Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
My question would be why you consider those factors to be very relevant to book-pricing, but not to other purchases? I'm assuming, of course, that when you purchase your favorite beverage in plastic rather than aluminum, that which one the manufacturer might make more profit on doesn't really factor into your decision. I know it doesn't in mine.
As a consumer, the way prices are set holds no interest for me. I'm not an industry insider. Perceived value is the only thing that concerns me. I'm buying ebooks after all--not selling them.
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The short answer is that I don't. The same reasoning is applicable to all purchases. To use your example of bottle v. can, if the same beverage and the same quantity was twice as expensive in a bottle than in a can, I would want to know why. Without being satisfied that the price difference was justified I would have real reservations whether I was getting value for money if I purchased the bottle. If, for instance, the reason for the price difference was that the manufacturer wanted to steer customers away from bottles and towards cans even though bottles were cheaper to produce, then I would feel cheated if I bought the bottle. If I only ever drank from bottles and didn't want to buy cans, I would have no choice but to go without or pay the higher price, thereby rewarding the manufacturer for its bad behaviour. Alternately, if another brand of beverage was available which priced bottles properly I would buy from them. Of course, if the first brand of beverage was of significantly greater quality this would present somewhat of a dilemma. But I won't extend the analogy into theft and piracy at this point.
It is not about profit per se but simply my perception of value. The manufacturer could give away its profit on bottles and it would make no difference to me. The relevance of the price difference to me is that it casts doubt on whether I am getting fair value for my money, which to me is important.
I think we probably should agree to disagree on this. It seems that our differences stem from our different perceptions of value in this type of situation. And whilst I do of course think that I am right I certainly am neither infallible or have a monopoly (to use a much abused word) on the truth.