Which online bookstore has lowest prices for ebooks?

Starko · 06-29-2011, 07:55 AM

Anyone ever compared average ebook prices between Amazon, B & N and other sites? Who has the lowest prices?

crich70 · 06-29-2011, 08:14 AM

Actually SmashWords and Amazon both have some good prices for some ebooks I think. Some are higher priced than others, but there are many that are only $0.99 or just a few dollars in price.

abookreader · 06-29-2011, 08:30 AM

It largely depends on what you are buying and whether or not you have to fuss with Agency Pricing.

I usually find Amazon to be the cheapest list price for my books, but I can often get a book cheaper at Kobo if they have a current discount code. There's a nice thread in the Kobo forum where they keep a current list of active codes.

jbcohen · 06-29-2011, 08:52 AM

All very true but here are some resources for you - inkmesh.com. Agency pricing means that publishers set prices not book stores which means no competition. Many of the companies that I deal with are not a part of that such as Golden Eagle.

taming · 06-29-2011, 09:23 AM

If you use Calibre, their "Get books" feature compares prices at a wide variety of on-line stores. I know that Publishers adjust prices regularly and their adjustments then appear in the on-line stores without any action on the part of the store. When there are different prices in the list price (which may or may not be the price being sold), that then impacts the price shown, which often has set a % discount (not talking about agency pricing).

I think that, at least some of the time, publishers try different price points at different outlets to see what happens.

wizwor · 11-25-2012, 12:23 PM

another $25 off $75 in my box this morning (and, yeah, I did get another $55 Wi-Drive)...

Quexos · 11-25-2012, 02:43 PM

Amazon seems to have very good prices but I have not checked all bookstores so I cannot say this for sure.

Polarpenguin · 11-25-2012, 06:21 PM

http://luzme.com

Allows you to set up a wishlist & a maximum price. You'll then receive email alerts once your specified book drops to the price your willing to pay.

It also allows customised store lists so you only receive alerts for price changes at stores you by from.

xendula · 11-25-2012, 07:13 PM

I second luzme.com. It's great.
Amazon prices seem to be the lowest of them all.

SteveEisenberg · 11-25-2012, 07:44 PM

There are several web sites that all you to search for the cheapest seller of an eBook. Since I have not bought an eBook in many months, I can't give any recommendations on what is now best, but here are three I found googling with this search:

ebook price search

http://inkmesh.com/

http://leatherbound.me/

This one was already mentioned:
http://luzme.com/readers

Yapyap · 11-26-2012, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starko

Anyone ever compared average ebook prices between Amazon, B & N and other sites? Who has the lowest prices?

This also depends a lot on where you are. For me, if BooksOnBoard has the book I want (they don't always), it's invariably considerably cheaper than Kobo, even when BoB are not doing a bigger-than-usual sale (often cheaper than Kobo with 30-35% off coupons), and considerably cheaper than Amazon, generally by ~$4-6 per book even without counting the rewards BoB dollars.

That's if I'm logged in with my actual, real address everywhere, including on Amazon. If I country-hop to France or Austria on Amazon, then Amazon prices are more or less equal to BoB prices (where I don't need to country-hop for them or pretend to live somewhere else).

I imagine it's different for others and will depend on whether the shop adds their local VAT to the prices (Amazon and Kobo add VAT - Amazon seems to add 15% while Kobo adds the correct 20% for Estonia; I don't think BoB adds anything, although I may be wrong), whether Agency pricing is relevant for the country or not (in my case, not), and whether Amazon adds the $2 surcharge per (almost every) book in their country or not.

xendula · 11-26-2012, 12:23 PM

Yapyap, how do you country-hop? By chnaging the country on the Manage your Kindle page, or is there anything else you do?

Yapyap · 11-26-2012, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xendula

Yapyap, how do you country-hop? By chnaging the country on the Manage your Kindle page, or is there anything else you do?

Changing the country on the Manage your Kindle page, yeah. You just need a real address in your target country. And I'm not sure how important this is, but I always make sure I have plenty of funds on my gift card balance so that anything I buy from outside my home address won't be taken off my credit card (that will have a different billing address).

I do it mostly for geo-restricted books and those that I can't buy elsewhere, but as long as Amazon is charging me $2 extra per books (when I neither have nor plan to get a 3G capable Kindle, so it's not like I'm costing them money for 3G book downloads or browsing), I've stopped feeling guilty for doing it. It's got some risks involved, of course, i.e. Amazon might notice at some point.

xendula · 11-26-2012, 08:26 PM

How do they justify charging you an extra $2 per book? What do they call the extra charge? And to tie this conversation in with the topic at hand:some kindle books are cheaper in other countries.

BTW, yapyap, we read many of the same books this year

Blue Tyson · 11-26-2012, 08:48 PM

It isn't Amazon, it is the usurious rates that telcos charge for mobile data 'international roaming' - like their bandwidth is made of platinum.

06-29-2011, 07:55 AM	#1
Starko Zealot Posts: 123 Karma: 998177 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Kindle 3	Which online bookstore has lowest prices for ebooks? Anyone ever compared average ebook prices between Amazon, B & N and other sites? Who has the lowest prices?

06-29-2011, 09:23 AM	#5
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	If you use Calibre, their "Get books" feature compares prices at a wide variety of on-line stores. I know that Publishers adjust prices regularly and their adjustments then appear in the on-line stores without any action on the part of the store. When there are different prices in the list price (which may or may not be the price being sold), that then impacts the price shown, which often has set a % discount (not talking about agency pricing). I think that, at least some of the time, publishers try different price points at different outlets to see what happens. Last edited by taming; 06-29-2011 at 09:28 AM.

11-26-2012, 08:26 PM	#14
xendula eBookworm Posts: 2,300 Karma: 4525746 Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: East Coast brrrrr Device: Kindle 4B/K ~ Nexus 7 ~ Kindle Paperwhite 1&2 ~ iPad Air	How do they justify charging you an extra $2 per book? What do they call the extra charge? And to tie this conversation in with the topic at hand:some kindle books are cheaper in other countries. BTW, yapyap, we read many of the same books this year Last edited by xendula; 11-26-2012 at 08:34 PM.

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06-29-2011, 08:14 AM	#2
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,310 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	Actually SmashWords and Amazon both have some good prices for some ebooks I think. Some are higher priced than others, but there are many that are only $0.99 or just a few dollars in price.

06-29-2011, 08:30 AM	#3
abookreader Wizard Posts: 1,516 Karma: 2567610 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Kindles - Keyboard, Fire, 2-US, iPhone, iPAD	It largely depends on what you are buying and whether or not you have to fuss with Agency Pricing. I usually find Amazon to be the cheapest list price for my books, but I can often get a book cheaper at Kobo if they have a current discount code. There's a nice thread in the Kobo forum where they keep a current list of active codes.

06-29-2011, 08:52 AM	#4
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,033 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Where am I? Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature edition and a Samsung S24 Ultra	All very true but here are some resources for you - inkmesh.com. Agency pricing means that publishers set prices not book stores which means no competition. Many of the companies that I deal with are not a part of that such as Golden Eagle.

11-25-2012, 12:23 PM	#6
wizwor Wizard Posts: 1,068 Karma: 23867385 Join Date: Nov 2011 Device: kindle, fire	another $25 off $75 in my box this morning (and, yeah, I did get another $55 Wi-Drive)...

11-25-2012, 02:43 PM	#7
Quexos Member Retired Posts: 1,999 Karma: 11348924 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Limbo Device: none	Amazon seems to have very good prices but I have not checked all bookstores so I cannot say this for sure.

11-25-2012, 06:21 PM	#8
Polarpenguin Groupie Posts: 176 Karma: 1834850 Join Date: May 2011 Location: UK Device: Sony PRS-300, Sony PRS- T3S, Kobo aura H2O Kobo aura One Kobo libra	http://luzme.com Allows you to set up a wishlist & a maximum price. You'll then receive email alerts once your specified book drops to the price your willing to pay. It also allows customised store lists so you only receive alerts for price changes at stores you by from.

11-25-2012, 07:13 PM	#9
xendula eBookworm Posts: 2,300 Karma: 4525746 Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: East Coast brrrrr Device: Kindle 4B/K ~ Nexus 7 ~ Kindle Paperwhite 1&2 ~ iPad Air	I second luzme.com. It's great. Amazon prices seem to be the lowest of them all.

11-25-2012, 07:44 PM	#10
SteveEisenberg Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,470 Karma: 44460032 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: near Philadelphia USA Device: Kindle Kids Edition, Fire HD 10 (11th generation)	There are several web sites that all you to search for the cheapest seller of an eBook. Since I have not bought an eBook in many months, I can't give any recommendations on what is now best, but here are three I found googling with this search: ebook price search http://inkmesh.com/ http://leatherbound.me/ This one was already mentioned: http://luzme.com/readers

11-26-2012, 12:23 PM	#12
xendula eBookworm Posts: 2,300 Karma: 4525746 Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: East Coast brrrrr Device: Kindle 4B/K ~ Nexus 7 ~ Kindle Paperwhite 1&2 ~ iPad Air	Yapyap, how do you country-hop? By chnaging the country on the Manage your Kindle page, or is there anything else you do?

11-26-2012, 08:48 PM	#15
Blue Tyson Blue Captain Posts: 1,595 Karma: 5000236 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Keyboard 3G,Huawei Ideos X3,Kobo Mini	It isn't Amazon, it is the usurious rates that telcos charge for mobile data 'international roaming' - like their bandwidth is made of platinum.