Have I Become Parsimonious Since Buying an Ereader?

[spindlegirl]

I'm very cheap with e-books. I started with being manically high with the discovery to discover that "Pride and Prejudice", my favorite book of which I had bought 5 different copies was in the public domain for FREE from project gutenberg, and not only that I can change the cover like I change socks.

I borrow e-books from the library because I figure if I'm only "renting" a license to read a book, I may as well go for the free rentals.

I get a chuckle at the prices of some of the books which say, "List Price = 39.99 .... Our price 9.99, therefore YOU are saving 75% off the list price!" Uh... yah, I really feel like you are doing me a favour here....

I am very frugal with what goes on my e-reader. my most recent purchase was a $5 book I had on my list of books I want to keep.

[CWatkinsNash]

I will pay higher prices for my favorite authors, but we're talking a total of maybe 4 books a year. For everything else, for me it's simply that I read so much (and I like hoarding ebooks) that it comes down to "I can spend $10 on one book, or $10 on 5 (or more) books." And because there are so many books to choose from, it takes more to get me to buy the higher priced books.

So my habits have changed in how much I'm willing to spend per book, but how much I'm willing to spend in total has not really changed.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

The price I'm willing to pay (in any format) is directly proportional to my overall yearning to read the book. Which in turn is usually dependent on the level of enjoyment I've experienced reading previous works by the same author.

In other words; if I really, really want to read a new release by one of my favorite authors... I'm not waiting. Period. And I'm barely going to glance at the price.

Ebooks haven't changed my overall valuation of the words I choose to feed my brain.

Ditto.

The e-books I actually READ are usually the ones I paid $12.99 for. The free and bargain books (exempting the classics) are mainly just cluttering up my e-reader.

Originally Posted by Apache

I used to think nothing of walking into a book store and paying full price for a hard back novel. That was $25.00 and up. Mostly up. Now I find my self hesitating to pay $12.99 for an ebook.

Sorry, I tried reading your inner most feelings about books and just cannot do it. I guess that $25 book on telepathy just didn't work.

Seriously, there are a lot of reasons why this may be the case and they mostly depend upon where you see the value in books. If you placed a lot of value on the physical attributes of books, I think that publishers are lucky to get your $12.99.

(Anyhow, frugal is a better description for your case. People like myself are cheap. I rarely ever paid over $1 for a book before getting an ereader.)

[xg4bx]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Ditto.

The e-books I actually READ are usually the ones I paid $12.99 for. The free and bargain books (exempting the classics) are mainly just cluttering up my e-reader.

too true. my kindle is full of books i paid .99-$3 for because they sounded interesting enough to buy but actually reading them when theres something by an author i enjoy out or justifying the cost of a more expensive book is an entirely different story.

far, far too many of the ebooks i've bought will sit in the perpetual "oh i'll get to them someday" pile. with physical books or more expensive ebooks you can almost guarantee they'll get read because i paid top dollar for them, they're not hidden away and forgotten about in a "stuff i got cheap" folder on an ereader. i like low prices but its incredibly easy to become a book hoarder and that simply wasteful if i'm never going to read them.

[carld]

I thought Parsimonious meant you could talk to snakes?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

I'll shut up now.

[voracious71]

Originally Posted by RDaneel54

I know that library availibility for Kindle e-books has really affected how much I am willing to spend on e-books. I am really having a hard time pushing the purchase button for Stephen King's 11/22/63 at $14.99. But then, I wouldn't have paid full price for a hardcover version either.

But, like DiapDealer, if it's a "must have, must read now" then it is easier.

My basic frugal, parsimonious, stingy side often says, "Don't buy!"

Multiple personalities, who needs 'em? No, really, anybody want a few?

Dean

I really enjoyed 11/22/63..I say push that "purchase" button..

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by RDaneel54

I know that library availibility for Kindle e-books has really affected how much I am willing to spend on e-books. I am really having a hard time pushing the purchase button for Stephen King's 11/22/63 at $14.99. But then, I wouldn't have paid full price for a hardcover version either.

But, like DiapDealer, if it's a "must have, must read now" then it is easier.

My basic frugal, parsimonious, stingy side often says, "Don't buy!"

Multiple personalities, who needs 'em? No, really, anybody want a few?

Dean

Stuff like Stephen King is never worth buying, to me (apart from his recent dull bloatedness). As there are always squillions of copies - so a library or secondhand for practically nothing will always score you these.

[bgalbrecht]

Before switching to an ereader, I bought used paperbacks almost exclusively, so my typical book price was probably $3-5. I've got a lot of freebie ebooks, and I used to buy a lot on sale at Fictionwise (back before agency pricing) that were about that price, but now that most authors I really want to read are $8-10 and up, I don't buy as much, since my potential backlog TBR is ridiculous. I'm still thinking that it's probably time to start tagging all of these freebies in Calibre so that I don't have to wade through them on my ereader.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

too true. my kindle is full of books i paid .99-$3 for because they sounded interesting enough to buy but actually reading them when theres something by an author i enjoy out or justifying the cost of a more expensive book is an entirely different story.

far, far too many of the ebooks i've bought will sit in the perpetual "oh i'll get to them someday" pile. with physical books or more expensive ebooks you can almost guarantee they'll get read because i paid top dollar for them, they're not hidden away and forgotten about in a "stuff i got cheap" folder on an ereader.

My Kindle is currently full of "introductory sale" books in that price range too, but I find I've been reading more of them lately than the higher-priced ones from more familiar authors I was willing to pay more for. I still haven't gotten around to reading the most expensive single title I've paid for though it's been nearly a year since purchase (mind you, it came in an author bundle of stuff I'd mostly read before).

In part this is because some of the $1-3 ones were essentially to sample whether the author/publisher whose initial work I bought on sale was good enough to put on the list to consider for future, potentially higher-priced purchases. I anticipate possible promotional sales around Read an E-book Week.

But I'm also extraordinarily picky about what I choose to shell out actual money for* and will even dither over getting a 99 cent established series sale book in a genre/on subject matter I like from a Big 6 publisher and insist on sampling and checking out the author's credentials and reputation before I buy if I haven't already read and enjoyed them before.

So I guess pretty much everything I've actually bought falls under the category of "author I enjoy" or "story I want to try" which gives a different level of incentive towards reading the actual books.

* I do acquire freebies almost indiscriminately, though very few of them ever get loaded onto the Kindle, much less actually read and I don't use Calibre, so I avoid seeing a bunch of stuff cluttering up my "collection".

[Kumabjorn]

Before mid 2009 I got all my English language literature from Amazon (US and sometimes UK). Freight was usually 70 - 80 % of what books cost, so compared to all of you with free shipping from Amazon I paid a hefty premium for my reading, but still it was less than buying them here and in most cases it would have required a trip to three different book stores and I would still only obtain half of what I wanted to buy. Hence, I have a fairly low threshold regarding price for books.

Enter Kindle 2. Something of Nirvana, able to buy at will, whenever I felt like it with only a premium of $2 for sending them to my device in Sweden. At substantially lower prices I could get five books that would have taken me at least five hours in less than five minutes. Ohh joy of joys.

Upgrade to Kindle 3 WiFi only. Hmm, I still have to pay a $2 premium, but wasn't that surcharge for using 3G? Hmmm. Say what? Agency pricing? What the hell is that? Hey, I was promised NYT best sellers for $9.99! You ungodly bastards, lure me in with sweet talking for a regular gang bang.

Added Sony Reader. Hey, whats with all these free library books? Naajs! Apprentice Alf? Such a kind and helpful fella, wonder what an old broad can do for him (shut the lights and I'll show you)?

So yes, strangely enough my expectations have gradually shifted towards persimmons, sweet and ripe for the taking. Uhh, I meant to say parsimonious. Yes, I expect more for less. On the other hand when less does appear (think; Ed McBain offer on Amazon) I will strike fast and furiously.

[crossi]

I've only bought less than a dozen HB novels in my life. Too big, too heavy and no way was I going to pay that much. Even a remainder prices I wouldn't want them. And Trade PBs are worse. Just as inconvenient but cheaply made and overpriced. I bought MM PBs almost exclusively and bought a lot used.

Since my kindle I usually won't pay more than $7 for a novel but I'm buying a lot more, and rebuying a lot of my paper books. Also since I haven't bought any used since I got my kindle the publishers are coming out ahead. I think the publishers ought to be perfectly satisfied with the trade off of lower prices but no used market.

[xg4bx]

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

Stuff like Stephen King is never worth buying, to me (apart from his recent dull bloatedness). As there are always squillions of copies - so a library or secondhand for practically nothing will always score you these.

thats my thinking with mega selling authors like that. theres so many copies floating around out there that they practically give them away or sell them by the pound . i guarantee i'll be able to walk away with a hardcover copy for under a dollar at the next library sale i attend.


i did splurge last night and bought the new Tim Curran ebook for $5. i haven't spent that much on an ebook in awhile but hes my favorite horror author so it was worth it.

[Yapyap]

If I really want a book, I won't look at the price. (I bought a new release of a series I adore last year for over $17 at Kobo, cancelling my Amazon preorder for $13.79, because Kobo had it a couple of days before official release date. I had the book preordered (and bought) in hardcover in addition.)

But that's an exception. The next set are books I also really want, but not for that sort of price - I'll pay $10-13 for a new release, though, if it's a book I know for certain that I want and am pretty sure I'll like (author/series I've read an enjoyed before, new author but comes highly recommended by people I trust).

For the overwhelming majority of books I buy, I wait until I can get them for $6-7, mostly with the 30% off coupons at Kobo. As I read 10+ books a month, I just can't afford paying $13.79 (Amazon standard for a new genre/YA release that costs $9.99 for Americans) or more for each book.

I do try to include at least one self-published book a month, both to broaden my horizons and keep down the general costs (and some months, a free public domain book - but I've already read the great majority of public domain books of interest in my past). So far, that's been working reasonably well.

[BeccaPrice]

I'll admit it, when a new Nora Roberts comes out (or her JD Robb series), I'll buy it in hardback. And I'll buy Lois McMaster Bujold in hardback. But those are the only two authors. Maybe when the new Patrick Rothfuss comes out (in what ever far future that is), I'll buy that one in HB too. but those are the only ones, and those because other non-ereading members of my family read Rothfuss and Bujold too.