'll re-read a lot, and my paper copy is old and in bad condition, but only if the ebook is not too expensive. i don't want to pay full paper price for an ebook of a book i already paid full price for in paper. that seems crazy to me.

my biggest problem is that MOST of my books are not available as ebooks, so i suppose i have to answer "no" at least for the moment. and there are some books i want to keep my paper editions because they are nice books and i like having them, and being able to lend them, as well.

rcuadro · 05-12-2009, 10:59 AM

So far, there has not been a book that I wanted to re-read so I do not purchase a book that I already own. Now, the ones that i can get for free I will download them but no, I will not purchase an eBook for a pBook that I already own...

lilac_jive · 05-12-2009, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcuadro

So far, there has not been a book that I wanted to re-read so I do not purchase a book that I already own. Now, the ones that i can get for free I will download them but no, I will not purchase an eBook for a pBook that I already own...

Same here. I just don't need to.

sirbruce · 05-12-2009, 11:41 AM

I bought the ebook of John Adams specifically so I could reference it easily. Ditto the Lord of the Rings books.

I certainly don't plan to buy ebooks for every book I own; however, one of the reasons I switched to ebooks is because I don't have room for pbooks anymore, so over time I'll replace most of my pbooks with ebooks.

snape · 05-12-2009, 11:50 AM

I have some pbooks that haven't been read yet - those I'm replacing with electronic versions, so I can get rid of the physical copy. I would also happily purchase the Harry Potter books in ebook form (if they were legally available), but might still keep the p-copies.

6charlong · 05-12-2009, 01:42 PM

I collect books but I'm careful about what I collect. For example, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were obvious buys but most of my paper books aren't worth collecting so I only get an ebook edition of one I already have in paper when I know I'll want to re-read it and when there is nothing new I want to get from the current month's book budget. Of course, this doesn't happen very often.

phenomshel · 05-12-2009, 01:49 PM

Right now there are two particular authors that I would buy the ebooks if they were available, even though I previously purchased pbooks (or hardbacks). Those are Sharyn McCrumb and Charlotte MacLeod/Alisa Craig. Some of Sharyn McCrumb's titles are out of print, and I think all of the Charlotte MacLeod/Alisa Craig ones are. I've found very few of Sharyn's books in the ebookstores, and they're the new Nascar series that is not a priority for me. I'm looking for her older stuff, the Elizabeth MacPherson series, and the Ballad books. Charlotte MacLeod is not available (in ebook format) anywhere.
I can only assume that since Charlotte passed away, and the books are out of print, that the publishers are in no hurry whatsoever to get those books available. This is why I was placing such high hopes on the Google settlement, thinking that with that, sooner rather than later I might be able to purchase these, instead of getting them and scanning them myself (which with my setup involves about 24 hours of labor per book - 12 for scanning and that again for proofreading). However, now that the Justice Dept. is involved, and Obama has vowed to crack down on anti-trust scenarios, I'm losing hope quickly.

Sorry, didn't mean to turn this into a rant..will hush now.

vsalvaggio · 05-12-2009, 02:00 PM

I often re-read books and since I now almost exclusively read ebooks I do buy the ebook version when available. The caveat being that I won't pay more than pback prices for it.

texasnightowl · 05-12-2009, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vsalvaggio

I often re-read books and since I now almost exclusively read ebooks I do buy the ebook version when available. The caveat being that I won't pay more than pback prices for it.

This is kind of why I was asking...I also re-read books frequently; I read a lot of fiction and many I will re-read.

sakura-panda · 05-12-2009, 04:06 PM

I'm trying to declutter and get rid of my books. I've been purging titles that I don't want to re-read, but since I continue to buy books, it's not really helping my storage situation.

Since switching to ebooks, my piles have stopped growing (although they still exist) and I am slowly trying to buy titles so that I can get rid of the books I have.

So many of them are not available electronically though, which means I'm not sure if I'll be able to get rid of my old books. At least I can stop building towers of new ones.

rixte · 05-12-2009, 04:16 PM

It works both ways for me. I absolutely 100% prefer to read on my reader in almost every circumstance. That means that there's a small backlog of books that I really wanted to read over the last couple of years that I haven't started because I bought them but couldn't face paper.

Then they came out in ebook format finally. In a few cases, I've bought them again in ebook, because otherwise I don't know if I'll ever actually read them. And if I like them well enough, I can always find a new home for the paper copies.

I've also done the opposite a few times - bought a book in ebook format and then had to buy a second in hardcopy for the express purpose of loaning it out to people. It's really rare, but it happens.

And then finally, there's the tried and true favorites, books I loved. Those I try to slip in to my ebook collection whenever I can. And even on books I didn't love but enjoyed well enough that there's a good chance I'll reread it - If I can get a reasonably priced ebook copy, I'll grab it. Reasonably priced for those tends to be below the 5 dollar mark with discounts.

Ideally I'd love all my books in ebook format, but the combination of budget and availability makes that still years away!

Momo_Germany · 05-12-2009, 04:31 PM

Hi!

Good question! - I've indeed downloaded many classic books for free which I already own as paper versions but want to have also as ebook and want to have always with me. And I think I'll also buy some of my favourite actual books also as ebooks as soon as they will be available, just to have them with me and to be able to re-read them or parts of them again whenever I feel to.

Concerning actual books so far I didn't download some I already have read as paperbooks, as the ones I loved much so far aren't available in Germany. But I indeed downloaded some I already own as paperbooks for a while and didn't read so far as I didn't take them with me when I travelled etc. Now, with my ebook-reader I read them and I enjoy it very much!

At the moment I don't like to read paperbooks anymore, but however I love to keep them. I think in future I will try to read any new books if possible (and available) as ebooks first and some of them which I like very much and like to own also as printed books I will later also buy to keep it in my bookshelfs. But one advantage of ebooks for me is indeed the fact that my bookshelfs in my apartment won't grow so fast anymore (already have the books in 2 and sometimes even in 3 lines in there! ;-) )

So it will definately depend on the certain book if I will buy them as printed books too.

Greetings from Germany,
Momo

Idoine · 05-12-2009, 06:19 PM

Depends for me too !
I gladly re-read some of my pbooks, and these ones I'd like to have as ebooks !
So when I can (when I find them, and they're not too expensive !), I buy them as ebooks too.
For example, I used the Fictionwise Sale as an excuse this week-end, to buy the Farseer trilogy, and the Barbed Coil !

Another example : I have Pride and Prejudice on paperback since I was 17, and it was one of the first I had as ebook too (and I bought the special Penguin ebook version some months ago !)

BTW, I'd like to have the books of my favorite Sci-Fi french author as ebooks as well (it could be possible, as he got back his copyrights from his former publisher), but presently, unfortunately, it seems the priority is for his new books (only on paperback too !

)

New technology, it seems !

Edit : Oups ! Forgot the LOTR trilogy, but it's a special case, because my paperback version is in french, and the ebook version in english !

ShortNCuddlyAm · 05-12-2009, 08:02 PM

At the moment, the ones I'm rebuying are those that get reread on a fairly regular basis.

View Poll Results: Do you buy ebook versions of books you already own?
Yes	41	23.03%
No	41	23.03%
Depends on the book	96	53.93%
Voters: 178. You may not vote on this poll

05-12-2009, 10:46 AM	#1
texasnightowl Guru Posts: 699 Karma: 1001556 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Texas Device: Oasis 3, K4B(NT), K3/KK	Do you buy ebook versions of books you already own? Do you buy ebook versions of books you already own? I was clicking through Fictionwise the other night and was really tempted to buy a couple of books...but, they are books I already own in paperback version and I couldn't quite bring myself to buy them again. Curious what everyone else does. Do you buy a book you currently own? Do you not? If you do, what makes the decision to buy the ebook copy or not?

05-12-2009, 01:49 PM	#8
phenomshel ZCD BombShel Posts: 4,793 Karma: 8293322 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: The Frozen North (aka Illinois, USA) Device: iPad, STB Kindle Oasis	Right now there are two particular authors that I would buy the ebooks if they were available, even though I previously purchased pbooks (or hardbacks). Those are Sharyn McCrumb and Charlotte MacLeod/Alisa Craig. Some of Sharyn McCrumb's titles are out of print, and I think all of the Charlotte MacLeod/Alisa Craig ones are. I've found very few of Sharyn's books in the ebookstores, and they're the new Nascar series that is not a priority for me. I'm looking for her older stuff, the Elizabeth MacPherson series, and the Ballad books. Charlotte MacLeod is not available (in ebook format) anywhere. I can only assume that since Charlotte passed away, and the books are out of print, that the publishers are in no hurry whatsoever to get those books available. This is why I was placing such high hopes on the Google settlement, thinking that with that, sooner rather than later I might be able to purchase these, instead of getting them and scanning them myself (which with my setup involves about 24 hours of labor per book - 12 for scanning and that again for proofreading). However, now that the Justice Dept. is involved, and Obama has vowed to crack down on anti-trust scenarios, I'm losing hope quickly. Sorry, didn't mean to turn this into a rant..will hush now. Last edited by phenomshel; 05-12-2009 at 01:50 PM. Reason: to clarify a point

05-12-2009, 06:19 PM	#14
Idoine Which book will be next ? Posts: 661 Karma: 2172 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: France Device: Cybook Gen3 1.5, Sony PRS 600 RC, Samsung Omnia...	Depends for me too ! I gladly re-read some of my pbooks, and these ones I'd like to have as ebooks ! So when I can (when I find them, and they're not too expensive !), I buy them as ebooks too. For example, I used the Fictionwise Sale as an excuse this week-end, to buy the Farseer trilogy, and the Barbed Coil ! Another example : I have Pride and Prejudice on paperback since I was 17, and it was one of the first I had as ebook too (and I bought the special Penguin ebook version some months ago !) BTW, I'd like to have the books of my favorite Sci-Fi french author as ebooks as well (it could be possible, as he got back his copyrights from his former publisher), but presently, unfortunately, it seems the priority is for his new books (only on paperback too ! ) New technology, it seems ! Edit : Oups ! Forgot the LOTR trilogy, but it's a special case, because my paperback version is in french, and the ebook version in english ! Last edited by Idoine; 05-12-2009 at 06:32 PM.

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05-12-2009, 10:50 AM	#2
zelda_pinwheel zeldinha zippy zeldissima Posts: 27,827 Karma: 921169 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Paris, France Device: eb1150 & is that a nook in her pocket, or she just happy to see you?	i am trying to replace the majority of my paper books with ebooks, but i started with all the old classics in the pd (so, free). i don't want to get rid of a paper book before i have an ebook of it, in case i want to read it again. for the rest of them, some of them i love so much i might be willing to pay for them twice, but it depends on the book. perhaps i might for a book i know i'll re-read a lot, and my paper copy is old and in bad condition, but only if the ebook is not too expensive. i don't want to pay full paper price for an ebook of a book i already paid full price for in paper. that seems crazy to me. my biggest problem is that MOST of my books are not available as ebooks, so i suppose i have to answer "no" at least for the moment. and there are some books i want to keep my paper editions because they are nice books and i like having them, and being able to lend them, as well.

05-12-2009, 10:59 AM	#3
rcuadro Wizard Posts: 1,686 Karma: 874275 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Device: Kindle DX	So far, there has not been a book that I wanted to re-read so I do not purchase a book that I already own. Now, the ones that i can get for free I will download them but no, I will not purchase an eBook for a pBook that I already own...

05-12-2009, 11:41 AM	#5
sirbruce Provocateur Posts: 1,859 Karma: 505847 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Columbus, OH Device: Kindle Touch, Kindle 2, Kindle DX, iPhone 3GS	I bought the ebook of John Adams specifically so I could reference it easily. Ditto the Lord of the Rings books. I certainly don't plan to buy ebooks for every book I own; however, one of the reasons I switched to ebooks is because I don't have room for pbooks anymore, so over time I'll replace most of my pbooks with ebooks.

05-12-2009, 11:50 AM	#6
snape Language Lover Posts: 111 Karma: 71544 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Current: PRS-350, Kindle PW // Previous: PRS-505, Kindle 1, Kindle 2	I have some pbooks that haven't been read yet - those I'm replacing with electronic versions, so I can get rid of the physical copy. I would also happily purchase the Harry Potter books in ebook form (if they were legally available), but might still keep the p-copies.

05-12-2009, 01:42 PM	#7
6charlong friendly lurker Posts: 896 Karma: 2436026 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: US Device: Kindle, nook, Apple and Kobo	I collect books but I'm careful about what I collect. For example, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were obvious buys but most of my paper books aren't worth collecting so I only get an ebook edition of one I already have in paper when I know I'll want to re-read it and when there is nothing new I want to get from the current month's book budget. Of course, this doesn't happen very often.

05-12-2009, 02:00 PM	#9
vsalvaggio Zealot Posts: 104 Karma: 3187996 Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Texas Device: iPhone, Kindle	I often re-read books and since I now almost exclusively read ebooks I do buy the ebook version when available. The caveat being that I won't pay more than pback prices for it.

05-12-2009, 04:06 PM	#11
sakura-panda Guru Posts: 923 Karma: 9558874 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Southeast Michigan, USA Device: 2017 10.5" iPad Pro (Kobo, NOOK, Kindle, Google Play Books & Scribd)	I'm trying to declutter and get rid of my books. I've been purging titles that I don't want to re-read, but since I continue to buy books, it's not really helping my storage situation. Since switching to ebooks, my piles have stopped growing (although they still exist) and I am slowly trying to buy titles so that I can get rid of the books I have. So many of them are not available electronically though, which means I'm not sure if I'll be able to get rid of my old books. At least I can stop building towers of new ones.

05-12-2009, 04:16 PM	#12
rixte Addict Posts: 300 Karma: 396757 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: new oasis, paperwhite, ipad, kobo	It works both ways for me. I absolutely 100% prefer to read on my reader in almost every circumstance. That means that there's a small backlog of books that I really wanted to read over the last couple of years that I haven't started because I bought them but couldn't face paper. Then they came out in ebook format finally. In a few cases, I've bought them again in ebook, because otherwise I don't know if I'll ever actually read them. And if I like them well enough, I can always find a new home for the paper copies. I've also done the opposite a few times - bought a book in ebook format and then had to buy a second in hardcopy for the express purpose of loaning it out to people. It's really rare, but it happens. And then finally, there's the tried and true favorites, books I loved. Those I try to slip in to my ebook collection whenever I can. And even on books I didn't love but enjoyed well enough that there's a good chance I'll reread it - If I can get a reasonably priced ebook copy, I'll grab it. Reasonably priced for those tends to be below the 5 dollar mark with discounts. Ideally I'd love all my books in ebook format, but the combination of budget and availability makes that still years away!

05-12-2009, 04:31 PM	#13
Momo_Germany Connoisseur Posts: 88 Karma: 14 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Germany Device: Kindle3 (great!!) +DX, Sony PRS-505,-700,-600 (dislike!), iPad	Hi! Good question! - I've indeed downloaded many classic books for free which I already own as paper versions but want to have also as ebook and want to have always with me. And I think I'll also buy some of my favourite actual books also as ebooks as soon as they will be available, just to have them with me and to be able to re-read them or parts of them again whenever I feel to. Concerning actual books so far I didn't download some I already have read as paperbooks, as the ones I loved much so far aren't available in Germany. But I indeed downloaded some I already own as paperbooks for a while and didn't read so far as I didn't take them with me when I travelled etc. Now, with my ebook-reader I read them and I enjoy it very much! At the moment I don't like to read paperbooks anymore, but however I love to keep them. I think in future I will try to read any new books if possible (and available) as ebooks first and some of them which I like very much and like to own also as printed books I will later also buy to keep it in my bookshelfs. But one advantage of ebooks for me is indeed the fact that my bookshelfs in my apartment won't grow so fast anymore (already have the books in 2 and sometimes even in 3 lines in there! ;-) ) So it will definately depend on the certain book if I will buy them as printed books too. Greetings from Germany, Momo

05-12-2009, 08:02 PM	#15
ShortNCuddlyAm WWHALD Posts: 7,879 Karma: 337114 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Mitcham, Surrey, UK Device: iPad. Selling my silver 505 here	At the moment, the ones I'm rebuying are those that get reread on a fairly regular basis.

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