Are The Days Of The $14.99 Ebook Numbered?

[xg4bx]

Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer

My experience has been the opposite lately; I've been ordering more physical books online rather than buying the ebook versions because the physical books are the same price or cheaper. Apparently having a book printed, bound and then hand delivered to me from 200 miles away is still less costly than delivering me a digital copy.

Maybe I should read more bestsellers, or restrict myself to those rare Kobo books that actually allow a discount code to be used.

Same here. I've been buying nothing but hard copies lately. For the same price or even a tad more I'd rather have a physical item.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

I just looked up a book, thinking my husband would be interested in it - the new Bart Eherman book on biblical forgeries. They wanted $22 for the *ebook* - nuh-huh, not going to happen.

You could buy the hardback for $39!

[Canuck_in_Japan]

I've almost never paid $14.99 for a ebook. Not fiction anyways. I try to get them for $8 or $9 plus the 40% off coupon from Kobo.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

I just looked up a book, thinking my husband would be interested in it - the new Bart Eherman book on biblical forgeries. They wanted $22 for the *ebook* - nuh-huh, not going to happen.

Is that like an academic treatise? They are often more expensive since their sales are limited to those with specific interest in the subject.

[medard]

If it's an academic or scientific book, it will allways be quite expensive since there are only a few copies of the printed book. You can easilily go to a library and get your copy there if you're interested in such books. That's the reason why libraries exist..

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer

My experience has been the opposite lately; I've been ordering more physical books online rather than buying the ebook versions because the physical books are the same price or cheaper. Apparently having a book printed, bound and then hand delivered to me from 200 miles away is still less costly than delivering me a digital copy.

Maybe I should read more bestsellers, or restrict myself to those rare Kobo books that actually allow a discount code to be used.

I don't read the "bestsellers" so their pricing doesn't affect me. But I have found that even though I much prefer to read on my Nook tablet than a print copy, when it comes to nonfiction, I cannot justify paying the price asked for an ebook that I do not own. Consequently, I continue to buy nonfiction in hardcover. And price is not a determining factor when it comes to hardcover purchases (e.g., I recently bought a hardcover for $55 and another for $45). Ownership and ability to lend and resell are important considerations.

However, I also "buy" a lot of ebooks. But my top price is $4.99 and I rarely spend more than $2.99 for an ebook. Of the ebooks I "buy", 90%+ cost zero dollars. Then if I read an ebook by an author and find that I really enjoy the ebook and the ebook's quality, I will then buy subsequent ebooks by the author or in the series at prices up to $4.99.

I see no reason to pay more than that for an ebook.

[crossi]

I really have no set limit for nonfiction. It depends on the book. For a lot of nonfiction the paper version works best so I buy that.

For a backlist non-omnibus novel my limit for an ebook is $6.99. Especially if I'm just replacing the paper version since I already bought it once. I might go higher than $10 for a new release if I desperately wanted to read it RIGHT NOW and I hadn't anything else I wanted to read. It hasn't happened yet, but I suppose it might be remotely possible. Right now I'm trying to work through my several hundred already paid for books that I haven't had time to read and only really good prices tempt me to buy now instead of putting them on a wish list to buy later.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Is that like an academic treatise? They are often more expensive since their sales are limited to those with specific interest in the subject.

It looks like it. A lot of his books are more "popularizations," but this is apparently more academic.

[david_e]

On the other hand... As ereaders become cheaper and more alluring to the most casual reader, someone who only reads new releases or a few books a year, price isn't much of an issue.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by RHWright

I'll believe it when the eBook of Dune (NOOK version) drops to a reasonable price.

Why didn't you buy it in the recent SF Gateway sale? £2.99 - about $5.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Why didn't you buy it in the recent SF Gateway sale? £2.99 - about $5.

Pretty sure it's a different publisher in the US Harry.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

I just looked up a book, thinking my husband would be interested in it - the new Bart Eherman book on biblical forgeries. They wanted $22 for the *ebook* - nuh-huh, not going to happen.

That's because it's only currently out in hardback. The price will fall when the paperback is released. As a rule, though, non-fiction does tend to be more expensive than fiction. It's a much smaller market.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

Pretty sure it's a different publisher in the US Harry.

It's easy enough to buy UK books from the US if you want to do so.

[jersysman]

I will not pay more than $3.99 for a fiction ebook. That's just my ceiling and I am not going over it. I will pay more for a non-fiction book, however. Since I am reading a lot of non-fiction books about The Civil War and various books on Native Americans this year, I have paid up to $14.99 for some of the Shelby Foote books regarding The Civil War.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by jersysman

I will not pay more than $3.99 for a fiction ebook. That's just my ceiling and I am not going over it.

It's your personal choice, of course, but that does seem to be placing a very low value on the work involved in writing a book. That's about a third the price of a typical paperback in the UK.