Quote:
Originally Posted by Purple Lady
Why aren't I entitled to a discount that a retailer offers? It is an option and if they choose to offer it to me I should be allowed to use it.
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You are entitled to any discount that may be offered. What you, and I, and everyone else isn't entitled to is to be offered a discount on any and every item we wish to purchase.
My little local bookstore doesn't offer discounts, so any book I buy there is full price. I'm still entitled to discounts, I'm just not getting any on that purchase.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barcey
No, I think what most people want is the ebooks to be available at the same time but at a cheaper price then the cheapest paper edition. It's a reasonable expectation and the publishers aren't going to change people's minds.
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It is a reasonable expectation, even for publishers; and most publishers do set their ebook list prices lower than their hardcover list prices for the same book. There's still the early adopter premium, but the ebook prices do average lower. The problem is that people have accepted online discounted prices as the true price of a hardcover, rather than the list price; so they compare ebook list price to hardcover below list price.
That creates a false comparison, because those prices aren't the same thing. If I go to the little independent bookstore downtown, I'll pay full list on hardcovers, so in that case ebooks are a cheaper alternative.
Personally, I think $10-15 is reasonable to pay for the ebook of something I'd be willing to buy at full price in hardcover.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barcey
People also expect the price to drop below the paperback price when it's released and that noise hasn't started yet.
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I'll settle for at or below the paperback price, below would be better but I won't scream too much at $6.99 for the ebook of a mass market paperback. Take it up to $7.99 and I'm iffy, put it to $8.99 or above and I'm not buying it.
This is a bigger deal for me than the price of e-hardcovers. I can understand paying extra for those, though I may quibble about how much.
My real ire is reserved for those people who think $15 is a fair price for the ebook of something that's been in mass market paperback for twenty years or more. That's where I have problems.