Are Attitudes About E-Book Prices Changing?

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

It's more a point about the resale value of a real book that just doesn't exist in an ebook. That value (which is a cost to the publisher when someone buys a book second hand instead of new) is built into the price of a real book, like the cost of shoplifters.

There still kind of is. Piracy is a concern and given DRM can be removed from a number of formats (Topaz and iBooks are still safe from these efforts, I believe), that's where your "shoplifting" is.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

There still kind of is. Piracy is a concern and given DRM can be removed from a number of formats (Topaz and iBooks are still safe from these efforts, I believe), that's where your "shoplifting" is.

Nope; Topaz DRM was cracked a while ago.

[outlander78]

There's the flip side too - DRM is unpopular. It makes purchasers feel that they are renting rather than buying, and that puts downward pressure on price as well.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Nope; Topaz DRM was cracked a while ago.

Good to know. I generally don't buy from the Kindle store because I didn't want to risk getting a Topaz ebook and not being able to remove DRM. Now it appears I can buy from every bookstore except for iBooks.

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by outlander78

There's the flip side too - DRM is unpopular. It makes purchasers feel that they are renting rather than buying, and that puts downward pressure on price as well.

Only to certain tech savvy purchasers - who IMO really overemphasize the significance of it. Most consumers have never even heard of DRM and frankly don't care about it even when they are told about it, but that topic cannot be rationally discussed on this forum, so let us move on.

[DiapDealer]

Now it appears I can buy from every bookstore except for iBooks.

The fact that no one has cracked iBooks FairPlay DRM is a testament to its relevance—or lack thereof.

[ucfgrad93]

For me, $10 is the limit for how much I'll pay for an ebook. Anything higher than that and I'll wait and see if it comes down in price.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by stonetools

Only to certain tech savvy purchasers - who IMO really overemphasize the significance of it. Most consumers have never even heard of DRM and frankly don't care about it even when they are told about it, but that topic cannot be rationally discussed on this forum, so let us move on.

<shrug> So why do you keep mentioning it?

[outlander78]

Originally Posted by ucfgrad93

For me, $10 is the limit for how much I'll pay for an ebook. Anything higher than that and I'll wait and see if it comes down in price.

There's one perk for ebook sellers. If a book is priced to high for me, I don't buy it, and rarely remember to check back in a year to see if the paperback is out. For ebooks, I put them on my wishlist and see them every time I log in.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

There still kind of is. Piracy is a concern and given DRM can be removed from a number of formats (Topaz and iBooks are still safe from these efforts, I believe), that's where your "shoplifting" is.

That would account for the shoplifters, but not the second hand buyers.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Good to know. I generally don't buy from the Kindle store because I didn't want to risk getting a Topaz ebook and not being able to remove DRM. Now it appears I can buy from every bookstore except for iBooks.

If you're thinking of converting them to epub you should know that what you will get from topaz is a very rough OCR generated from the images that make up the ebook proper. It's basically only included for search purposes and isn't intended to be read.

[CleverClothe]

I'm surprised this hasn't been said yet...

If you are going to refer to an article, link to the ARTICLE not the SITE.

http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2011...ok-prices.html


Also, that is probably the slowest loading blog I've ever seen.

[Pinecone]

On problem with the survey, since when do people actually pay $25 for the hardback? That may be the LIST price, but they are always discounted, as soon as they come out. 25% at least. 50% sometimes. So considering that the hardback really only costs $15 - $20, what is the appropriate price for the ebooks?

Remember the thread about the situation where the discounted hardback cost LESS than the ebook.

Also, due to DRM (assuming to works as teh publishers wish) there are no secondary (used) sales and no or limited personal lending of books. So where one pbook might be read by 2 - 5 people and resold once or twice (at NO income for the publisher or author), ebooks have be bought by each of those. Leading to a potentially LARGER market for the ebook.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Pinecone

On problem with the survey, since when do people actually pay $25 for the hardback?

$25 is about £15. I've bought many hardbacks over the years that have cost more than that; sometimes a heck of a lot more than that. The most expensive fiction book I've bought is probably the 3-volume illustrated edition of "The Lord of the Rings", for which I think I paid about £80 (about $130).

[ficbot]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

The ability to resell a paper book is part of the economic value of purchasing it in the first place, like the residual value of a automobile. Not having that residual values is a loss (which should be reflected in the price) of an e-book.

Yes, this exactly.

My main issue right now though is the errors. If they are charging me full-on retail price, I expect a product of full-on quality. I have returned at least four books in the last six months to Kobo that were full of simply appalling errors. So, to me, the ebook does not have equivalent value because it is an inferior product. Saying 'but you can just return it' does not resolve the issue; I would rather pay and have the book!