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Originally Posted by Blue Tyson
However, 10 is a lot more than those books have been for the 50 year period they have been on sale - and they certainly are not as popular as they were in the past - so why would you think this price is going to maximise your cash?
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It might, it might not. The question is who I might think the reader is.
Bond is a franchise, kept fresh by periodic movie releases. Far more people see the film made of any book than read the actual book. So each new Bond film is likely to generate a new set of people who haven't already read the books. For them, it's a new purchase. What's that worth to them? Sure, they might find a used paper copy, but maybe they'd just as soon get a new book, and pay the higher price. And if they specifically want an ebook instead of a pbook, and the standard price of an Amazon Kindle edition for a new book is $9.99, why should I assume they
won't pay it?
The second class of buyers are those who already have the Bond books in paper, but want an electronic edition. Is $10 a higher price than they'll pay? Depends. How much do they want the electronic edition? For some folks, the fact that the book
is available as an electronic edition
adds value, and they
will pay more for an ebook than for the corresponding mass market PB edition.
But I'd guess the number of new buyers getting a Bond book for the first time will be a
lot higher than existing Bond readers looking to switch formats.
(I read all the Bond books back when, and likely still have them in a box somewhere. While I'd take ebook versions if you gave them to me, I might or might not get around to
re-reading them. There aren't that many books I might want to read again, and the Bond books aren't on that list.)
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Far more used book competition for these at really cheap prices than the latest Lee Child, too, given how long they have been on sale.
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And if you are willing to acquire a paper book instead of an ebook, and price is the determining factor, the pbook is what you buy. If you insist on an electronic edition, you pay the retail price or look on the darknet and hope to find a quality version. The vast majority of ebook buyers don't go to the darknet. If their idea of an ebook is a Kindle edition, they may be
unaware of the darknet, and even if they are, convenience rules. If they can simply go online, pay for and download the book and start reading
now, that may well be more valuable to them than the cost savings of a darknet copy. What value do you place on your
time?
Would the Fleming estate make more money overall at a lower price point? Perhaps. But pricing at the point they are is an understandable starting place. If they don't see the numbers they thought they might get at the higher price, they can try lowering it. But while you can start at a higher price and trying lowering it to increase sales, you will be far
less successful if you start at a lower price, decide the demand is there, and try to
raise prices.
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Dennis