Quote:
Originally Posted by carpetmojo
So the near parity of price between physical and digital book is, in a way, the same engine that drove piracy in the music business i.e. cost to consumers.
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Most of the costs associated with publishing a book are the same for a paper book as they are for an eBook; you save printing costs with the eBook, of course, but printing is a relatively minor constituent in the overall cost model. We're never going to see 99p books from major publishers - it just doesn't work economically.
Another factor, for publishers in the UK market at least, is that eBooks are subject to VAT and paper books are zero-rated. This means that even if the eBook is sold for a price that's 20% lower than the print price, the customer will end up paying the same.
I'd say that most publishers actually get it pretty much right; even with VAT added, eBooks typically are a pound or so cheaper than the paperback equivalent.