Are Audible.com Prices for Real!!!

Lilly · 12-15-2008, 12:19 AM

I decided to buy a few audiobooks for my Kindle until I saw the prices. I bought an electronic book for $5.79 on the Amazon site and Audible had the same book for $27.55

. I browse a few more books and then made a quick exit (all of the books I browsed were priced in the high 20s to low 30s but the ebooks are priced from $5 to $12)

. Definitely no audio books for me.

Have any of you try to download audio books from the library?

Alisa · 12-15-2008, 02:45 AM

My library only has secure .wma which won't play on the Kindle.

HarryT · 12-15-2008, 03:37 AM

Audiobooks are always a lot more expensive than their printed equivalents.

RobbieClarken · 12-15-2008, 05:04 AM

I did a quick comparison of a few audiobooks and it appears iTunes is usually $4-5 cheaper than Audible. But you would probably have to burn the book to CD and then rip it as mp3s to get it to play on your Kindle.

mbagsh55 · 12-15-2008, 06:28 AM

Another choice is eMusic. it will cost you about US$10 per book but I am not certain. I am a satisfied eMusic user of their MP3 music selection but didn't ever see the attraction in subscribing to the audio-book selection.

If you do want one or more audio books per month and can live with the subscription model it can work out cheaper than individual books.

rixte · 12-15-2008, 12:56 PM

Audible has relatively high prices on their single purchase books - where it becomes more economical is if you do the subscription format, where you pay a monthly fee in exchange for a credit, and then the credit can be used for any book (a few books are 2 or more credits but not many).

And the best value is a year in advance and then you can spend the credits however you want. Prices go down to around 8-12 dollars (I forget what, exactly, I just did a year up front and loaded it on an ipod for my mom when she was having eye surgery) per book at that rate.

BUT they do have DRM and are fairly restrictive in devices and it's not nearly as useful buying a book in pure MP3 format.

pilotbob · 12-15-2008, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rixte

BUT they do have DRM and are fairly restrictive in devices and it's not nearly as useful buying a book in pure MP3 format.

Although you can put an Audible audio book on a CD, then RIP it back to MP3. Yes, a bit of a pain... but not too bad.

BOb

PS: Also weird that someone said iTunes is less than Audible because the iTunes Audio books IS audible. FTW: Audible is now owned by Amazon as it mobipocket.

DixieGal · 12-15-2008, 01:32 PM

I thought the higher prices were because of needing to hire professional actors to read? I've listend in to some samples from other sites, and the difference in speakers has been very obvious.

My husband hates when a male reader reads a female line! But a female reading a male's line is just enticing to him. Go figure.

DixieGal · 12-15-2008, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Although you can put an Audible audio book on a CD, then RIP it back to MP3. Yes, a bit of a pain... but not too bad.

BOb

PS: Also weird that someone said iTunes is less than Audible because the iTunes Audio books IS audible. FTW: Audible is now owned by Amazon as it mobipocket.

Is there a trick to that? I downloaded one to iTunes, then started copying it to a CD.... stopped pretty soon after the 3rd disk. It was going to be about 8 disks for one little MP3 file. What was I doing wrong?

pilotbob · 12-15-2008, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Is there a trick to that? I downloaded one to iTunes, then started copying it to a CD.... stopped pretty soon after the 3rd disk. It was going to be about 8 disks for one little MP3 file. What was I doing wrong?

No you are not doing it wrong. Many unabridged audio books are several CDs long. You must have a long book. For example, I have Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince as an Audiobook purchased on CD and it is 15 disks.

Remember an audio CD only holds about 70-80minutes of audio.

BOb

DixieGal · 12-15-2008, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

No you are not doing it wrong. Many unabridged audio books are several CDs long. You must have a long book. For example, I have Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince as an Audiobook purchased on CD and it is 15 disks.

Remember an audio CD only holds about 70-80minutes of audio.

BOb

I feel better about it then, knowing that it wasn't a total goof. Actually, it was knowing that Tim isn't a total goof! The one time we tried this was in Sept after the 9th eye surgery, "The Big Procedure Revisited." He got the book and all was fine listening to the iPod, but then the weekend was over and he wanted it to take to work. (I don't have my own iPod - sob) So he started burning disks. He did 3 before asking me is this was "normal?" They sounded great like that, even though it was only a partial recording.

I need a deadman switch when listening to audiobooks. It's a chore to have to keep rewinding to find the point where I fell asleep.

pilotbob · 12-15-2008, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DixieGal

I need a deadman switch when listening to audiobooks. It's a chore to have to keep rewinding to find the point where I fell asleep.

Interesting idea.

BOb

brecklundin · 12-17-2008, 05:31 AM

I have a love/hate relationship with Audible. I sub'd for several years then there began to appear more and more books which take 2 credits to 'purchase'. It was only later that I became away this was about when Amazon bought the company. I felt this was a way to increase revenue w/o people becoming aware as we would with an increase in monthly membership. I recently created a new subscription and will cancel it after the 3-mo $7.95/mo. for one credit deal.

FYI, there is zero logic to which books will cost you multiple credits...basically Audible is printing their own currency and controls the value of that currency...I find that at best displeasing. I might add though that did not run across very many multi-credit books (other than multi-book collections) this last visit to grab a book on my new subscription.

Still the monthly subscription for 2-books/mo is a decent deal for, I think, $24.95/mo. And they have a nice SF selection. Compared to the over priced ebooks there is value in the Audible versions of audiobooks as many are becoming true productions with multiple readers and such...some are only one, but typically talented reader. They also have annual subscriptions with rollover credits and what not...even with what I don't like about the service, I find it a fair value for the most part.

I like listening to audiobooks in the car and when I fall asleep at night...even working they are a nice stress reliever. It's easy to zone out and not really listen to the books at times which makes listening to them a few times at least more interesting. To me that's the biggest shortcoming compared to reading a book yourself.

brecklundin · 12-17-2008, 05:34 AM

DixieGal:

I use booksmarks to somewhat solve the "...oops, I fell asleep..." problem...at least it gets me into the ballpark of where I was in the book. And I swear some nights it's 3-mins into the darned thing. It almost always takes a major project around the house for me to really listen to a book. Heck I bought a couple sets of RF wireless headphones just for my audiobooks...hahahaha...

dordale · 12-23-2008, 12:28 PM

I've been a member of audible since 2000. I have one of their original memberships--I get two books a month for only $14. I have a lot of books lined up to read--especially since my library now has audio books for download. Even though I have more unread/unheard books than I'll probably be able to listen to in a year I can't get myself to cancel my membership since it's such a great deal!

dordale

12-15-2008, 12:19 AM	#1
Lilly Guru Posts: 688 Karma: 2090 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Sony PRS-505, PRS-900 & PRS-950, Amazon Kindle2	Are Audible.com Prices for Real!!! I decided to buy a few audiobooks for my Kindle until I saw the prices. I bought an electronic book for $5.79 on the Amazon site and Audible had the same book for $27.55. I browse a few more books and then made a quick exit (all of the books I browsed were priced in the high 20s to low 30s but the ebooks are priced from $5 to $12). Definitely no audio books for me. Have any of you try to download audio books from the library?

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Book prices, Ebook prices - Value	stustaff	News	78	12-16-2011 07:33 PM
Audible and Amazon	desertblues	Amazon Kindle	23	10-17-2010 01:10 PM
Audible and Macintosh	kepstein	Amazon Kindle	8	11-30-2007 04:22 PM
How long until Connect prices reflect paperback prices?	Kilarney	Sony Reader	13	09-16-2007 09:25 PM
Audible.com	Bob Russell	Reading and Management	5	11-06-2005 03:05 AM

12-15-2008, 02:45 AM	#2
Alisa Gadget Geek Posts: 2,324 Karma: 22221 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Paperwhite, Kindle 3 (retired), Skindle 1.2 (retired)	My library only has secure .wma which won't play on the Kindle.

12-15-2008, 03:37 AM	#3
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,557 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Audiobooks are always a lot more expensive than their printed equivalents.

12-15-2008, 05:04 AM	#4
RobbieClarken Addict Posts: 371 Karma: 1002274 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Australia Device: Kindle	I did a quick comparison of a few audiobooks and it appears iTunes is usually $4-5 cheaper than Audible. But you would probably have to burn the book to CD and then rip it as mp3s to get it to play on your Kindle.

12-15-2008, 06:28 AM	#5
mbagsh55 Enthusiast Posts: 46 Karma: 196 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Kanagawa, Japan Device: Sony PRS-700/Zaurus SL-3100	Another choice is eMusic. it will cost you about US$10 per book but I am not certain. I am a satisfied eMusic user of their MP3 music selection but didn't ever see the attraction in subscribing to the audio-book selection. If you do want one or more audio books per month and can live with the subscription model it can work out cheaper than individual books.

12-15-2008, 12:56 PM	#6
rixte Addict Posts: 300 Karma: 396757 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: new oasis, paperwhite, ipad, kobo	Audible has relatively high prices on their single purchase books - where it becomes more economical is if you do the subscription format, where you pay a monthly fee in exchange for a credit, and then the credit can be used for any book (a few books are 2 or more credits but not many). And the best value is a year in advance and then you can spend the credits however you want. Prices go down to around 8-12 dollars (I forget what, exactly, I just did a year up front and loaded it on an ipod for my mom when she was having eye surgery) per book at that rate. BUT they do have DRM and are fairly restrictive in devices and it's not nearly as useful buying a book in pure MP3 format.

12-15-2008, 01:32 PM	#8
DixieGal Hi There! Posts: 7,473 Karma: 2930523 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Ft Lauderdale Device: iPad	I thought the higher prices were because of needing to hire professional actors to read? I've listend in to some samples from other sites, and the difference in speakers has been very obvious. My husband hates when a male reader reads a female line! But a female reading a male's line is just enticing to him. Go figure.

12-17-2008, 05:31 AM	#13
brecklundin Banned Posts: 1,906 Karma: 15348 Join Date: Jun 2007 Device: mine	I have a love/hate relationship with Audible. I sub'd for several years then there began to appear more and more books which take 2 credits to 'purchase'. It was only later that I became away this was about when Amazon bought the company. I felt this was a way to increase revenue w/o people becoming aware as we would with an increase in monthly membership. I recently created a new subscription and will cancel it after the 3-mo $7.95/mo. for one credit deal. FYI, there is zero logic to which books will cost you multiple credits...basically Audible is printing their own currency and controls the value of that currency...I find that at best displeasing. I might add though that did not run across very many multi-credit books (other than multi-book collections) this last visit to grab a book on my new subscription. Still the monthly subscription for 2-books/mo is a decent deal for, I think, $24.95/mo. And they have a nice SF selection. Compared to the over priced ebooks there is value in the Audible versions of audiobooks as many are becoming true productions with multiple readers and such...some are only one, but typically talented reader. They also have annual subscriptions with rollover credits and what not...even with what I don't like about the service, I find it a fair value for the most part. I like listening to audiobooks in the car and when I fall asleep at night...even working they are a nice stress reliever. It's easy to zone out and not really listen to the books at times which makes listening to them a few times at least more interesting. To me that's the biggest shortcoming compared to reading a book yourself.

12-17-2008, 05:34 AM	#14
brecklundin Banned Posts: 1,906 Karma: 15348 Join Date: Jun 2007 Device: mine	DixieGal: I use booksmarks to somewhat solve the "...oops, I fell asleep..." problem...at least it gets me into the ballpark of where I was in the book. And I swear some nights it's 3-mins into the darned thing. It almost always takes a major project around the house for me to really listen to a book. Heck I bought a couple sets of RF wireless headphones just for my audiobooks...hahahaha...

12-23-2008, 12:28 PM	#15
dordale Wizard Posts: 1,731 Karma: 3472866 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Sony PRS-650 & 350; Kindle Voyage; Kobo Aura HD, Aura One, and Forma	I've been a member of audible since 2000. I have one of their original memberships--I get two books a month for only $14. I have a lot of books lined up to read--especially since my library now has audio books for download. Even though I have more unread/unheard books than I'll probably be able to listen to in a year I can't get myself to cancel my membership since it's such a great deal! dordale