MobileRead Forums
Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book General > General Discussions
Reload this Page Agency pricing (almost) 1 year on...how many e-books have you NOT bought?

Notices

Reply
Page 5 of 9 1234 5 6789
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 02-27-2011, 03:11 PM   #61
Lemurion
eReader
Lemurion ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Lemurion ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Lemurion ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Lemurion ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Lemurion ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Lemurion ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Lemurion ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Lemurion ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Lemurion ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Lemurion ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Lemurion ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Lemurion's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,750
Karma: 4968470
Join Date: Aug 2007
Device: Note 5; PW3; Nook HD+; ChuWi Hi12; iPad
Quote:
Originally Posted by wallcraft View Post
Yes, but the problem is that the publishers are not good a retail - even if by "good" you mean maximizing overall profit for the publisher. Publishers obviously are about maximizing profit, but they have a short term view and want to maximize profit over all media (I think they are failing at this goal, but we will never know unless one or more Agency publisher get so bad at this that they go bankrupt). Amazon has a long term view and wants to promote ebooks.

I don't boycott Agency publishers, but I don't buy when they play their stupid games of pricing ebooks more than an available paperback, or pricing ebook bundles at exactly the same total price as the individual ebooks it contains, or pricing a brand new author's first ebook at $14.99.
I would actually argue that the publishers are taking a longer view than Amazon. I don't think they're always making the right decisions, but I don't think they're as short-sighted as some think.

The problem is that their margins are very tight and they can't afford to experiment with things that might cut into hardcover bestseller sales - as they're the engine that keeps everything running.

The eBook of a paperback should not cost any more than that paperback - and really should be cheaper. However, the eBook of a brand-new hardcover, while indistinguishable from the eBook of a paperback, needs to be priced higher than the eventual paperback edition because otherwise it will cannibalize the sales of the hardcover to an extent that may be unsustainable.

They can't cut their own throats to support eBooks - so they're being very cautious.
Lemurion is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2011, 04:58 PM   #62
Crowl
Wizard
Crowl ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Crowl ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Crowl ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Crowl ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Crowl ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Crowl ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Crowl ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Crowl ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Crowl ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Crowl ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Crowl ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Crowl's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,340
Karma: 1160346
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Southport, GB
Device: Kindle Voyage, PW Signature edition
The way I look at pricing of ebooks is that they should slightly beat the price of the cheapest current edition and as such I will not complain about them charging more when only the hardback is out providing the price drops as soon as the paperback becomes available, I then have the choice of whether or not to pay a premium to get the book earlier rather than simply being forced to wait if they only released it at the same time as the paperback version.

Beyond the actual pricing though some of the things they do to actively dissuade people from purchasing ebook editions really annoy like randomly deciding to delay an ebook and then still charging a hardback premium in the hopes that they can con people into buying it twice perhaps, but in my case it will be buying it no times instead.
Crowl is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 02-27-2011, 07:19 PM   #63
spellbanisher
Guru
spellbanisher ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.spellbanisher ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.spellbanisher ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.spellbanisher ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.spellbanisher ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.spellbanisher ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.spellbanisher ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.spellbanisher ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.spellbanisher ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.spellbanisher ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.spellbanisher ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
spellbanisher's Avatar
 
Posts: 826
Karma: 6566849
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Bay Area
Device: kindle keyboard, kindle fire hd, S4, Nook hd+
Because of agency pricing I have refrained from buying one billion books. DRM has caused me to not buy another billion books. So think about that publishers.
spellbanisher is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2011, 09:09 PM   #64
Blue Tyson
Blue Captain
Blue Tyson ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Blue Tyson ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Blue Tyson ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Blue Tyson ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Blue Tyson ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Blue Tyson ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Blue Tyson ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Blue Tyson ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Blue Tyson ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Blue Tyson ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Blue Tyson ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Blue Tyson's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,595
Karma: 5000236
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Australia
Device: Kindle Keyboard 3G,Huawei Ideos X3,Kobo Mini
Heh. From ones I have noted, books not bought would be well into triple figures.
Blue Tyson is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2011, 11:44 PM   #65
grumbles
Addict
grumbles ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.grumbles ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.grumbles ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.grumbles ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.grumbles ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.grumbles ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.grumbles ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.grumbles ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.grumbles ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.grumbles ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.grumbles ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
grumbles's Avatar
 
Posts: 238
Karma: 1500000
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Toronto
Device: Pandigital Novel (Black), T-2 and 3, Nexus 7
It's simple. I won't spend more than $9.99 on an ebook--period! And generally I will not buy a book unless I can get an additional discount (like Kobo's current coupon) Baen's books are always a good deal and I will spend there as my budget will allow. My budget is blown for now. I just bought a whole bunch of Ian Rankin books with the discount at Kobo. No discount -- no sale!
grumbles is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 02-28-2011, 11:41 AM   #66
timfrost
Tim Frost
timfrost writes the songs that make the whole world sing.timfrost writes the songs that make the whole world sing.timfrost writes the songs that make the whole world sing.timfrost writes the songs that make the whole world sing.timfrost writes the songs that make the whole world sing.timfrost writes the songs that make the whole world sing.timfrost writes the songs that make the whole world sing.timfrost writes the songs that make the whole world sing.timfrost writes the songs that make the whole world sing.timfrost writes the songs that make the whole world sing.timfrost writes the songs that make the whole world sing.
 
timfrost's Avatar
 
Posts: 37
Karma: 40000
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Norfolk, England and Grenada, West Indies
Device: Kindle 3
Smile
In the UK the Office of Fair Trading has begun an enquiry into the ebook agency model, to determine if it is anti-competitive and unlawful.

In them meantime, here is an excerpt from an interesting article
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/new...n-ebook-prices

'Many ebooks currently cost the same or more than their paper counterpart. Best seller The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes costs £5 for the paperback version and £5.99 for the Kindle on Amazon.

However, publishers claim there is a substantial cost associated with the production of ebooks.

A spokeswoman from the Publishers Association, a trade body for publishers, says: "Overall costs of producing ebooks are very similar to the cost of producing paper books, there's just an assumption ebooks are cheap.

"This would include costs for encoding, formatting, rights management, software management and secure archiving." '


Encoding .... software management ... Believe all that and you'll believe anything ...
timfrost is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2011, 11:53 AM   #67
seagull
Addict
seagull considers 'yay' to be a thoroughly cromulent word.seagull considers 'yay' to be a thoroughly cromulent word.seagull considers 'yay' to be a thoroughly cromulent word.seagull considers 'yay' to be a thoroughly cromulent word.seagull considers 'yay' to be a thoroughly cromulent word.seagull considers 'yay' to be a thoroughly cromulent word.seagull considers 'yay' to be a thoroughly cromulent word.seagull considers 'yay' to be a thoroughly cromulent word.seagull considers 'yay' to be a thoroughly cromulent word.seagull considers 'yay' to be a thoroughly cromulent word.seagull considers 'yay' to be a thoroughly cromulent word.
 
Posts: 247
Karma: 89950
Join Date: Dec 2009
Device: Amazon Kindle 2
Agency pricing doesn't bother me. I'd like the prices to be lower but there's no guarantee the prices would be any lower sans agency pricing. I certainly don't agree with it but I don't boycott on principle. I decide what I'll pay for that title. I chose not to pay $12.99 for Catch-22 because I can get the paperback for $9.60 from amazon or $5.40 from a marketplace seller. Pricing e-books more expensive than a paperback is just abhorrent. You'd think they'd at least say to Amazon to price match it to the paperbook.
seagull is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2011, 11:55 AM   #68
tompe
Grand Sorcerer
tompe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.tompe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.tompe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.tompe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.tompe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.tompe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.tompe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.tompe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.tompe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.tompe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.tompe ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 7,452
Karma: 7185064
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Linköpng, Sweden
Device: Kindle Voyage, Nexus 5, Kindle PW
Quote:
Originally Posted by timfrost View Post
Encoding .... software management ... Believe all that and you'll believe anything ...
Software management and secure archiving is expensive. So why do you doubt that?
tompe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2011, 12:19 PM   #69
Tattncat
Bookworm
Tattncat ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Tattncat ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Tattncat ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Tattncat ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Tattncat ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Tattncat ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Tattncat ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Tattncat ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Tattncat ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Tattncat ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Tattncat ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 673
Karma: 1029391
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Device: Nook Tablet, Samsung Galaxy Tab3, Sony PRS700, Sony PRS505
A ton! This agency pricing has really put a kink in my buying. I am reading more of the non agency stuff.
Tattncat is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2011, 06:58 PM   #70
catsittingstill
Guru
catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
catsittingstill's Avatar
 
Posts: 643
Karma: 551634
Join Date: Dec 2007
Device: Kindle 1.0.8, iPod Touch, Kindle Keyboard
Quote:
Originally Posted by tompe View Post
Software management and secure archiving is expensive. So why do you doubt that?
Because manybooks.net does it for free. And Baen does it so inexpensively that e-books of their HARDBACKS sell for a couple of dollars cheaper than PAPERBACK prices.
catsittingstill is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-28-2011, 07:04 PM   #71
catsittingstill
Guru
catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.catsittingstill ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
catsittingstill's Avatar
 
Posts: 643
Karma: 551634
Join Date: Dec 2007
Device: Kindle 1.0.8, iPod Touch, Kindle Keyboard
Regarding the OP, my e-book buying is very price sensitive. I am not wild about paying 9.99 for an e-book of a hardback, but I will do it sometimes. Higher than that, and it's an agency book and I become very reluctant to buy at all. Sometimes, if it's something I really, really want.

And if the paperback is out I won't buy unless the e-book is at least 1$ cheaper than the paperback. I didn't pay for my expensive electronics to increase the PUBLISHER's profits, and being taken for a dupe annoys me. And then, being annoyed at having been taken for a dupe, I lose enthusiasm for buying the book in any form at all.

Fortunately there are plenty of good options. When I get bored with my current selection I go over to Baen (wish they had a bit more mainstream SF and F, but they've got some good stuff, their prices are reasonable, and they're DRM free) or manybooks.net, or check out the Mobileread library.
catsittingstill is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-01-2011, 01:11 AM   #72
Darqref
space cadet
Darqref ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Darqref ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Darqref ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Darqref ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Darqref ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Darqref ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Darqref ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Darqref ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Darqref ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Darqref ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Darqref ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 335
Karma: 2999999
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Seattle area
Device: Rocket PRO, gen3, Pocketbook360
I haven't purchased any Agency ebook in the last year. I've gotten a couple (4, I think) from my library. But since the Agency books vanished from Fictionwise, I haven't purchased any.

Mostly, this is laziness about setting up a new purchasing arrangement with Amazon or B&N, plus an absolute firm refusal to install ADE on any machine I own or use. A large part of it is the prices, which don't inspire me to go to that extra trouble, when I can spend lots at Baen. Fictionwise's old sales and discounts frequently attracted me, at least once I got the dedrm procedure worked out, but Kobo only sells in ADE, which I ain't buying, and others don't have any discounts anyway.

btw, I find it really annoying to constantly get B&N emails with the fine print saying "does not apply to nookbooks".

So, overall, the agency deals have meant the prices stayed high enough that I don't find a way to buy them. Wish I liked more of what I see go past on Smashwords.
Darqref is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-01-2011, 02:46 AM   #73
OtterBooks
Wizard
OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.OtterBooks ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
OtterBooks's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,262
Karma: 2979086
Join Date: Nov 2010
Device: Kindle 4, iPad Mini/Retina
Prices have not yet exceeded the value I put in choosing exactly what literature to put into my brain. I'll pick a specific format due to price, but a title? Not a chance. My mind is not a bargain bin.
OtterBooks is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-01-2011, 08:09 AM   #74
kennyc
The Dank Side of the Moon
kennyc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kennyc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kennyc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kennyc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kennyc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kennyc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kennyc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kennyc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kennyc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kennyc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.kennyc ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
kennyc's Avatar
 
Posts: 35,930
Karma: 119747553
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Denver, CO
Device: Kindle2 & PW, Onyx Boox Go6
Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady View Post
I didn't get my e-reader and start buying books until after Agency pricing was in effect. Though I initially balked at paying $12-$15 for some favorite backlist books, I eventually caved. But when I'm just trolling for something interesting, I've been much more likely to buy Random House-published books instead of Agency books. I also always check my library on the Agency titles, whereas I'll just purchase the RH books on impulse.

And Now Random House has caved:

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/finan.../D9LM35301.htm
kennyc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-01-2011, 08:16 AM   #75
TaniaLT
Junior Member
TaniaLT began at the beginning.
 
TaniaLT's Avatar
 
Posts: 8
Karma: 38
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Surrey UK
Device: Kindle
I skipped Patricia Cornwell's latest that was more expensive than the paper version. It had some bad reviews too which influenced my decision as well
TaniaLT is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply
Page 5 of 9 1234 5 6789

« Previous Thread | Next Thread »
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Agency pricing jbcohen General Discussions 71 03-04-2011 08:56 PM
UK Agency Pricing? suecsi News 22 11-03-2010 05:16 AM
Agency pricing coming to the UK Ben Thornton News 1 10-15-2010 06:59 AM
Is Agency Pricing Coming to UK? Fbone News 50 09-26-2010 10:47 PM
Agency pricing in Canada ficbot General Discussions 1 04-09-2010 01:32 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:24 AM.

Contact Us - FAQ - Guidelines - Privacy - Top

MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.