Any way to resell an ebook bought via kobo

[kdeuler]

Hi. I'm considering getting a Kobo Clara. I was wondering if, after i've read a book bought via Kobo store, is there a way to resell it? (of course i understand that reselling would make me unable to access that copy again.)

Short of reselling, is there a way to rent a book rather than buy it?

Thx.

kurt

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by kdeuler

Hi. I'm considering getting a Kobo Clara. I was wondering if, after i've read a book bought via Kobo store, is there a way to resell it? (of course i understand that reselling would make me unable to access that copy again.)

Short of reselling, is there a way to rent a book rather than buy it?

Thx.

kurt

You cannot legally resell an eBook. There's no way to know if you've gotten rid of all copies. When you have a pBook and you sell it, you no longer have it. There is no way to be sure you no longer have it. Also, if the eBook has DRM, it's tied to your Adobe account. So someone else would be unable to read it because the DRM is preventing that.

[Mikou]

Ebooks cannot be legally resold. In fact, transferring ownership is not permitted at all. There are subscription services for books. This article, for example, mentions some of them. I don't know if they are all still operating and only a couple of them are worldwide. If you have access to a public library that uses Overdrive access where you live, you can borrow ebooks and they are sent to directly to your Kobo.

[lumpynose]

Originally Posted by kdeuler

Short of reselling, is there a way to rent a book rather than buy it?

Thx.

kurt

Check your local library. Many in the US loan e-books.

[4691mls]

As suggested already upthread, library books are definitely the best way to go if you want to save money and don't need to keep the book long-term. Overdrive is the main system in the US but there are others - you can check with your local library to see what they offer.

If you don't have a local library option, I know there has been discussion in the past about some libraries that allow people to join long-distance for a yearly fee. You could ask about that in the General forum.

Some books on Google Play have a rental option - a book I looked at recently was $7.99 to buy or $1.79 to rent. I don't know how you find the ones with the rent option though, or how long the rental period is - I've never actually tried renting a book.

[stumped]

as others have said - local libraries may work for you. it was possible ( not that cheap though) to join Philadelphia library https://www.freelibrary.org/ from anywhere in the world ( I was a world member for a couple of years at about $45 pa- dunno if the scheme still operates)
or get an amazon device, then you can subscribe to Kindle unlimited for access to over a million books - of which 999,900+ are crap, and free trials come around regularly, even for previous users- I am on about my 4th free for 3 months go of that
my own UK library has a decent selection of ebooks ( and audiobooks) with options to queue for popular ones or to input requests for them to buy stuff.
UK libraries only do epub so you need a kobo , not a kindle, and you may still have to check out via PC for some kobos

in usa you can loan both formats

if you have zero ethics you can buy , read, return any kindle book within a 7 day window, but at some point you'd get banned from all of amazon for your high returns rate

[rashkae]

Deleted

[Dr. Drib]

Here's more on the "Philadelphia Story', quoted:

Who Can Get a Card?

A Free Library card is available at no cost to anyone who lives, works, pays taxes, or goes to school in the City of Philadelphia. In addition, anyone who lives in the state of Pennsylvania can obtain a Free Library card without charge.

Out-of-state residents can obtain a card by paying an annual fee of $50.00. Out-of-state residents must Apply Online and pay online with a credit card.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You cannot legally resell an eBook. There's no way to know if you've gotten rid of all copies. When you have a pBook and you sell it, you no longer have it. There is no way to be sure you no longer have it. Also, if the eBook has DRM, it's tied to your Adobe account. So someone else would be unable to read it because the DRM is preventing that.

Certainly you'd need an independent auditor to prove you have kept no copies and only resold one copy. So based on resale of second hand software licence court cases, it's technically possible but from a practical point of view solving the legal issues would cost more than ebook is worth.
The DRM on ANYTHING is less of a problem and inconveniences the public rather than pirates.

Cheating copyright law is done with paper books, but individuals don't have the resources, hence no problem reselling physical books. Google is the biggest pirate of physical books.

So really JSWolf has the simple correct answer. Do not try to resell ANY electronic product no matter how obtained unless it's clearly in the Public Domain. If in doubt check death date of author and add years after death according to your current local copyright laws. Not the published date.
Note a republished ebook or paper book from a public domain text can be copyright if it's been proof corrected and reformatted. Or illustrations added.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by stumped

or get an amazon device, then you can subscribe to Kindle unlimited for access to over a million books - of which 999,900+ are crap, and free trials come around regularly, even for previous users- I am on about my 4th free for 3 months go of that

Note as an Author I hate Kindle Unlimited. It's not like a library. It's an exploitive subscription service that cheats the content creators. Also all such subscriptions are only value for high quantity consumers. Netflix is good value as it's selling below cost. That can't last.
Publishers set the price a Library copy costs. My publisher sells to libraries at 1/4 of the regular price. Amazon decides what to pay out on Kindle Unlimited. It also is a thief of privacy as Amazon wants to track read pages, not books withdrawn. Hopefully your library does not tell anyone who borrowed a book. In UK and Ireland there is a small additional royalty per withdrawal of any paper or ebook, on top of what ever the library paid to get a copy.

[stumped]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Here's more on the "Philadelphia Story', quoted:

Who Can Get a Card?

A Free Library card is available at no cost to anyone who lives, works, pays taxes, or goes to school in the City of Philadelphia. In addition, anyone who lives in the state of Pennsylvania can obtain a Free Library card without charge.

Out-of-state residents can obtain a card by paying an annual fee of $50.00. Out-of-state residents must Apply Online and pay online with a credit card.

yes, it was $45 when I used it, BUT the signup process was tortuous - there was no slick form, you had to message the librarian somehow who then wanted you to send back a scanned application form ( that only had slots for USA addresses so you had to annotate it,-
then they issued a card, but the card would not work because you had "unpaid fees" - the $50 enrollment - settle that bill with a credit card and finally you were good to go.
there was also no auto renew.your card would just quit working after 12 months. I fixed it manually one time then did not bother after year 2 because by then I'd read a big backlog of stuff that I could not borrow locally. All of that may be greatly improved now though. LOTS of ebooks.
once you have a card, you must use their overdrive site, NOT the main library site - another source of confusion and frustration.
it would be good to see a more recent review and a for dummies guide to using the service internationally though, if anyone cares to provide one.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by FrustratedReader

[...] unless it's clearly in the Public Domain. If in doubt check death date of author and add years after death according to your current local copyright laws. Not the published date.

The death date of the author is irrelevant to US public domain.

[rosalita]

Originally Posted by stumped

yes, it was $45 when I used it, BUT the signup process was tortuous - there was no slick form, you had to message the librarian somehow who then wanted you to send back a scanned application form ( that only had slots for USA addresses so you had to annotate it,-
then they issued a card, but the card would not work because you had "unpaid fees" - the $50 enrollment - settle that bill with a credit card and finally you were good to go.
there was also no auto renew.your card would just quit working after 12 months. I fixed it manually one time then did not bother after year 2 because by then I'd read a big backlog of stuff that I could not borrow locally. All of that may be greatly improved now though. LOTS of ebooks.
once you have a card, you must use their overdrive site, NOT the main library site - another source of confusion and frustration.
it would be good to see a more recent review and a for dummies guide to using the service internationally though, if anyone cares to provide one.

Other than the problem you mentioned with the paper form not having the proper address format for international customers, I experienced all the same issues you did when I first signed up back in 2011 or so. The lack of auto-renewal was particularly grating. Of course it was also only $35 then. The whole process has improved greatly, in that it is now entirely online, including payment, at least for U.S. customers, and while it still doesn't auto-renew they do send an email about a month before expiration with a link to renew online, which is good enough for me.

[stumped]

Originally Posted by rosalita

Other than the problem you mentioned with the paper form not having the proper address format for international customers, I experienced all the same issues you did when I first signed up back in 2011 or so. The lack of auto-renewal was particularly grating. Of course it was also only $35 then. The whole process has improved greatly, in that it is now entirely online, including payment, at least for U.S. customers, and while it still doesn't auto-renew they do send an email about a month before expiration with a link to renew online, which is good enough for me.

good to know , in case I ever go back there, as I fear I have lost my previous account details. I prefer a reminder to an actual auto auto-renew

[kdeuler]

Thanks all.

If I purchase an Ebook, eg through kobo's system, can I access it at a future date via the cloud if I remove it from my reading device to make room for newer stuff?

Thx again.

Kurt