What is a Fair Price For E-books

[desertgrandma]

Okay, lots of news on pricing of ebooks lately. We all have our own sweet spot.......that price point that seems fair to us, and that we would not hesitate to buy at.

So........whats yours?

Why?

This would be for new releases.

Tell us what you think the price should be once they come out in paperback.

[GeoffC]

Gosh !

pbooks generally 6-7 pounds sterling, so that would place me in the $10 or less bracket. But for some unknown reason I stick to ebook purchases around the $6 or less bracket - and they have to be of a reasonable length. No way am I paying the same for a 90 minute read as for a 350 minute read.....

And honestly I no longer hanker for a new book of any series, I can afford to wait until the price drops......[weel what do you expect from a Yorkie in Scotland!].

(ps - this wasn't the topic I expected - sorry it's early on Saturday morning and my mind must have been on other matters - :chortle

[Dylrob]

DG, let me just say you are the master of suggestive thread titles!

Anyhoo... generally $7 is my limit. If it's something I'm particularly interested in then I might go up to $10. But no more than that.

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

...and that we would not hesitate to buy at.

I said $4.00, because it's hard to leave the house and not spend that, even at a McDonald's.

[roger the rabbit]

I voted for $7 or less - I will wait to buy at that level. Plenty to read cheaper.

[Sweetpea]

I don't have a sweet spot (in the book buying sense, that is). If I want a book, I'll pay what the publisher asks. With one exception: it should never, ever, be more expensive that the hard cover or trade paperback.

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I don't have a sweet spot (in the book buying sense, that is). If I want a book, I'll pay what the publisher asks. With one exception: it should never, ever, be more expensive that the hard cover or trade paperback.

AH! so true ....

[GlenBarrington]

You either believe in the free market or you don't. I do. That means a publisher should be free to set whatever price he/she wants, and I should be free to either buy or not buy whatever I want.

The 'fair' price is what eventually settles out.

[kennyc]

I said $10. I'd prefer not to pay more. I think that's a fair price in most cases. But would likely be willing (as I am currently with the new T.C. Boyle and did in the past for the new Margaret Atwood) to pay a bit more if I know it's going to be good.

I would prefer to pay less and certainly think that is possible is we can get the corporate zombies out of the picture.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by Dylrob

DG, let me just say you are the master of suggestive thread titles!

Anyhoo... generally $7 is my limit. If it's something I'm particularly interested in then I might go up to $10. But no more than that.

Have to get your attention somehow!!

Originally Posted by GeoffC

Gosh !

pbooks generally 6-7 pounds sterling, so that would place me in the $10 or less bracket. But for some unknown reason I stick to ebook purchases around the $6 or less bracket - and they have to be of a reasonable length. No way am I paying the same for a 90 minute read as for a 350 minute read.....

And honestly I no longer hanker for a new book of any series, I can afford to wait until the price drops......[weel what do you expect from a Yorkie in Scotland!].

(ps - this wasn't the topic I expected - sorry it's early on Saturday morning and my mind must have been on other matters - :chortle

There are only two authors I look forward to in new books...and I find the library usually has them in enventually.

As for the "topic"........Gotcha!

[pdurrant]

I said $6 or less.

But my average ebook price for ebooks bought (i.e. not counting freebies) is actually under $3.50. And my cost per ebook read this year is currently $3.02

I think the reason for my low cost per ebook is careful use of fictionwise special offers, which are only possible because their cost price for ebooks is about 50% of the RRP.

So, if publishers switch to retailer getting 30% of RR, I'd expect to see RRP come done.

As for whether publishers should have th eright to set the price of an ebook (or book). Well, no, they shouldn't. They can certainly set the RRP to anything they like, and sell to resellers at whathever price they can negotiate, and sell directly at whatever price they can get people to pay.

But I don't think publishers should be able to dictate to retails what price the retailer should change.

[rhadin]

I think publishers should set their own prices and I should decide for myself whether the book is wiorth the price and whether to buy it or not. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I don't see this as any different than other market commodities. Auto manufacturers set their own price even, and though every car will get you from point A to point B, we accept that one brand or model costs more or less than another.

[ravenne]

I misread the thread title ("Sweet Pot") and googled it because I had no idea what it meant. Google came up with a recipe for a sweet potato pie. As for the Sweet Spot, I completely agree with SweetPea. Everything less or equal to the pbook price is fine with me.

[Krystian Galaj]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

You either believe in the free market or you don't. I do. That means a publisher should be free to set whatever price he/she wants, and I should be free to either buy or not buy whatever I want.

The 'fair' price is what eventually settles out.

I was under impression that e-books are licensed, and licensed to single seller per country, who has monopoly stemming out of copyright, and can control his resellers and set his prices. That's because no one else can compete with him in selling the books he sells, as it's illegal. The only freedom is to choose different books, if you don't want to buy from specific copyright owner, and if you care what books you buy, you don't have any choice. How is that a free market?

[Greg Anos]

While publishers have the right to price their product however they feel like, I think the poll is geared to the Reader. What the Reader is willing to pay may or may not match the publisher's price.

$6 or less, and I'll buy. More than that, and I'll look at other, cheaper, alternatives. And they are out there. There's more out there to read than I could read in 10 lifetimes....