Where to buy ebook with no gimmicks?

Dave W · 10-01-2009, 09:35 PM

Hi,

I just bought a Sony PRS-600 reader and, so far, really like it. I'm trying to sort out how best to buy books. There is, of course, the Sony ebook store which charges top dollar. Then I learned about Fictionwise and Booksonboard. Both of those stores have gimmicks. Books on board uses rewards rebates which they list on a book as if it was deducted as an instant rebate, but, as I understand it, the rebate can only be used on your next book. That makes their claim of final price, a misleading claim.

Fiction Wise uses a complex scheme they call Micro Pay. That is an account where rebates are credited and where you can, through a credit card, add money in $5 increments for use on your next purchase. It's confusing to say the least.

What I'm looking for is an ebook seller who offers discounted prices with no gimmicks whatsoever. Why can't I just pay for a book, download it, and be done with it. In order to get the full benefit from the discounts offered by the 2 sites I've mentioned, I must make followup purchases. If I only buy one book, I'll never see the full discount. Right?

Anyone else annoyed by this business model?

Dave W

kennyc · 10-01-2009, 09:43 PM

I agree. the Fictionwise scheme is too weird.

Check the links on the wiki: https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Main_Page

for other stores and don't forget to check you local library for ebooks to check out.

sapphiresilver · 10-01-2009, 09:48 PM

Baen is good for science fiction and fantasy ebooks. The books are DRM free, as well.

nomesque · 10-01-2009, 09:51 PM

Yup, that sort of thing irritates me too, no end. Not to mention undisclosed-upfront geographical restrictions.

Have you checked out Smashwords and FeedBooks? They don't stock the big names, but there's some good stuff on offer.

AnemicOak · 10-01-2009, 10:02 PM

I don't know about the Sony store charging top dollar, not anymore. While they can be more expensive some times, most books I've compared lately are either cheaper or within cents of other retailers.

IMO the best store currently for price and selection is Books On Board. Yes, they have reward dollars, but they make it quite clear what the price is without reward dollars. You can use the reward dollars that accumulate in your account at any time. You just don't get more reward dollars if you're using them to pay for something. What I do is don't factor in the rewards when shopping, there just an added bonus on certain purchases and when I've accumulated enough I use them all at once to get a 'free' book or at least a hefty discount.

For example...
(List) $6.99 - (Savings) $0.38 = (Price) $6.61
Rewards Dollars Earned: $0.17 through Jan 1st, 2035
Get this title for Net Cost: $6.44
What I do is just pay attention the the real price which is always in black.

Fictionwise's micropay is a little more complicated and when looking at prices straight up they're generally more expensive than BoB. If you decide to go to the trouble sometimes you can get a better deal in the long run I suppose by dealing with micropay.

As Kenny mentioned there's a list of stores in the Wiki...
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_stores
...it's quite long, maybe too long?

Here are the stores I check when shopping for a book...

Amazon (doesn't do you any good without a Kindle)
Books On Board
Fictionwise
Shortcovers
Webscriptions (only sell Baen and a few other pubs, all DRM free)
Diesel Ebooks
The publisher's website (sometimes publishers, usually smaller pubs have the best deal)

Sometimes when I can't find what I want or the format I want I'll also check Ebooks About Everything and Ebooks.com just to be thorough.

rhadin · 10-02-2009, 09:51 AM

I resisted joining Fictionwise for a long time because I, too, found the micropay system off-putting. But HarryT finally convinced me to give Fictionwise a try and I joined it last may with a 1 year membership (you also get a free ebook as part of the membership fee). I also put $20 into micropay. Once I got started, I found that the system works seamlessly.

The micropay is particularly useful when I want to purchase a single book and the price is below the credit card threshold.

My only complaint with Fictionwise is that now that it is wholly-owned by B&N, is that I can't use my B&N membership account and my B&N mastercard to get the standard B&N discounts rather than having to also buy a membership in Fictionwise.

I would prefer that there be just a bottom line number that everyone pays, but these discount/membership schemes are how they get return business. I have bought nearly 100 books from Fictionwise and am quite pleased with my membership.

Dave W · 10-02-2009, 09:54 AM

This group is like, "Everything you always wanted to know about ebooks, but were afraid to ask." Thanks for all the pointers. I've only had my Sony reader for about 10 days, but am enjoying reading that way. I never realized that so many sources for books were available. A friend of mine thought that I should get the Kindle. I'm now glad that I didn't. The Sony, it seems to me, has many more compatible books available - at least more sources. Also, I can borrow ebooks from the Boston Public Library that will load on my Sony. That Library doesn't support the Kindle, as far as I know.

So thanks again for the friendly, helpful responses. I now have enough sources for books to keep me reading for the rest of my life without breaking the bank to do it.

Dave W

HarryT · 10-02-2009, 10:10 AM

The whole point of "loyalty schemes" is, of course, to encourage you to make repeat purchases. It's difficult to see why any retailer would offer you "discount" in a form which didn't encourage you to return to that site.

The FW Micropay system really isn't at all difficult to understand or use. It's just a personal credit balance that you maintain at FW. You top it up with "real money", and use it to buy books. When you buy, you gain additional credit in your Micropay account.

neilmarr · 10-02-2009, 10:25 AM

Being in Europe, life's even tougher because of the geographical restrictions imposed on paid-for books. I still manage to get what I want somehow, though (even though, sometimes, at ridiculous cover price). And there are those great classics out there ready to be read and re-read at no cost at all. Also, you can check out my sig line below -- more than a hundred happy MobileRead readers since I posted it. I'm afraid the ebooks so far are only in PDF, but it doesn't seem to cause any problems. If there's anything you fancy, just holler and I'll send it/them as attachment to email. Hoots. Neil

basschick · 10-02-2009, 11:58 AM

i find the fictionwise system to be very handy if you buy or pre-order a number of 100% rebate ebooks. last weekend i bought a couple of more expensive ones that i wouldn't have bought ordinarily, then was able to turn around and buy 5 regularly priced ebooks with the rebates a minute later. i basically got the 2 more expensive ebooks free. free is good

i actually saved a couple hundred dollars in the last year and a bit picking up ebooks during large or 100% rebate sales before b&n bought them.

but i find the prices at books on board are good without a membership, and their system is pretty easy to understand.

personally i like incentives like this - it's like frequent reader miles

DixieGal · 10-02-2009, 12:10 PM

I've never actually put money into FW's micropay, but I've gotten lots of free books using the system. Sign up for their emails and newsletters. That's where you find out what books are 100% micropay rebates each week. When you buy them, the micropay "bucks" go into your account.

You can set it to either use your balance with each purchase or save them for a big splurge. I usually do the first option, so with a book marked down 25% and then applied micropay, it might only actually cost a dollar or less.

Of course, the account has been empty for a while, ever since FW sort of went stale and glommed onto Ereader so tightly. But that's another thread.

FlorenceArt · 10-03-2009, 09:36 AM

I don't like the rebate system either. Books on Board uses it but not as much as FictionWise. Very often the price at Fictionwise after rebate is the same as the base price at Books on Board, which makes BoB cheaper really (I don't get to pay forward on my next purchase, I just pay the price of the book). Unfortunately that's not always the case, sometimes FW is cheaper. And of course the 100% rebates at FW are something to look out for, you get 2 books for the price of one. I'm still rather cautious though, because this feeling of getting a deal can sometimes lead me to buy books I wouldn't have bought otherwise. Which of course is the whole point of the system

Also, some books are available at one store and not the other, or in different formats. So I end up visiting both sites all the time, but I buy at BoB more often because it's cheaper most of the time. I hate the site interface though, FW is much easier to use.

Dave W · 10-04-2009, 10:04 AM

Thanks, for the post, Florence. I was just wondering. Sony doesn't use any gimmicks as far as I know. Are FW and BoB significantly cheaper? I'm thinking of recent releases, not old books. For example, Michael Connelly's "The Scarecrow" or Dan Brown's "Symbols." It does seem as if Sony is becoming more competitive. Initially, they charged more than Amazon does for Kindle books, but they seem to be matching Amazon now.

Any thoughts on this?

Dave W

ficbot · 10-04-2009, 12:00 PM

I use Fictionwise because I like having everything centralized in one place. I use the 100% micropay buys to fund other purchases

FlorenceArt · 10-04-2009, 12:19 PM

Sorry, I've never looked at the Sony store, I assume they don't sell mobi formats? Didn't look much at Amazon either after I found out my money wasn't good enough for them

There are sites for searching for e-books and comparing prices. I've looked at a couple that I found from posts here, but I'm not really using them (sorry, can't remember the names). They might become useful though, now that the number of sites selling e-books is increasing.

10-01-2009, 09:35 PM	#1
Dave W Connoisseur Posts: 61 Karma: 670 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Massachusetts Device: Sony PRS-600 & Nook ST w/glow light	Where to buy ebook with no gimmicks? Hi, I just bought a Sony PRS-600 reader and, so far, really like it. I'm trying to sort out how best to buy books. There is, of course, the Sony ebook store which charges top dollar. Then I learned about Fictionwise and Booksonboard. Both of those stores have gimmicks. Books on board uses rewards rebates which they list on a book as if it was deducted as an instant rebate, but, as I understand it, the rebate can only be used on your next book. That makes their claim of final price, a misleading claim. Fiction Wise uses a complex scheme they call Micro Pay. That is an account where rebates are credited and where you can, through a credit card, add money in $5 increments for use on your next purchase. It's confusing to say the least. What I'm looking for is an ebook seller who offers discounted prices with no gimmicks whatsoever. Why can't I just pay for a book, download it, and be done with it. In order to get the full benefit from the discounts offered by the 2 sites I've mentioned, I must make followup purchases. If I only buy one book, I'll never see the full discount. Right? Anyone else annoyed by this business model? Dave W

10-01-2009, 10:02 PM	#5
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	I don't know about the Sony store charging top dollar, not anymore. While they can be more expensive some times, most books I've compared lately are either cheaper or within cents of other retailers. IMO the best store currently for price and selection is Books On Board. Yes, they have reward dollars, but they make it quite clear what the price is without reward dollars. You can use the reward dollars that accumulate in your account at any time. You just don't get more reward dollars if you're using them to pay for something. What I do is don't factor in the rewards when shopping, there just an added bonus on certain purchases and when I've accumulated enough I use them all at once to get a 'free' book or at least a hefty discount. For example... (List) $6.99 - (Savings) $0.38 = (Price) $6.61 Rewards Dollars Earned: $0.17 through Jan 1st, 2035 Get this title for Net Cost: $6.44 What I do is just pay attention the the real price which is always in black. Fictionwise's micropay is a little more complicated and when looking at prices straight up they're generally more expensive than BoB. If you decide to go to the trouble sometimes you can get a better deal in the long run I suppose by dealing with micropay. As Kenny mentioned there's a list of stores in the Wiki... https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_stores ...it's quite long, maybe too long? Here are the stores I check when shopping for a book... Amazon (doesn't do you any good without a Kindle) Books On Board Fictionwise Shortcovers Webscriptions (only sell Baen and a few other pubs, all DRM free) Diesel Ebooks The publisher's website (sometimes publishers, usually smaller pubs have the best deal) Sometimes when I can't find what I want or the format I want I'll also check Ebooks About Everything and Ebooks.com just to be thorough. Last edited by AnemicOak; 10-01-2009 at 10:12 PM.

10-02-2009, 09:54 AM	#7
Dave W Connoisseur Posts: 61 Karma: 670 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Massachusetts Device: Sony PRS-600 & Nook ST w/glow light	Thanks everyone This group is like, "Everything you always wanted to know about ebooks, but were afraid to ask." Thanks for all the pointers. I've only had my Sony reader for about 10 days, but am enjoying reading that way. I never realized that so many sources for books were available. A friend of mine thought that I should get the Kindle. I'm now glad that I didn't. The Sony, it seems to me, has many more compatible books available - at least more sources. Also, I can borrow ebooks from the Boston Public Library that will load on my Sony. That Library doesn't support the Kindle, as far as I know. So thanks again for the friendly, helpful responses. I now have enough sources for books to keep me reading for the rest of my life without breaking the bank to do it. Dave W

10-04-2009, 10:04 AM	#13
Dave W Connoisseur Posts: 61 Karma: 670 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Massachusetts Device: Sony PRS-600 & Nook ST w/glow light	What about the Sony store? Thanks, for the post, Florence. I was just wondering. Sony doesn't use any gimmicks as far as I know. Are FW and BoB significantly cheaper? I'm thinking of recent releases, not old books. For example, Michael Connelly's "The Scarecrow" or Dan Brown's "Symbols." It does seem as if Sony is becoming more competitive. Initially, they charged more than Amazon does for Kindle books, but they seem to be matching Amazon now. Any thoughts on this? Dave W

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Help me buy the right ebook reader :)	pratyk	Which one should I buy?	2	08-15-2009 08:08 PM
Help! I don't what ebook reader to buy	Ham88	Which one should I buy?	8	05-15-2009 06:16 PM
So I want to buy my first ebook...	taosaur	Reading and Management	7	05-15-2009 08:07 AM
Gimmicks as a form of social DRM	Barcey	News	4	01-18-2009 01:06 PM
WHERE to buy an ebook reader?	einKI	Which one should I buy?	0	03-01-2007 09:31 AM

10-01-2009, 09:43 PM	#2
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,892 Karma: 119230421 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	I agree. the Fictionwise scheme is too weird. Check the links on the wiki: https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Main_Page for other stores and don't forget to check you local library for ebooks to check out.

10-01-2009, 09:48 PM	#3
sapphiresilver Connoisseur Posts: 51 Karma: 5368 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Australia Device: Amazon Oasis 2, Kobo Clara HD, iPad Pro	Baen is good for science fiction and fantasy ebooks. The books are DRM free, as well.

10-01-2009, 09:51 PM	#4
nomesque Snooty Bestselling Author Posts: 1,485 Karma: 1000000 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Ipswich, QLD, Australia Device: PRS-650	Yup, that sort of thing irritates me too, no end. Not to mention undisclosed-upfront geographical restrictions. Have you checked out Smashwords and FeedBooks? They don't stock the big names, but there's some good stuff on offer.

10-02-2009, 09:51 AM	#6
rhadin Literacy = Understanding Posts: 4,833 Karma: 59674358 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: The World of Books Device: Nook, Nook Tablet	I resisted joining Fictionwise for a long time because I, too, found the micropay system off-putting. But HarryT finally convinced me to give Fictionwise a try and I joined it last may with a 1 year membership (you also get a free ebook as part of the membership fee). I also put $20 into micropay. Once I got started, I found that the system works seamlessly. The micropay is particularly useful when I want to purchase a single book and the price is below the credit card threshold. My only complaint with Fictionwise is that now that it is wholly-owned by B&N, is that I can't use my B&N membership account and my B&N mastercard to get the standard B&N discounts rather than having to also buy a membership in Fictionwise. I would prefer that there be just a bottom line number that everyone pays, but these discount/membership schemes are how they get return business. I have bought nearly 100 books from Fictionwise and am quite pleased with my membership.

10-02-2009, 10:10 AM	#8
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	The whole point of "loyalty schemes" is, of course, to encourage you to make repeat purchases. It's difficult to see why any retailer would offer you "discount" in a form which didn't encourage you to return to that site. The FW Micropay system really isn't at all difficult to understand or use. It's just a personal credit balance that you maintain at FW. You top it up with "real money", and use it to buy books. When you buy, you gain additional credit in your Micropay account.

10-02-2009, 10:25 AM	#9
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,215 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Being in Europe, life's even tougher because of the geographical restrictions imposed on paid-for books. I still manage to get what I want somehow, though (even though, sometimes, at ridiculous cover price). And there are those great classics out there ready to be read and re-read at no cost at all. Also, you can check out my sig line below -- more than a hundred happy MobileRead readers since I posted it. I'm afraid the ebooks so far are only in PDF, but it doesn't seem to cause any problems. If there's anything you fancy, just holler and I'll send it/them as attachment to email. Hoots. Neil

10-02-2009, 11:58 AM	#10
basschick Wizard Posts: 1,096 Karma: 4695691 Join Date: May 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	i find the fictionwise system to be very handy if you buy or pre-order a number of 100% rebate ebooks. last weekend i bought a couple of more expensive ones that i wouldn't have bought ordinarily, then was able to turn around and buy 5 regularly priced ebooks with the rebates a minute later. i basically got the 2 more expensive ebooks free. free is good i actually saved a couple hundred dollars in the last year and a bit picking up ebooks during large or 100% rebate sales before b&n bought them. but i find the prices at books on board are good without a membership, and their system is pretty easy to understand. personally i like incentives like this - it's like frequent reader miles

10-02-2009, 12:10 PM	#11
DixieGal Hi There! Posts: 7,473 Karma: 2930523 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Ft Lauderdale Device: iPad	I've never actually put money into FW's micropay, but I've gotten lots of free books using the system. Sign up for their emails and newsletters. That's where you find out what books are 100% micropay rebates each week. When you buy them, the micropay "bucks" go into your account. You can set it to either use your balance with each purchase or save them for a big splurge. I usually do the first option, so with a book marked down 25% and then applied micropay, it might only actually cost a dollar or less. Of course, the account has been empty for a while, ever since FW sort of went stale and glommed onto Ereader so tightly. But that's another thread.

10-03-2009, 09:36 AM	#12
FlorenceArt High Priestess Posts: 5,761 Karma: 5042529 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Montreuil sous bois, France Device: iPad Pro 9.7, iPhone 6 Plus	I don't like the rebate system either. Books on Board uses it but not as much as FictionWise. Very often the price at Fictionwise after rebate is the same as the base price at Books on Board, which makes BoB cheaper really (I don't get to pay forward on my next purchase, I just pay the price of the book). Unfortunately that's not always the case, sometimes FW is cheaper. And of course the 100% rebates at FW are something to look out for, you get 2 books for the price of one. I'm still rather cautious though, because this feeling of getting a deal can sometimes lead me to buy books I wouldn't have bought otherwise. Which of course is the whole point of the system Also, some books are available at one store and not the other, or in different formats. So I end up visiting both sites all the time, but I buy at BoB more often because it's cheaper most of the time. I hate the site interface though, FW is much easier to use.

10-04-2009, 12:00 PM	#14
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	I use Fictionwise because I like having everything centralized in one place. I use the 100% micropay buys to fund other purchases

Advert

Advert

10-04-2009, 12:19 PM	#15
FlorenceArt High Priestess Posts: 5,761 Karma: 5042529 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Montreuil sous bois, France Device: iPad Pro 9.7, iPhone 6 Plus	Sorry, I've never looked at the Sony store, I assume they don't sell mobi formats? Didn't look much at Amazon either after I found out my money wasn't good enough for them There are sites for searching for e-books and comparing prices. I've looked at a couple that I found from posts here, but I'm not really using them (sorry, can't remember the names). They might become useful though, now that the number of sites selling e-books is increasing.