Price Fluctuations Based On Demand

[Giggleton]

Is anyone else worried about the price of ebooks changing daily/hourly based on market demand? Or should the end all solution be to allow the artist to set their prices however and whenever they like? (This would be akin to agency pricing)

There have been many ebooks that enter the market at a price of zero and then some time later raise their price, up to and including $9.99 once their book has garnered enough attention from the market to command such a price.

My question is, is this ethical? On the surface this definitely places a knowledge barrier between those who obtain the book for free and those who wish to obtain the book but due to the price cannot or do not.

Also, if the book is available for free at any time, should it not be available for free at all times?

"You sold the book at a price of zero, meaning you were GIVING THE BOOK AWAY, If someone else decided to share the book that you gave away, would it be right for the artist to stop them from sharing the book?"

[mr ploppy]

The lower/free price point is to generate interest and get the book into Amazon's sales charts. Once it's there Amazon will assume it is a "good" book and start cross-promoting it to people who have bought similar books in the past. When that happens it doesn't really matter how much you charge for you book because enough of the people Amazon targets will buy it regardless of price. Then when sales start to drop off you reduce the price and start again. Or do it with another book if you have more than one.

[Assassin]

Hi Giggleton.
I think everyone who writes aspires to having at least enough sales to cover the cost of book covers, and dare I say it, ink and paper. (I still like to edit my work on paper in a cozy chair). I don't see anything wrong with giving free material to create a market for other works and then raising the price. Some people get a bargain other pay a price.
Such is life.

[DixieGal]

This again? If you can't afford it, don't buy it. End of discussion.

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by Assassin

Hi Giggleton.
I think everyone who writes aspires to having at least enough sales to cover the cost of book covers, and dare I say it, ink and paper. (I still like to edit my work on paper in a cozy chair). I don't see anything wrong with giving free material to create a market for other works and then raising the price. Some people get a bargain other pay a price.
Such is life.

Yes, but what I am referring to is offering a book at a price of zero for say a month, and then raising the price, to say ten dollars.

Why do most of us assume that this is ethical? Would it be ethical to redistribute the book that you obtained at a price of zero to others if the price was maintained at zero? To me the answer is yes.

If you are against agency pricing, which I think most of the readers here are, then you would also be against the ability of an author to raise the price of their book. Or at least against the ability of an author to charge more or less? than any price that they offered their book up to the market initially.

It is some bizarre stuff to think about but to me it is quite interesting.

[chrisanthropic]

I don't see it being much different from hardcover new releases being on sale the first week or two in order to generate interest before returning to their "normal" price.

[elcreative]

Giving away a book doesn't mean you are giving up your LEGAL copyright interests so giving it away because you got it free is not legal unless it includes the clearly stated right to give it away... something like open commons but without that you are infringing on the author's rights...

Originally Posted by Giggleton

Why do most of us assume that this is ethical? Would it be ethical to redistribute the book that you obtained at a price of zero to others if the price was maintained at zero? To me the answer is yes.

[Assassin]

I don't understand why a free book must stay free forever. My whole reason for giving it away is to generate interest in my other books. After a number of downloads I expect reviews to help to add to the saleability of the book. Do any of you go back and post reviews to help the author draw readers to his material? That's the only reason I see for giving my work away for free. And, especially with ebooks reviews are a key marketing tool. If I give books away I fully expect readers to at least assist me with a review, good or bad.

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by elcreative

Giving away a book doesn't mean you are giving up your LEGAL copyright interests so giving it away because you got it free is not legal unless it includes the clearly stated right to give it away... something like open commons but without that you are infringing on the author's rights...

LAWS have been, are, and will be subject to change. Copyrights included. Here's something Thomas Jefferson thought, he was a United States President,

"That ideas should freely spread from one to another over the globe, for the moral and mutual instruction of man, and improvement of his condition, seems to have been peculiarly and benevolently designed by nature, when she made them, like fire, expansible over all space, without lessening their density in any point, and like the air in which we breathe, move, and have our physical being, incapable of confinement or exclusive appropriation. Inventions then cannot, in nature, be a subject of property."

So if the United States Congress decided tomorrow that ebooks are subject to first sale rights etc.. What would happen then? Especially to books that have at any point in time been listed at a zero price point??

[elcreative]

Not a lot... the US isn't the be-all and end-all of the world... and the chances of the US Congress doing anything to upset the media lobbies, range from slim to none... positing potential cases does nothing to deal with existing law, dream all you like, it doesn't affect the current legality... some of us live in the real world and have to interact with it, little things like eating, having a roof over our heads, not ending up in court and even getting the occasional book to read...

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

LAWS have been, are, and will be subject to change. Copyrights included. Here's something Thomas Jefferson thought, he was a United States President,

"That ideas should freely spread from one to another over the globe, for the moral and mutual instruction of man, and improvement of his condition, seems to have been peculiarly and benevolently designed by nature, when she made them, like fire, expansible over all space, without lessening their density in any point, and like the air in which we breathe, move, and have our physical being, incapable of confinement or exclusive appropriation. Inventions then cannot, in nature, be a subject of property."

IDEAS are not copyrighted.

[Frida Fantastic]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

My question is, is this ethical? On the surface this definitely places a knowledge barrier between those who obtain the book for free and those who wish to obtain the book but due to the price cannot or do not.

Yes, it is. I don't think it's any different from other kinds of retail strategies: buy 1 get 2, free shami cloth/cleaning product--please tell all your friends, this product comes with a free knife set, etc.

I think it's actually a good thing for authors to be able to set the price whenever they want. They can find the right price that maximizes their profits, and it's not they don't have competition. Readers already have too much to read, and can quickly move on to a cheaper author if the first author doesn't provide that much value for them at that price. May the best writer AND businessperson win.

[chrisanthropic]

Originally Posted by bashfulbanshee

May the best writer AND businessperson win.

I Love it!

[caleb72]

I don't have any problem with it. It's not necessarily a strategy that will work - charging nothing one day and then $10 the next - but I have no problem from an ethical standpoint.

I have been known to repurchase a book I received for free after a price has been attached to it, although admittedly that's only when I really like the book.

Regards
Caleb

[Anke Wehner]

Would you argue that a writer sending out review copies of a dead tree book to get the word out about their new work is being unethical, and if they do that they should send a free book to anyone who asks, ever? Because that's the same principle. With ebooks having no material costs, giving away a large number of free copies to people fishing for publicity is feasible, where giving away a large number of paper books would require rather more up-front investment and involve a greater risk of loss.

Originally Posted by Giggleton

Yes, but what I am referring to is offering a book at a price of zero for say a month, and then raising the price, to say ten dollars.

Why do most of us assume that this is ethical?

Why not? People are not entitled to free books.
An author offering something for free for a short time and for money later is better for me-the-reader than them not offering it for free, because I might get something for free.

Originally Posted by Giggleton

Would it be ethical to redistribute the book that you obtained at a price of zero to others if the price was maintained at zero? To me the answer is yes.

While it is free, OK.
I'd probably still send the link where they can download the book themselves rather than sending a copy.
Note that if a publisher or author gives away books for free, but requires people to sign up to their website, the book is not free, but traded for sharing whatever information about me they gather in the process.

Originally Posted by Giggleton

If you are against agency pricing, which I think most of the readers here are, then you would also be against the ability of an author to raise the price of their book.

I think if the agency publishers fixed their prices closer to the "less than $5" you find more commonly with self-published ebooks, there'd be a lot fewer complaints.