Quote:
Originally Posted by carld
And all those unsold books that were paid for upfront have to be returned at the publisher's expense. They actually get less than they would for actual sales. Despite this, publishers still made money. If they need to charge more for ebooks to generate enough revenue to stay afloat then they're a company headed for disaster.
While that may indeed be a reason for high ebook prices, it's a portent of looming failure for that company.
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I don't think that they are trying to generate more revenue merely to stay afloat. I think they are trying to maximize profits.
The OP was talking about Watership Down. As I recall, that book in paperback was chunky. Personally, I would think that it's a situation where the ebook version has greater value than the pbook version because you eliminate the bulk. If enough people agree with me, then it makes economic sense for the publisher to charge more for the ebook than the paperback.
It appears to me that a lot of people think that if the costs of manufacturing a product goes down, the selling price for that product should also go down. But why should that be? If I make a pint of whiskey for 5 bucks & sell it for 10 bucks, why should I reduce my selling price if I figure out how to make the pint for 2 bucks? If the suckers...excuse me, I mean the customers...will continue to pay 10 bucks, and if I don't get more customers by reducing the price, then I'd be a fool to reduce my price.