Penguin high price?

JoHunt · 09-18-2012, 08:50 AM

Ken Follett's newest tome "Winter of the World", which was released yesterday, is distributed in the US by Penguin. The ebook price is $19.99.

The same ebook is distributed internationally by Pan Macmillan and those outside of the US can purchase it from Kobo (prior to any discount codes) for $12.29 or £8 ($13) on Amazon UK.

Is there any reason beyond greed for the large disparity in price?

poohbear_nc · 09-18-2012, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Is there any reason beyond greed for the large disparity in price?

I fear you answered your own question.

AnemicOak · 09-18-2012, 09:07 AM

Penguin is the King of high prices in my experience, more so than the other Agency publishers.

Follett's last book was priced at $19.99 in the US too, but it did make the 'best seller' lists in all the various stores despite the price.

HarryT · 09-18-2012, 09:48 AM

The price of the eBook will fall when the paperback is released. Just wait a few months.

BeccaPrice · 09-18-2012, 09:50 AM

yeah, right.

HomeInMyShoes · 09-18-2012, 09:51 AM

^I doubt that. I can buy the hardcover for $21US and the e-book for $25.26US. Of course the important word here is can. The other part of me says it's a Penguin book which means I'm not going to read it at any price.

AnemicOak · 09-18-2012, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

The price of the eBook will fall when the paperback is released. Just wait a few months.

It will be a year, not a few months. You're right of course that the price will eventually drop, the others fell to $9.99 when the paperbacks came out.

Pookeysgirl · 09-18-2012, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

It will be a year, not a few months. You're right of course that the price will eventually drop, the others fell to $9.99 when the paperbacks came out.

For me in Canada I'm paying $12.62 for Penguin ebooks that have been released in paperback. All the Jack Reacher (which I haven't read yet because of the ridiculous price) and Harry Dresden books are at that price. The newest Dresden novel is $18.59 on pre-order. The one before this was at $18.59 for about a year before it dropped to $12.62 just recently. And then I have to pay an extra $2 because I'm in Canada

.

I also have to say that Penguin books are usually full of errors, or at least the ones that I have bought. Every Dresden novel I have has errors throughout the books. Misspelled words, wrong words being used in a sentence, missing punctuation, etc. They really shouldn't be allowed to charge so much if I have to spend my own time fixing their mistakes.

TimW · 09-18-2012, 10:23 AM

As I recall, the price of the ebook of Fall of Giants only dropped by $1 when the paperback was issued. It's only been within the last few months that the price fell to $9.99. I think the only reason Penguin did that was to increase sales of the new $19.99 volume.

DrNefario · 09-18-2012, 11:17 AM

Both the John Le Carre books in my Wish List have gone up in price since I added them. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a ludicrous £6.99 ("normal" agency price is £4.99 in the UK). Penguin are dreaming if they think I'll pay that. There used to be three of them in my Wish List - I bought one from a charity shop in paperback for much less.

AnemicOak · 09-18-2012, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TimW

As I recall, the price of the ebook of Fall of Giants only dropped by $1 when the paperback was issued. It's only been within the last few months that the price fell to $9.99. I think the only reason Penguin did that was to increase sales of the new $19.99 volume.

The mass market paperback of Fall of Giants just came out a couple of weeks ago IIRC. I forgot that there was a trade paperback before that & those often have pricing not that different from hardcovers where ebooks are concerned (especially from Penguin).

HarryT · 09-18-2012, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrNefario

Both the John Le Carre books in my Wish List have gone up in price since I added them. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a ludicrous £6.99 ("normal" agency price is £4.99 in the UK). Penguin are dreaming if they think I'll pay that. There used to be three of them in my Wish List - I bought one from a charity shop in paperback for much less.

I don't personally have a problem with that. Anne McCaffrey's eBooks are a little over £7. I think they're worth it, and I'm buying them. If you don't think they're worth it, don't buy them. There are plenty of other things to read.

murraypaul · 09-18-2012, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

I don't personally have a problem with that. Anne McCaffrey's eBooks are a little over £7. I think they're worth it, and I'm buying them. If you don't think they're worth it, don't buy them. There are plenty of other things to read.

What happened to prices falling after initially being high?
The Spy who came in from the Cold will be 50 years old next year.

HarryT · 09-18-2012, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by murraypaul

What happened to prices falling after initially being high?
The Spy who came in from the Cold will be 50 years old next year.

I was referring to eBooks released at the same time as hardbacks (as is the case with the Ken Follett book in the first post). The eBook will without doubt fall in price when the paperback is released. One might ask what it should fall to. The list price of the paperback of "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" is £7.99; the eBook is £6.99. It's on the high side, certainly, but it's a damn good book, which is presumably why the publisher believes that it will sell at that price. If it doesn't, they'll probably lower the price. It's all a matter of economics.

HomeInMyShoes · 09-18-2012, 11:43 AM

^Inflation. I expect prices to continue to rise. I don't expect or want authors to make less money per book than they make now. What I don't really like is paying more as a Canadian for an e-book ($25.25US) than a hardcover ($21.00US) when the e-book is really just a rental in the eyes of the Amazon terms of service. Hence I don't buy the e-book.

09-18-2012, 08:50 AM	#1
JoHunt I am what I am Posts: 6,625 Karma: 62235665 Join Date: Sep 2011 Device: iPad3, Voyage	Penguin high price? Ken Follett's newest tome "Winter of the World", which was released yesterday, is distributed in the US by Penguin. The ebook price is $19.99. The same ebook is distributed internationally by Pan Macmillan and those outside of the US can purchase it from Kobo (prior to any discount codes) for $12.29 or £8 ($13) on Amazon UK. Is there any reason beyond greed for the large disparity in price?

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09-18-2012, 09:07 AM	#3
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	Penguin is the King of high prices in my experience, more so than the other Agency publishers. Follett's last book was priced at $19.99 in the US too, but it did make the 'best seller' lists in all the various stores despite the price.

09-18-2012, 09:48 AM	#4
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,560 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	The price of the eBook will fall when the paperback is released. Just wait a few months.

09-18-2012, 09:50 AM	#5
BeccaPrice Wizard Posts: 2,146 Karma: 11174187 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Sony 350, K3-3G, K4SO, KPW	yeah, right.

09-18-2012, 09:51 AM	#6
HomeInMyShoes Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,226 Karma: 67780237 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	^I doubt that. I can buy the hardcover for $21US and the e-book for $25.26US. Of course the important word here is can. The other part of me says it's a Penguin book which means I'm not going to read it at any price.

09-18-2012, 10:23 AM	#9
TimW Wizard Posts: 1,022 Karma: 6824104 Join Date: May 2011 Location: Southeastern Kentucky Device: KK3G, KPW1, Sony PRST1, Sony PRS350, iPod Touch 5G	As I recall, the price of the ebook of Fall of Giants only dropped by $1 when the paperback was issued. It's only been within the last few months that the price fell to $9.99. I think the only reason Penguin did that was to increase sales of the new $19.99 volume.

09-18-2012, 11:17 AM	#10
DrNefario Wizard Posts: 2,227 Karma: 12029046 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: UK Device: Kindle, Kobo Touch, Nook SimpleTouch	Both the John Le Carre books in my Wish List have gone up in price since I added them. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a ludicrous £6.99 ("normal" agency price is £4.99 in the UK). Penguin are dreaming if they think I'll pay that. There used to be three of them in my Wish List - I bought one from a charity shop in paperback for much less.

09-18-2012, 11:43 AM	#15
HomeInMyShoes Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,226 Karma: 67780237 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	^Inflation. I expect prices to continue to rise. I don't expect or want authors to make less money per book than they make now. What I don't really like is paying more as a Canadian for an e-book ($25.25US) than a hardcover ($21.00US) when the e-book is really just a rental in the eyes of the Amazon terms of service. Hence I don't buy the e-book.

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