ebooks...the price ascent to 'Everest'....

[Reader Paradice]

I don't know if anybody else is observing this (probably....), but have you seen the steady climb of late, of the asking price of new eBook listings coming into the Kobo Store? I sure have. Prices are climbing into the 'teen's' for quite a few.

It is obvious to this purchaser that with the boom of eBook readers and eBook publishing's, the publishing houses are going to migrate in droves to the new electronic, paperless format. We users are no longer the first adopting fringe, but the advance guard of the new way of the printed word/format.

They (the publishing houses) are going to soon crank the price of an eBook to present pulp-publishing rates, even though they now have dropped drastically their raw material and handling costs associated with them. Staff cut savings associated with hard printing will also be eased. The profit margins are going to fly....and we will have lost one of the advantages that attracted the eBook adopter in the first place....the REDUCED cost of readership!

This SUCKS! I guess we as consumers, can only 'let them know our angst and disapproval' by keeping the money safe in our wallets and purses. I for one, will. The costs of eBook reading, should NEVER come to the set of prices that were associated with producing a pulp edition. Why? Because there are inherent savings to the publisher(s) that should be passed on through the technology to publish. They don't pay us to read their offerings. We PAY THEM! They have an obligation to pass on the technological 'savings' from the 'old ways' as due diligence to their customer base.

My two or six cents.....

I WILL vote with my closed wallet, and plastic, if this observed trend continues throughout this year! Publishers be warned!

Reader Paradice.

[Cdesja5]

Agreed! I use Calibre which has a neat feature that allows you to compare the price of a specific book at the click of a button in the toolbar. I buy it wherever the price is best. I also make use of the Kobo coupon codes in the Kobo reader threads , and check by searching these forums for any other coupon tips posted in other threads. I have a library card that I make full use of to read free books (such as the selection is...) And sometimes even though I really want to read a specific book, I wait...There's lots to read out there and I really think that paying full price for an ebook is not the message we readers want to send the publishers about their prices.
Price-fixing their ebook prices and obliging resellers to sell at full price is just wrong!

[larryt]

I totally agree. I was in Chapters yesterday to price shop and couldn't believe the price similarity between ebooks and old fashioned hardback paper. Before getting my e-reader I could sell my paper back to a used book store to recoup some of the money - with epubs you're out of luck. I don't like the way this is going and I'm not one who enjoys being taken advantage of. I'm beginning to re-think this path no matter how convenient it is.

[nogle]

I will leave the suppossitions about profit margins alone but will comment on pricing.

My own observation has been that new books that I am considering tend to be priced in the teens and are inelligible for discounts. However, after waiting several weeks I noted with many of them the price has dropped and discounts can be applied. This cold be a result of the type of books I read; I am not into pop fiction.

It stands to reason that a publisher starts at a premium price then drops the price as time passes; it is a form of price discrimination. Those that must read a new book immediately and are willing to pay a premium to do so pay a higher price than the more price sensitive. I am betting that if I were willing to wait years to buy some of those books, they would end up in the $4.99 or less category.

The best approach is to pick your price point on a book and not buy until it reaches it. for me, there are books I would read if the price were $0. For those, I go on the waiting list at the library.

[Laridae]

Let's hope that competition among providers keeps 'em honest. Otherwise, as already pointed out, there's always free library books available.

And if they've learned anything from the Music industry model they will see that as long as prices are reasonable piracy will be contained - people just can't be bothered. But if the publishers get greedy I expect users will be more inclined to take the extra effort to strip the DRM and pass the books around.

Writers and publishers are entitled to a reasonable reward for their efforts. But if they try to extort extra then people will find a way around. Most users are honest and law-abiding but their conscience doesn't bother them too much if they feel they are being ripped off!

[voom]

Here in Germany we have price-bindings for books by law that apply to eBooks as well as printed books. Meaning, that the price initially set by the publisher for a book must be adopted by all vendors and can not be easily reduced or made more expensive. With printed books the Premium - Standard - Discount chain was built by starting with hardcover, having a lower price for paperback later and then there are newly printed "special issues" even later for discount.

We will yet have to see, how that turns out in the long run with eBooks; if similar models are applied...

But anyway - the consumer has the "vote by wallet" option.

What I would rather not see is that because of the prices for legal eBooks these become so unattractive that many people turn to illegal copies, leading the publishers to (have to) get the lost margins back from the honest paying customer... a kind of vicious circle in a worst case scenario.

As with Music and Movies we need fitting models for the new technologies, so why not think of "eBook-Flatrates" a.s.o. In Germany that would mean to have to change the law, but in other countries this could actually work.

[Dave9911]

It seems a bit like it was with printed books. First out comes the hardcover for 15 to 30 bucks depending on the book. A year later the mass media (paper back) comes out for 10 to 12 bucks.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Dave9911

It seems a bit like it was with printed books. First out comes the hardcover for 15 to 30 bucks depending on the book. A year later the mass media (paper back) comes out for 10 to 12 bucks.

The price of an eBook will almost always fall when the paperback is released.

[shannont]

What I have noticed is that Kobo is constantly giving discount codes now but there are so few books I can apply them too. This time last year I was constantly scrapping for discount code. It appears the amount of publishers with the fixed pricing has increased.

[JedV]

I've come to the conclusion that ownership of 'stuff' is overrated. I've got shelves of books, DVD's, CD's (what are those?) and so many other possessions gathering dust. Accumulating digital files really isn't much different. Really, how many times are you going to re-read or refer to something???

If you can get over our urge to 'need it now', consider taking out e-books from your local library. Mine in BC has a decent selection, but popular titles get a wait list now that the popularity of e-reading is growing.

[Latch]

We've discussed this at length in various topics over the past year. I've ranted before about the greed of the publishing industry, just like the RIAA and MPAA, and how they will usher in the Napsterization of ebooks if they aren't careful. They have apparently learned the digital lesson that the record industry took 10 years to figure out -- you can't stop progress, no matter how many politicians & laws you buy. People aren't shy about copying files and have had a decade of practice not feeling bad about doing so, due to the onerous actions of the RIAA/MPAA. Give people a fair price and they will buy to support their authors.

[nogle]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The price of an eBook will almost always fall when the paperback is released.

My experience bears this out, although at an accelerated pace and more incrementally. I have observed that the longer I wait for a book, the lower the price. It has moved me to a just in time purchasing process; I won't buy an eBook until I am absolutely ready to read it.

[TonyToews]

For me the tipping point is $10. One author had her new book at $9.99. Bought. Another author at $13.99. Not.

[oldyellr]

When I first got the Vox there was a book I wanted to read that was in the news and I found that the paperback and the eBook both cost about the same or pretty close, around $10. There's no way I would pay almost as much for an eBook as I would for the hard copy, so I found it at my library and put a hold on it. There were 10 people ahead of me and after 2 weeks there were 9. Not wanting to wait maybe a couple of months before I could read the book, I broke down and splurged the $10 for the eBook.

Of course, you can always get the more popular books off pirate sites if you're so inclined, but often the quality is poor for whatever reason. Maybe it's because of the recent surge in crackdowns on Internet piracy that the purveyors of eBooks feel they can raise prices and not lose business. Clearly with the increase in eReading, the hard copy industry is going to suffer. I feel sorry for the small town bookshops that will surely go under when most folks will be reading digital instead. I think the publishers can see the writing on the wall and are raising the prices of eBooks to maximize profits.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by nogle

My experience bears this out, although at an accelerated pace and more incrementally. I have observed that the longer I wait for a book, the lower the price. It has moved me to a just in time purchasing process; I won't buy an eBook until I am absolutely ready to read it.

Absolutely. If you can wait a year after release before you read an eBook, it will almost always cost you an awful lot less than if you buy it when it's newly released.