11-22-2007, 10:29 PM | #1 |
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Paper vs. Kindle Cost
Is there anybody out there that routinely sells new paper books as used (hardcover and paperback)?
I have always given mine to friends and family so have no idea what one recovers by doing this. I has wondering this to make the following comparison: Ebooks are now (with the Kindle), generally cheaper than the same book on Amazon in the "lowest cost at the time in paper" version. Since folks make a lot of the fact that Kindle books cannot be sold and paper books can, I was wondering if the cheaper cost of the Kindle books makes up for what you would recover from selling a paper version of the same book. So is the difference in Kindle vs. new paper cost greater or less than the loss taken when buying new paper and then selling that paper as used? Now clearly buying used paper is cheaper but that is a different story. Any thoughts? |
11-23-2007, 12:50 AM | #2 |
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I do not think that inability to resell e-books is a big issue overall, since very rarely you get good prices on used books these days (I sold 3 or 4 through Amazon marketplace that were rarer and I made about 10-15$ each, but I've done it for psychological reasons, namely that I had 2 editions, or that someone was advertising one of those books for 80$ used lowest price and it annoyed me, so I put mine for 19.99$; the hassle of buying envelopes, packing, shipping is not worth those money for me)
The Kindle issue is that azw books are locked The high price of e-books issue is that people in general will not pay that kind of money for e-content. I do pay 15$ for baen e-arcs and occasionally 10-15$ for a new e-book that tempts me, mostly form BooksOnBoard lit, but the currently proven fact is that most people do not pay that much money for e-content; 15$ for a bunch of electrons, you gotta be kidding me - is a frequent comment |
11-23-2007, 03:37 AM | #3 |
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11-23-2007, 03:55 AM | #4 | |
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Seriously you trash books vs. donating them to a local charity/thrift store so they can not only generate funds for a charity but also offer inexpensive entertainment for those who cannot afford the trendy techy options? BTW, paper recycling is a net energy loss so there it little to be gained by "recycling" paper. Trees used for paper are cheap to gown and fast to grow. Even better is hemp but that is a whole different topic. |
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11-23-2007, 04:01 AM | #5 | |
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Second hand books are worth so little that it's just not worth making the effort. These days, besides, I buy relatively few paper books - it's mostly eBooks. |
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11-23-2007, 04:10 AM | #6 |
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11-23-2007, 04:21 AM | #7 |
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I gettcha Harry...I forget not everyone has easy access to worthy honest charity stores. And selling them back, we gave up on the "sell them back" at the used bookstore long ago too...really what is the point at like 10% of the cover price. Now we just box 'em up and when there are a couple three boxes full drop them by a fav charity shop or sale. Odds are we bought a good number of them there anyway. Even if they get just a buck a piece it's something.
I can see how if one lives farther away it's much more difficult...and often not worth the time and effort. Sad really, but a fact of life these days. Pretty much for me the biggest reason to move to ebooks is easy purchasing. I don't drive near as much as I once did plus fuel costs being what they are it's insane to drive to a store, spend an hour looking through a limited selection only to be told "...we can order it for you...", heck we can already do that...and sitting in our underware to boot! BTW, I could not resisit the comment about using them "...as kindle-ing for a fire" joke...hehehehehe.... |
11-23-2007, 04:21 AM | #8 |
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11-23-2007, 04:36 AM | #9 |
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11-23-2007, 04:53 AM | #10 |
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In London the Amnesty bookshop rations the number of books you can donate to them.
Hospital libraries are a possibility though - at least for fiction (ie the sort of book you'd want to read if you were in hospital). Amazon is OK for more expensive books but a waste of time and energy for cheper fiction books. |
11-23-2007, 06:59 AM | #11 | ||
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11-23-2007, 08:06 AM | #12 |
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Another good place to donate books to is senior citizens homes. Nursing homes too. Since they always have only whatever is available in their library (which, in the less publically funded nursing homes, I've found they are usually so full of ancient books that nobody ever touches) a refresh in books I'm sure is always welcome. Magazines are a good thing to donate to these places too.
Ta |
11-23-2007, 08:32 AM | #13 |
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Locally, I've found that most charities here either don't take used books, or only accept them as a favor.
But there is a used bookstore "Half Price Books" that will give you some small amount of money for books. I've given them really valuable book sets and only received a few bucks for them. It's painful, but easy, and not as painful as throwing them away. At least this way, someone is likely to buy them again. They deserve the profit because I'm not willing to do the legwork to sell them online or at more sophisticated used bookstores. On the other hand, I don't currently see e-book technology as being chosen by people to save money. Maybe as a self-justification for big readers who can justify the initial outlay by the discounts on best sellers, for example. Mostly, however, I see people buying these things because they like the experience and convenience, or have eyesight/storage type issues driving them. Let's face it, it's really a luxury item at the moment. |
11-23-2007, 08:39 AM | #14 |
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With me it's the storage aspect of it. I live in a small house and couldn't store 1,000 paper books. I can - and do - store 15,000 e-Books on an external USB hard disk the size of a pack of playing cards.
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11-23-2007, 09:32 AM | #15 |
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Back when I read mostly pbooks (paperback) there was a Used Book Store where I could trade. Their books were half price & I got 1/4 price credit. It was a good deal for me since I got to read books for essential 1/4 the original price.
However I've only read maybe 3 pbooks in the last year and probably over 50 ebooks with my Sony & sometimes with my Palm T/X. |
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