Same book, different prices?

[darthreader13]

Hello everybody, I was wondering if anyone had any idea why the same book might have different prices. I was looking into getting the "Tao Te Ching" and noticed that there are different copies at different prices. Any idea why this is?

[LaurieGator]

There are a few reasons...

First, different publishers may charge different prices...

Second, different retailers may also charge different prices...

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by darthreader13

I was looking into getting the "Tao Te Ching" and noticed that there are different copies at different prices. Any idea why this is?

Because it is an out of copyright work, and is published by many different publishers. Read the descriptions. Get the samples and check them out. You'll probably find that 90% of them are quick and dirty conversions of some public domain copy of the text, probably from Project Gutenberg.

The remaining 10% might be versions with extra info, a new translation, or perhaps a very well formatted version of the public domain text.

There seem to be about 50 different versions available on Amazon.

[jbcohen]

Some publishers think of the electronic book as a modification of the dead wood book. They produce the dead wood book then they scan it into electronic form. Thus the electronic book is an additional step beyond the dead wood book and thus incurs more work and costs more. Some companies don't think of the electronic book as an after thought they think of it as an intermediate step in the production of the dead wood book. First they create the electronic book then they create the dead wood book from the electronic one, thus the electronic book is an earlier stage of production and requires less work and thus costs less. Some publishers think of them as the same stages of production they produce them as parallel stages of production and thus they cost the same. Personally I have two rules: I will never buy a book that costs more than $8 and no electronic books that cost more then the dead wood ones.

To other forum members - have I made any mistakes here?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

To other forum members - have I made any mistakes here?

Only one: answering a question that wasn't asked.

[OakIris]

Originally Posted by darthreader13

Hello everybody, I was wondering if anyone had any idea why the same book might have different prices. I was looking into getting the "Tao Te Ching" and noticed that there are different copies at different prices. Any idea why this is?

Originally Posted by jbcohen

To other forum members - have I made any mistakes here?

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Only one: answering a question that wasn't asked.

Why do you say that, pdurrant? The OP asked why the same book has different prices, your explanation was good, and I thought jbcohen's response, which spoke to why different publisher's price the same eBook differently, was well-reasoned and quite pertinent to the OP's question as well. Am I missing something here?!?

Holly

[GoSharks]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Only one: answering a question that wasn't asked.

I have to agree with OakIris. I found pdurant's comments interesting in the specific and jbcohen's thought provoking as to the publisher's motivation. Don't we have room for both in this forum?
Why so snarky pdurant?

[pdurrant]

As I saw it, the question was asking why a particular book (in this case Tao Te Ching) appears on Amazon with several different prices.

The issue of why different books from different publishers have different prices is an entirely separate question, and has no bearing on the many different prices charged for the Tao Te Ching (or other out-of-copyright books).

I can see that my comment, which was meant to be humorous, could be taken the wrong way.

[OakIris]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

As I saw it, the question was asking why a particular book (in this case Tao Te Ching) appears on Amazon with several different prices.

The issue of why different books from different publishers have different publishers is an entirely separate question, and has no bearing on the many different prices charged for the Tao Te Ching (or other out-of-copyright books).

I can see that my comment, which was meant to be humorous, could be taken the wrong way.

I didn't think you were being snarky, to use GoSharks term. I am still somewhat confused as to why you don't think jbcohen's post was pertinent since both of you were saying that different prices were due to different publishers! The first sentence of your explanation for the different pricing was:

Because it is an out of copyright work, and is published by many different publishers.

jbcohen's post just seemed to expound on your reasoning to show why different publishers had different pricing based on they way they viewed or used the electronic form of their books.

Oh well, I think you both gave good explanations!

Holly