MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Um...does it make sense that the prices are near Amazon or more?

nekokami · 09-11-2007, 01:03 PM

I agree that there is no inherent result that forces the publisher to lower the costs on ebooks even if, as we suspect, the cost to produce them is lower than the cost to produce the same book would be in paper. Perhaps prices between publishers don't matter, as they can't offer the same content. However, there is still an overall market pressure to buy vs. borrow (from a library or a friend, for example) or to forgo reading a book at all, due to price. This is certainly a factor in my purchasing decisions, and I love books and spend quite a bit on them. So I think publishers will still need to consider the market and look for the "sweet spot" where they make their money but prices are low enough that people are willing to buy lots of ebooks.

And let's not forget the market pressure of the darknet, either. Arguably, this is a force holding the price of digital music down-- if it's too expensive to buy content, people will start looking for other options, which are usually more of a nuisance (as well as being illegal). If the price is low enough and the usability of acquiring the content is high enough, people will pay rather than pirate.

Finally, though content publishers may resist admitting it or may argue that it shouldn't be their concern, customers are likely to factor in the cost of a device used to access the content. The least expensive dedicated ebook reader I know of is the eBookwise 1150, at US$140 new, with most dedicated readers costing at least twice that amount. Most people are going to consider the cost of the reader when deciding what seems like a good price for content, even though revenue from the reader didn't go to the publisher. (People who read on multipurpose devices may consider this less of a factor.)

09-11-2007, 01:03 PM	#21
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	I agree that there is no inherent result that forces the publisher to lower the costs on ebooks even if, as we suspect, the cost to produce them is lower than the cost to produce the same book would be in paper. Perhaps prices between publishers don't matter, as they can't offer the same content. However, there is still an overall market pressure to buy vs. borrow (from a library or a friend, for example) or to forgo reading a book at all, due to price. This is certainly a factor in my purchasing decisions, and I love books and spend quite a bit on them. So I think publishers will still need to consider the market and look for the "sweet spot" where they make their money but prices are low enough that people are willing to buy lots of ebooks. And let's not forget the market pressure of the darknet, either. Arguably, this is a force holding the price of digital music down-- if it's too expensive to buy content, people will start looking for other options, which are usually more of a nuisance (as well as being illegal). If the price is low enough and the usability of acquiring the content is high enough, people will pay rather than pirate. Finally, though content publishers may resist admitting it or may argue that it shouldn't be their concern, customers are likely to factor in the cost of a device used to access the content. The least expensive dedicated ebook reader I know of is the eBookwise 1150, at US$140 new, with most dedicated readers costing at least twice that amount. Most people are going to consider the cost of the reader when deciding what seems like a good price for content, even though revenue from the reader didn't go to the publisher. (People who read on multipurpose devices may consider this less of a factor.)