Would you buy the print or the ebook for the same price?

[avid01]

To add insult to injury, it's the hardcover version from a book outlet.

I really wanted love the e-book concept but I may be without a purchased one for the time coming.

For me the realistic price would be half price for an e-book compared to the print.

[pdurrant]

I won't buy an ebook at the same or higher price as the (new) print edition. But I won't buy the print edition in that case either, I just pass on the book completely.

And you've managed to make an infinite loop of thread references now. MobileRead readers will get stuck linking from thread to thread forever, and MobileRead membership will plummet as they starve at their keyboards. You fiend!

[Turtle91]

I definitely prefer ebook because I am running out of wall space! That being said, if it is one of my most favorite authors, or a series I have been collecting, I will buy the hardback. I won't buy a paperback.

[latepaul]

I only buy print if I really want the book and can't find it as ebook. And what I'll pay for the ebook is based on how much I want it not how it relates to the print price.

I certainly have no feeling that the ebook "ought" to be cheaper. If anything print ought to be cheaper because it's missing many of the features I value and the features it has that ebook doesn't aren't ones I care much about. Obviously other peoples' MMV.

[crossi]

I don't buy print fiction anymore at all. I also won't pay more than $6.99 for a single novel unless it's a brand new release and I really, really want it and I haven't many left in my TBR stack of ebooks. I've got so many bought but not yet read ebooks I really don't feel much pressure to buy more until I get caught up a bit so unless it's a real bargain I'll probably not bite.

[crich70]

I would expect to pay less for the ebook than I would for paper because there is no physical content in an ebook. When we buy paper we're paying for not only the story but the paper & ink. The kindle provides both the paper and ink so the only thing the ebook provides is the data that makes up the story. So should be cheaper.

[mr ploppy]

If the ebook isn't at least half the price of the real book I would buy the real one, probably second hand. That way if I don't like it I can resell it.

[latepaul]

Originally Posted by crich70

I would expect to pay less for the ebook than I would for paper because there is no physical content in an ebook. When we buy paper we're paying for not only the story but the paper & ink. The kindle provides both the paper and ink so the only thing the ebook provides is the data that makes up the story. So should be cheaper.

When I buy a Mars bar I'm paying for the confectionery as well as the wrapper. But I don't buy it for the wrapper. The wrapper performs a useful function - stops me having a sticky mess in my pocket or hand - but it's the chocolate that I want. So if someone managed to make a chocolate bar that didn't need a wrapper I'd buy it (or not) based on how much I wanted it versus the price.

The paper in a paper book isn't something I want. It's useful - it holds the print - but it's not why I buy a book. There are things about it - I can resell it, lend it etc - that it has over an ebook. But those don't happen to be things I'd pay extra for given that I lose the advantages of an ebook.

[rhadin]

I buy hardcover print books of my favorite fiction authors and of nonfiction; otherwise, I buy ebooks. However, there is a limit of how much I will pay for an ebook -- $5.99 -- and I'll pay that amount only for certain books or authors.

I recently read the first book in the When Women Were Warriors series. I enjoyed it and was looking forward to the next book in the series -- until I saw the price: $9.99. The third volume in the series was also $9.99. I simply will not pay that amount for an ebook, especially not when there are so many good ebooks available for significantly less and not when my TBR pile has more ebooks in it than I am likely to be able to read in my remaining years.

I have passed on several interesting looking ebook series recently because the subsequent volumes (i.e., volumes 2+) in the series have been what I view as excessively priced. I wonder how sales are for these ebooks.

I prefer ebooks for the sake of portability, but I'm more likely to buy print books.

Simply put, buying an ebook does not confer the same rights as buying a print book so it has less value in my mind. For example: I cannot give away an ebook. This may sound like it doesn't add monetary value to a book, but it does so indirectly. I buy many of my books from used book sellers, mostly charitable organizations since they have very good prices. These organizations cannot sell books if people like myself don't donate books.

At the end of the day most of my ereading is done with library books, public domain works, and works that are freely available online (or at least offered at a price on par with print books from charitable organizations). I have a smattering of books from the big publishing houses, but the decision to buy those books was based upon the very high value of the content itself.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by latepaul

I only buy print if I really want the book and can't find it as ebook. And what I'll pay for the ebook is based on how much I want it not how it relates to the print price.

Sums up my thoughts nicely.

I have absolutely no interest in comparing the ebook price (if it's available as an ebook) to the price of the same book in a medium I'm not buying. In fact, if the ebook exists, I rarely even know what the price of the print version is. My desire to read it is the sole determining factor.

It's time to move past the knee-jerk comparison of electronic to print. You're fighting a war that was lost before you found out there even was a war. Woosah.

[pagansoul]

I buy the book/magazine when it's a cookbook with loads of pictures or Arts & Craft type of books but text is always in ebook form. I tend to not buy anything at retail prices, I can wait and I love to shop.

[QuantumIguana]

If the e-book costs more than the paper book, I'm probably not going to buy either the paper book or the e-book, but instead buy an entirely different book. It costs less to produce an e-book than a paper book. It's not a lot less, the industry claims it is about 10% less. So I don't expect the e-book to be a lot less, I just expect it not to be more than paper book.

It's time to move past the knee-jerk comparison of electronic to print. You're fighting a war that was lost before you found out there even was a war. Woosah.

It's not a knee-jerk comparison. The war isn't "lost": most e-books are cheaper than their paper counterpart. It seems that people in general are unwilling to pay more for an e-book than for the paper book.

[alicepattinson]

I always go for the cheaper one which is the e-book. hihihi. Why go for prints if we have a a reader/kindle But there are really some people who prefer print copies, and I respect that

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

It's not a knee-jerk comparison. The war isn't "lost": most e-books are cheaper than their paper counterpart. It seems that people in general are unwilling to pay more for an e-book than for the paper book.

It seems we're actually agreeing (accept for the part about it being a knee-jerk reaction--which I still contend it is). The "war" I was referring to is the one being fought by the vocal few who believe that ebooks should be vastly cheaper than their print counterparts. Like half-price. Ain't gonna happen.

And there's already many people who never even consider the print version when book shopping. I expect that number to only keep increasing. The relevance of the print price compared to the electronic price is diminishing for the average reader with each passing day. I believe that connection will eventually be tenuous at best... precisely because new, young readers won't compare the two mediums with the same knee-jerk reaction as the older generation(s).