Cutting Prices is the only way to stop piracy

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Barty

..

Now I'm paying too much for cable TV. Cable TV is like the weather -- everybody complains about it, but nobody does anything about it. I'd love to cut the cord, ...

Did that in the Fall.

[JSWolf]

They publisher bases the price of a pBook on the container it's in. Fair enough.

But, an eBook's container is the same regardless of what container the cheapest pBook version is in. So why have these changing prices? Why not just charge a fair price and leave it be? If the publisher is going to market eBooks like they were pBooks, then we'd get one price and one price only since the container never changes.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

They publisher bases the price of a pBook on the container it's in. Fair enough.

But, an eBook's container is the same regardless of what container the cheapest pBook version is in. So why have these changing prices? Why not just charge a fair price and leave it be? If the publisher is going to market eBooks like they were pBooks, then we'd get one price and one price only since the container never changes.

You can pay a premium to read a book when it's first released, or wait a year and buy the same book at half to a third the price. I have absolutely no problem with that, personally; exactly the same is done with many products - DVDs, for example.

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

It all comes back to perceived value: If you charge more than people think your product's worth they stop buying.

That is definitely the case with me, generally I would expect ebooks to slightly undercut the equivalent paper edition at the time and will simply refuse to buy an ebook if it is more expensive than the paper edition.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You can pay a premium to read a book when it's first released, or wait a year and buy the same book at half to a third the price. I have absolutely no problem with that, personally; exactly the same is done with many products - DVDs, for example.

Free Market. Whatever the traffic will bear....

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What geo-restriction has done is cause people to lose access to legally purchased eBooks. They go back to the site where they purchased the eBooks and find they cannot download them any longer. They copies they have may be now useless as they need to redownload to update the DRM.

So what do they do? They turn to the net to find them and along the way, find other goodies they can get for free. So they do because they are pissed off at the publishers for imposing these restrictions that take away their legally purchased content.

It is so stupid really, they are actively discouraging potential customers by making it less convenient to get a book legally than it is to pirate one, which is silly since one of the more obvious advantages of ebooks over paper editions should be the convenience of getting them since you don't have to wait for delivery.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You can pay a premium to read a book when it's first released, or wait a year and buy the same book at half to a third the price. I have absolutely no problem with that, personally; exactly the same is done with many products - DVDs, for example.

Part of the reason for that is the second hand market. Something that doesn't exist for ebooks (except for the ones people sell on Ebay).

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

They publisher bases the price of a pBook on the container it's in. Fair enough.

But, an eBook's container is the same regardless of what container the cheapest pBook version is in. So why have these changing prices? Why not just charge a fair price and leave it be? If the publisher is going to market eBooks like they were pBooks, then we'd get one price and one price only since the container never changes.

That would make sense if they did base the price on the container, but they don't. The largest reason for the price differential for choosing a hardcover is the premium for early access.

[kennyc]

Manning Publications (technical) even calls it their EAP - Early Access Program where you get the PDF before the print book is published.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

That would make sense if they did base the price on the container, but they don't. The largest reason for the price differential for choosing a hardcover is the premium for early access.

There is a perceived value in hardbacks, and at least half of that is in their potential resale value (even if the reader has no plans to sell it). Ebooks have no perceived value, they are just disposable reading copies (even if the reader has no plans to delete it afte reading). That is why people expect them to be priced accordingly, and why very few people will pay hardback prices for ebooks. Especially if they are already used to buying second hand paperbacks rather than hardbacks.

Writer types might say most of the value is in the words that they have written, but that is not the way readers see it. They are buying a product, not just a bunch of words. They won't pay the same amount for disposable paper plates that they would pay for bone china ones. Even if the food that goes on them is the same.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

There is a perceived value in hardbacks, and at least half of that is in their potential resale value (even if the reader has no plans to sell it). Ebooks have no perceived value, they are just disposable reading copies (even if the reader has no plans to delete it afte reading). That is why people expect them to be priced accordingly, and why very few people will pay hardback prices for ebooks. Especially if they are already used to buying second hand paperbacks rather than hardbacks.

Writer types might say most of the value is in the words that they have written, but that is not the way readers see it. They are buying a product, not just a bunch of words. They won't pay the same amount for disposable paper plates that they would pay for bone china ones. Even if the food that goes on them is the same.

Most people I know buy paperbacks by preference, and only buy hardcovers of books they really want. In short, they do base a large part of the value of a book on the words.

As for resale value, I don't know what it's like where you are now, but in my experience, hardcovers often have less resale value than paperbacks - not more. It's only limited and first editions that tend to have any additional resale value. Many used bookstores won't even take hardcovers, because most of their clientele won't pay any more for them than for a paperback and they take up more room.

[kennyc]

So maybe there is a false perception of value of hardbacks?

I myself see no reason the initial price should have anything to do with resale value anyway, but maybe...

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by kennyc

So maybe there is a false perception of value of hardbacks?

I myself see no reason the initial price should have anything to do with resale value anyway, but maybe...

I know that I don't think about resale value when buying books - I buy them to keep, anyway.

Personally I base it on a subconscious sliding scale which factors in the content, the physical product, my need to have it NOW!, and my current level of disposable income - and it's not the same for any two books, regardless of format.

[alan ryker]

Except for the most popular books, ebooks are relatively difficult to pirate. Because of this, I think it's possible to charge enough to make a profit while making the book cheap enough to not be worth the trouble of stealing it.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by alan ryker

Except for the most popular books, ebooks are relatively difficult to pirate. Because of this, I think it's possible to charge enough to make a profit while making the book cheap enough to not be worth the trouble of stealing it.

Actually, eBooks are easy to pirate - and pBooks are easy to scan.