Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
No, I'm sure you're not.
It's a question of what price point is realistic. As I said, a paperback in the UK typically costs £7.99 (about $12.50). Hence, in the UK market, an eBook price of £5 (about $8) is reasonable - to me, at least. If, however, I were regularly buying paper books for £2, then perhaps I'd think differently.
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Its not even a question of what's realistic, its a question of what price point that's acceptable to the general buying public. After nearly a year of agency pricing, the verdict is in. The general reading public is OK with a 12.99-14.99 price point for the latest bestsellers.They think its a great deal, because they get their latest bestsellers at substantially less than the hardcover list price (and generally less than the HC discounted price. ). They don't even see, much less care about, the things that Mobile Readers obsess about -DRM, mobi vs epub, Darknet, etc, etc, etc.
My wife's hairdresser recently got a Nook Touch. What matters to her is that its a small, light, easy to operate, reliable device that she can use to catch up on her reading between appointments on her long 12 hour days. When she finishes a book, she can get another without closing her shop and taking a trip to the store.
Note that she is a HAIRDRESSER, not an ENGINEER or COMPUTER PROGRAMMER , so that puts in perspective talk about how exorbitant ebook prices are(Hint: if a hairdresser can afford them, they're not exorbitant).
So long as ordinary folk can afford ebook prices and so long as ebook sales keep doubling every year, agency pricing will continue. Again ( to bring up the elephant in room,) agency pricing was instituted to prevent Amazon from monopolizing the ebook retail market. Even if the government finds that it was an agreement to maintain prices, the government may allow it to continue on the public policy ground that diversity in the ebook retail market is a good thing.