I buy 50-60 books a year (which equals about how much I read in a year, BTW). I buy a book when I'm ready to read that book. Whether it's the latest from a favorite author, or something from an author who's vying to
be one of my favorites. If those books happen to be on sale--so be it. But I don't go looking for discounts. Mostly because I rarely buy them in advance of being ready to read them.
Ebooks have completely converted me into employing a JIT inventory technique. My "shopping for books" consists of online perusing and then adding ones that interest me to a virtual TBR list--with no consideration whatsoever for price at that time. When I look through my virtual list and decide it's time to read a certain book. I buy it and do so. If that ebook is creeping into the $18 range and beyond; it better be by one of my favorite authors. But I'm cool with taking a chance on an unknown at $10-$16 for a new book if it looks interesting (and the sample chapter doesn't scream "amateur").
I have just enough time to look for interesting books and to read interesting books. I can't spare the time to look for interesting books that also meet an arbitrary price ceiling. That's one too many variables. And I really was told there'd be no math.
