Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Even though Agency prices can't be discounted, that doesn't necessarily imply that they are unreasonable. Eg, consider Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express" at Amazon UK:
Print List Price: £6.99
Kindle Price: £3.99 includes VAT & free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
You Save: £3.00 (43%)
Unlike print books, digital books are subject to VAT.
This price was set by the publisher
Amazon's paperback price for this book is £4.73, so I'd consider an eBook price of £3.99 pretty reasonable myself.
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Harry, Ill have a to Disagree a little here, at least with this example.
For this book, and many others like it, you're not only competing with the Paperback, but also the second-hand market. For something as common as Dame Christie's Books, I can usually find then for between 50p to £2 for Paperbacks and £1-£3 for hardbacks.
For those, many may choose to go second hand, and the Publisher gets nothing. A lower price for books such as this, older publication widely available second hand may just tip the price convenience ratio towards the ebook.
For myself and many people I know the The impulse / price decision for a book goes something like this (This is probably different for other people, but for I've found that its pretty close for people my age, or in similar circumstances)
£1 - Get it now! If its junk, its only the price of a Soda and a chocolate bar.
£2 - Think a bit but get it now if it looks interesting. Its not worth looking elsewhere for a cheaper price
£3 - Think twice. Thrice. Get it if it looks interesting. Its at the limit for just trying without worrying too much about it.
£4 - Now start checking elsewhere, though if it something I can't get elsewhere I'll get it otherwise, save it for a future spulge.
£5-£10 - Only for a my Favourite authors or something I'm really interested in but usually not for a brand new author or just for a lark.
£11+ - Sorry but anything over this is really going to have to convince me that its worth it to me to get it in E at that price. If I'm paying that much its usually for something I want to cherish or share, so Paper usually wins though I've paid quiet a lot for collections and such from Baen, etc as they treat me as a customer and not a potential pirate.
I'll also add that since the Agency 6 has happened, I'll really cut down on experimenting with new books as I can no longer use the FW sales and the subsequent credit to just blindly try a lot of new stuff out. As such those publishers have probably seen much less of my Money as a lot of the stuff I'm interested in trying out is priced well over my self imposed limits, and with the abundance of other options available its highly likely I'll not be going back to a lot of them .