Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
If I stipulate that I'm perfectly-well aware that some ebooks cost more than than their physical counterparts, can we get back to discussing just how prolific the issue really is (or how relevant its occurrence might be)?
I just find it a little puzzling that some people (who indicate that there's reasons--other than price--for why they prefer to buy ebooks) seem downright offended by the fact that a version of a book that they don't value enough to want to buy, might occasionally be a little cheaper than the price of a version they DO value enough to want to buy.
I understand those who place a hard ceiling on what they're willing to pay for any ebook (even though I don't practice it myself). What I don't understand is admitting that buying the ebook would be your preference, and then making it a requirement that your personal preference is not allowed to occasionally cost a little more than something you don't want to buy.
Set a hard price that you think an ebook is worth, and don't worry about what its physical version costs. I mean really: if two different ebooks you want are both available for $6.99, and their physical versions are $7.99 and $5.99 respectively, are you (rhetorical) going to buy the first (in ebook form) and complain that the second (available for the same $6.99 as the first) is priced too high (ignoring, for now, those who wouldn't buy either because $6.99 exceeds the price they're willing to pay for ANY ebook)?
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It's the principle of the thing. It's all about precedent, the whole publisher's windowing/pricing strategy, the fact that there's no resale allowed on ebooks, and probably a whole few things that I can't think of at the moment.
In your example, if I knew that the publisher of the $5.99 print book had a policy of pricing the ebook to be at or below the price of the print book, I would whine (at least to myself), and wait a while to see if the publisher drops the price of the ebook. BTW, I did whine about the Patterson Heinlein biography, volume 2, which hadn't dropped its price yet after the TPB was released, and now it's dropped the ebook price to at or below the TPB price. It's still $2 higher than the volume 1 price, so I haven't decided whether to wait to see if a MMPB gets issued, and the ebook price drops further. I probably have a lifetime's worth of TBR pile, and I won't lose any sleep over not reading volume 2. We all have our own reasons to decide why a book is priced too high, and maybe not all of them are rational.
While I find it objectionable that the ebook is priced higher than the cheapest regularly priced (and that may include a standard discount) print book, what really irks me is when a publisher sets the sale price and only puts it on sale at a retailer that for one reason or another I prefer not to buy my ebooks from, especially when the publishers have spent so much time arguing that that particular retailer is EEEEVVVVIIILLL and made them commit crimes in order to counteract the retailer's evilness. If they're so evil, then why do you force people into their walled garden by requiring DRM, and then allow them to sell it for a lower price than everyone else so that people will be rewarded for ditching the retailers you claim to not hate? I am pretty sure it's not just the incompetence of the retailer I normally frequent when I check the 4 major retailers, and it's only on sale at one retailer, and that retailer informs me that the price was set by the publisher.