Quote:
Originally Posted by Monteagle
Thanks, Bob. That's very interesting. This must be a Fictionwise decision then. I wrote BooksOnBoard Support and they confirmed that BooksOnBoard does not have this charge. It's the hidden costs that get you, though I'm not sure it really matters to me on a $5 book. On the other hand, 10% is a lot of money over the long run. If BooksOnBoard or some of the other book sites are going to save me 10% right off the bat on less expensive books, that rules FW out. Actually, it's much more than 10% on lower cost books. A $2.50 book costs 20% more through FW because of the charge.
So to buy at FW, you pay $30 per year for Buywise, pay 50 cents more for transaction for books below $5, not get rebate credit for books I buy with rebate dollars, etc. In the last year, I'd moved from FW to BooksOnBoard because of their straight discounts and customer support. (I also buy form Mobipocket occasionally, but their support is non-existent.)
Now, I'll add 50 cents per book savings on anything under $5 to the BooksOnBoard plus column. BooksOnBoard also has the double-dip loophole on Rewards Dollars which has really been sweet. My guess is that they will eventually close it, but in the meantime, I'll enjoy it.
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Yes Fictionwise does charge a $0.50 surcharge on purchases under $5.00 when you don't use Micropay. However, since I don't really like charges under $5 on my card anyway that doesn't really bother me much. Besides, with their indie publisher support, FW is far more likely to have something really cheap on the list that I can use to push the cost up to $5.00.
Having said that, it is a plus on the Books On Board column.
As to the double-dipping on rewards dollars, FW does allow double-dipping provided the rebate is no more than 30%, and that rebate is higher than most of the rebates I can see today for recent SF books on BoB.
However, it's not true that books are always cheaper at BoB Take this book for example, Ann Aguirre's Wanderlust:
FW Price $7.99/$6.79 Club Rebate $3.40 = net cost $3.39 AR (without the Club it's $3.99 AR)
BoB price $7.99 Rebate $0.80 = net cost $7.19 AR
Please note that doesn't count FW's additional $0.34 rebate for Secure Ereader which would tilt the balance even further, or the fact you have to send an email to BoB to get reward dollars added to your account.
Yes BoB often has lower prices, but that's not always the case. I buy from both sites, and usually check BoB, but FW gets a lot more of my money because I usually find better deals on the books I buy when I buy them.
There is also the fact that FW does try to offer DRM-free books, which is a huge sign in the plus column for them.