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pdurrant · 02-21-2009, 05:58 AM

Prices! Prices Changes! Publishers and retailers just can't get it right.

There are some writers/series I look forward to buying. But (apart from Baen and a very few others) publishers just can't seem to get the pricing right, especially %@&*$ Harper Collins.

And even when Harper Collins eventually gets it right, the retailers might not notice the price change.

Two cases in point.

1. Lois McMaster Bujold, The Sharing Knife Series.
The fourth book, Horizon is just out in hardback. They released it as an ebook a week or two later. As usual with big publishers, they want to charge a lot since it's a new book out in hardback. On their main site the hardback is $26.99, and the ebook $19.95. That seems a bit high to me, but at least it's not the same. But try to order the ebook - wow, they /are/ asking for $26.99 RRP for the ebook (discounted 20% to $21.59).
The third book, Passage is now out in paperback for $7.99. The ebook price should have dropped to match (pah!) the paperback price. But no, they're still asking $19.95 RRP.

%@&*$ Harper Collins.

2. Terry Pratchett, Discworld
The 36th book in the series, "Making Money" has been out in paperback for nearly a year. Fictionwise are still asking $19.95 retail/$15.26 maximum discount. But at the Harper Collins ebook website, it can be bought for $7.99 discounted to $6.39! Somehow the price change hasn't got through to fictionwise.

%@&*$ Harper Collins.
%@&*$ fictionwise.

I've been emailing Harper Collins for a couple of weeks . I think that someone there has noticed now the pricing problem now, but actually getting it fixed....

I've only just emailed fictionwise. I am a lot more hopeful that fictionwise will actually do something. It was only when double-checking facts for this rant that I found that Harper Colliins had actually lowered the price on Making Money!

Perhaps a lot of the price change problems come from the inherent difficulty in changing the price on a product when there's no changes to the product itself.

The initial pricing of the ebook on hardback release is less forgivable. I guess it's all that money they've wasted on DRM systems that's to blame.

02-21-2009, 05:58 AM	#1807
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 74,082 Karma: 315558332 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Oasis	Prices! Prices Changes! Publishers and retailers just can't get it right. There are some writers/series I look forward to buying. But (apart from Baen and a very few others) publishers just can't seem to get the pricing right, especially %@&$ Harper Collins. And even when Harper Collins eventually gets it right, the retailers might not notice the price change. Two cases in point. 1. Lois McMaster Bujold, The Sharing Knife Series. The fourth book, Horizon* is just out in hardback. They released it as an ebook a week or two later. As usual with big publishers, they want to charge a lot since it's a new book out in hardback. On their main site the hardback is $26.99, and the ebook $19.95. That seems a bit high to me, but at least it's not the same. But try to order the ebook - wow, they /are/ asking for $26.99 RRP for the ebook (discounted 20% to $21.59). The third book, Passage is now out in paperback for $7.99. The ebook price should have dropped to match (pah!) the paperback price. But no, they're still asking $19.95 RRP. %@&$ Harper Collins. 2. Terry Pratchett, Discworld The 36th book in the series, "Making Money" has been out in paperback for nearly a year. Fictionwise are still asking $19.95 retail/$15.26 maximum discount. But at the Harper Collins ebook website, it can be bought for $7.99 discounted to $6.39! Somehow the price change hasn't got through to fictionwise. %@&$ Harper Collins. %@&$ fictionwise. I've been emailing Harper Collins for a couple of weeks . I think that someone there has noticed now the pricing problem now, but actually getting it fixed.... I've only just emailed fictionwise. I am a lot more hopeful that fictionwise will actually do something. It was only when double-checking facts for this rant that I found that Harper Colliins had* actually lowered the price on Making Money! Perhaps a lot of the price change problems come from the inherent difficulty in changing the price on a product when there's no changes to the product itself. The initial pricing of the ebook on hardback release is less forgivable. I guess it's all that money they've wasted on DRM systems that's to blame.