Quote:
Originally Posted by Over
I agree with your whole post, but I must recognise that different VAT rates and currency exchange rates could make the business unfair for european sellers.
I don't think currency exchange should be considered, I think it's highly unfair for the UK customer to pay, for example 9,99£ for an ebook and the american pay 9,99€. That's plain wrong but it's very common. That's a way to rip off the customer.
Another point, would be translation. I surely wouldn't be confident in buying the rights for a book and pay for a translation if I knew everyone in my country had easy access to the english book. Sure, those people who don't know english would still wait for my edition, but many other wouldn't wait. On the other side, I don't think it's right to limit the customers' options.
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without taking into consideration the different VAT rates (which is itself a huge bone of contention in France : paper books have a special VAT rate of 5.5%, however ebooks are considered "computer software" or some such nonsense and are therefore taxed at the full rate of 19.6%), nor the exchange rates, i've heard many complaints of UK etailers practicing outrageous prices for ebooks, when the same books can often be got from a US-based bookseller for significantly less. in France, where ebooks are really just starting to be available on a more mainstream level, the main retailer (the fnac) who recently started to sell the sony 505, also offers ebooks ; their pricing policy so far seems to be a reduction of only 5% from the paper book price. and their selection is limited, since i believe they've made a deal with hachette so many books which do exist as ebooks are not available there. for instance, everyone's favorite example of
L'élégance du hérisson : the paper book costs 19€ at the fnac. it is available as an ebook (although not at the fnac), for 19€. nobody is willing to pay this. and a reduction of 5% for an ebook, which costs the publisher nothing for ink, paper, printing, shipping, stockage, shipping back unsold copies for destruction (in other words, their cost is reduced by
far more than 5% compared to the paper edition).... no, i'm sorry, that is not reasonable.
there are many other examples of books which are available for significantly lower prices from a US-based etailer than from a french or UK one. it's completely incoherent and *this* is why the UK / french etailers will lose business. this is why i say, if they want to defend their territory, fine ! i've been waiting and waiting for french ebooks !! but come on ! i don't even want to pay 19€ for a paper book (i wait for the cheaper pocket edition, or get it at the library) ; what have they been smoking to think that's a reasonable price for an ebook ??? we know an ebook costs dramatically less to produce and distribute than a paper book, we're not idiots : prices like this make us feel that the publishers are bandits trying to take us for all they can before something obliges them to come back to reality. if the
élégance du hérisson were priced around 5 or even 6€ (the pocket edition will probably cost between 5 and 8€...), i would buy it without hesitating. but 19€ ??? please, don't take me for an idiot. i'll get it at the library instead and the publisher won't get ANY money from me. now how is that in their best interest ?
as for the translation... i don't know how it is in other countries, but most of my friends don't speak english well enough to read in english, and even those that do mostly prefer to read in french as it's more comfortable for them. a few of my friends read in english, either because they prefer to read the original version, or to practice their english and not forget it. i feel quite confident in affirming they are a very small minority of readers. so that is not a significant threat to publishers. the real threat is a customer base who feels the publishers are playing a game of extortion, and we are the pigeons.