B-b-b-buying spree! EBook vs. paper

[Katsunami]

In the last few days, I've had the good fortune to be able to use A LOT of big Kobo codes of 65%-85%, some of them multi-use where others apparently only get one use (don't ask me why, because I don't know). Let's just say that the amount of books I bought could be called slightly disturbing. 36... Average price: €1.17. Paperback versions would have cost me €7.95.

Some points:

1. The money spent is not the problem. (It was mostly covered by an early christmas gift.)
2. All of those books were on my wishlist.
3. At one point in time, I would have bought them anyway.
4. No, I don't have buying sprees like this regularly.

Ebooks have the advantages of instant delivery and the fact that they take no space, even if you never read them, so it doesn't really matter if you buy them now and read them only after three years. (Assuming you're not going to pay full price for a very new book.)

What I was thinking however: would I have bought all of these books *in paperback*, if the price of the paperback had been €1.17?

Me, probably not. I never bought more than 5-6 (one complete series) at once.

You? Would you buy something like 36+ paperbacks at once if you:

- had the chance to get them at a price of €1.17 / $1.60...
- knew the normal price of the paperback would be €7.95 / $10.95...
- knew you would eventually end up with all of them anyway?

Have you ever bought such an amount of ebooks at once?

If you would do this or have done this with ebooks, but wouldn't with paperbacks (not even if the price was as low), then what is the reason for this difference?

[ucfgrad93]

The most ebooks I have ever purchased at one time is 7 when I purchased the complete Harry Potter series. That said, I don't think I could imagine myself buying 36 books at one time.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by ucfgrad93

That said, I don't think I could imagine myself buying 36 books at one time.

I couldn't either, but books at €1.17 a piece (on average) that would normally cost me €7-8 each, was too good an opportunity to pass up, especially because I knew I'd buy them someday.

In one fell swoop I've replaced the last 21 paperback books that could be replaced with ebooks (for less money than I'll get for the actual paperback if I sell it) and also obtained 15 new books

Uh... maybe I just replaced 21 aging books.... and bought 15 new ones. Yeah. Sounds about right. I bought 15 *new* books. Not that bad.

[Terisa de morgan]

I haven't purchased 36 ebooks in a row but 40 in a month? Yes. Paperbacks? No. My shelves cry if I think about it.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

I haven't purchased 36 ebooks in a row but 40 in a month? Yes.

Sometimes I don't purchase books for weeks (or months) on end. I only give in to the occasional buying spree spread over a few days if one or more very large multi-use Kobo codes come along.

These books were bought over a span of about three days.

Paperbacks? No. My shelves cry if I think about it.

LOL. True. I've just replaced everything that could be replaced with ebooks, so I'm now gearing up for a sale / give-away spree. (Whatever goes the fastest.)

[Barbara1955]

When I 1st got my Kindle Keyboard I purchased 100+ ebooks over a 3 day period! They cost $5-8 each!!! Since then I learned to pace myself LOL I still waiting for the settlement we were all promised...guess I die of old age before it come thru.... Just to go on another spending spree hehehe

[DHNightshadow]

One time I did buy many pb-books at once, it was a series, I was ill and have to lay for one or two weeks in bed. But I didn't buy them in a store, I did buy them per mail (no Internet at that time). I would not buy this many books in a store.

[Terisa de morgan]

I remember now. More than ten years ago, yes, a lot of paperbacks in a row... J.D. Robb, but not anymore.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Katie1

When I 1st got my Kindle Keyboard I purchased 100+ ebooks over a 3 day period! They cost $5-8 each!!!

Okay. I now feel less like a freak of nature

[Jessica Lares]

Half-Priced Books will do that to you. I go in there and buy as much as I can whenever I go.

I do a lot of sprees on Amazon, A LOT. When things are $0.99-1.99 a piece, I'm going to buy everything with whatever gift card balance I have. I stack them up for that reason.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

Half-Priced Books will do that to you.

€1.17 vs. €7.95 (Paperback in NL) = 15% (85% off).
€1.17 vs. €6.95 (Ebook in NL) = 16.8% (83.2% off)

That's a bit more discount than 50%...

Sometimes I wonder how Kobo can still earn money. Some others in the coupon thread wondered the same. I assume that most people don't know about buying in different currencies, let alone about Kobo codes or how to get them.

===

With regard to different currencies....

My aunt has my old Kindle Touch (set to German, as she doesn't read English). She doesn't read a lot; maybe a book a month, but likes the bigger fonts on the Touch and the fact that it can be read one-handed. Getting the reader second hand from me made it cheap for her to get into e-reading.

She wanted a book that she saw on TV; a book in Dutch, translated from English. It's just released a few days ago.

Here we go:

Paperback in NL: €17.95
Ebook in Kobo NL store: €13.99
Ebook in Kobo US store: $16.75 (€12.18) (A Dutch book, cheaper in the US store!)
After Kobo Bookriot50 code (85off and 75off and contest codes didn't work): €6.09

Getting the DUTCH book in the US store, saved 13% without doing anything else.

Savings compared to the paperback are substantial, shopping abroad and using codes makes the differences even bigger. So, if shopping abroad, even reading Dutch books is starting to become worthwhile, at least at Kobo. Their Dutch selection is MUCH bigger than Amazon's.

If she starts to browse Kobo's Spirituality section, I'll expect a buying spree from her, especially if there are 50%+ codes....

[AlbertaCowboy]

Thanks to the Kobo coupons, I've gone on a bit of a spree myself. I bought 14 ebooks in a four day period, although it's not really unusual for me to buy five at a time or so.
Like many of us here, I just don't have the space for more pbooks, so even if I could get them for a discount, I just don't have the shelf room anymore.

[Lynx-lynx]

I recall one of the posters in the Kobo Discounts thread informing that they'd purchased over 150 ebooks in that initial 75% off unlimited code use buying extravaganza.

And they seemed happy enough

(No, it wasn't me)

[AnemicOak]

I think the record on this forum is Sydney's Mom with 457 books back when Harlequin had their $4 off a $4 minimum unlimited code and folks were buying books for $0.05 each.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

... in that initial 75% off unlimited code use buying extravaganza.

What initial 75% unlimited use code? I must follow that thread more closely.

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I think the record on this forum is Sydney's Mom with 457 books back when Harlequin had their $4 off a $4 minimum unlimited code and folks were buying books for $0.05 each.

LAAAWL!! If I could buy books for $0.05 a piece, I'd complete my entire Wizards of the Coast canon collection (Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Dragonlance.... basically, the Harlequin of Fantasy) right away. I might actually buy the entire Fantasy category and be done with it forever (Hm. Maybe not. That might add up to 200K books...)