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As much as I feel for those who long for cheaper e-books, Kali Yuga is, of course, right. Costs don't really matter, the publishers are perfectly within their rights to try to squeeze us ebook buyers. And I really can't agree with people who say an ebook should cost only 50% of the paper version. Sure, they might rack up more sales from some customers who would never buy at the higher prices -- but they would be unable to sell to anyone at higher prices. It would degrade the value people see in the book and greatly reduce profits for the publishers. No, publishers are not just suits, they have regular employees, too, who want to be paid living wages. That money must come from somewhere.
The only question is, is overcharging us a smart move. I used to buy a lot with coupons and discounts, now I am working off my TBR list, freebies, and classics. Of course, for me shipping costs to overseas would be extremely high -- so in the end an ebook almost always works out to be cheaper, even if the sales prices is higher. However, I do feel offended by the big 5's policies (especially the "never discount" one) and therefore try to avoid buying from them.
I think they just don't feel the negative impact from their steep price increases yet, since there were so many new reading devices last year they just haven't noticed that old ebook customers probably have been buying a lot less than before. But give it another year or two and they will come around, especially on the discounts. Or publishers might become marginalized soon, anyway.
Just pay what you are willing to and boycott those whose prices you find too high. Let the market work. If, however, enough people are perfectly happy paying these prices, then no complaining will ever help us.
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