Kobo Discounts: Coupon Codes + Discussion

[Kiya]

Coupon code worked for me on a Penguin book. New Meljean Brook's book.

Maybe they fixed the problem.

[library addict]

Hmm, still not working on Putnam and Intermix titles I looked at.

[NixLapi]

Also still not working on the Berkley imprint.

[Blossom]

This really sounds like a glitch. Someone should let Kobo know.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by Blossom

This really sounds like a glitch. Someone should let Kobo know.

Better luck with chat than me... Only links to FAQ

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by Kiya

Coupon code worked for me on a Penguin book. New Meljean Brook's book.

Maybe they fixed the problem.

It doesn't work in USA.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Better luck with chat than me... Only links to FAQ

Yeah the site is all messed up.

I think Kobo people hang out on the Kobo forum so you might want to post over there.

[library addict]

I tried the chat. I was told Penguin books "are not not available for promo codes anymore." When I pointed out they had been available since mid-July up until yesterday and asked if he knew when they would be again he said it would depend on the country, the publisher, etc.

Pretty stock answers, but I do not know how to ask someone higher up in the food chain

[doubleshuffle]

Just played around a little: Brought up the page for a Penguin book, clicked on the publisher link, which brought up 7776 books; clicking "Items eligibe for promo codes" then reduced the number of hits to 2006. Go figure...

[Lynx-lynx]

Looking at today's Kindle Deal of the Day for mysteries I've taken an interest in:

Pieter Aspe
The Square of Revenge

This book is listed as USD 1.99 by Luzme in the following US stores:

Sony
Amazon
Apple

Google 8.54
B&N 9.99
Kobo 10.09

Yep - Kobo's the dearest yet again.

The discount advantage that Kobo's brought in really is just a smoke screen to introduce higher pricing generally, eh!

I watch this sort of price racketeering going on for products like cat food tins etc at my local supermarkets, it's not just a feature of the ebook world. But what has interested me is that it's really taken my attention this time with Kobo.

[Billingsgate]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Looking at today's Kindle Deal of the Day for mysteries I've taken an interest in:

Pieter Aspe
The Square of Revenge

This book is listed as USD 1.99 by Luzme in the following US stores:

Sony
Amazon
Apple

Google 8.54
B&N 9.99
Kobo 10.09

Yep - Kobo's the dearest yet again.

The discount advantage that Kobo's brought in really is just a smoke screen to introduce higher pricing generally, eh!

I watch this sort of price racketeering going on for products like cat food tins etc at my local supermarkets, it's not just a feature of the ebook world. But what has interested me is that it's really taken my attention this time with Kobo.

I actually find this to be the rarity. Being outside the USA, Amazon tacks on a US$2 surcharge for every e-book, so I pay $2 more than I would from within the USA (has nothing to do with where I list my address--I actually have a US-based Amazon account; it's based on the IP address of where my computer is located). So I don't even bother looking at Amazon. B&N doesn't sell outside the USA, period. And f### Apple in every way imaginable. So I'm left with Sony and Kobo. All the other e-book sites like fictionwise are routinely priced so ridiculously high I'm surprised anyone buys a single thing from them. Between Sony and Kobo, Kobo is almost always cheaper, and Sony rarely has useful coupons.

So, hooray for Kobo!

[Crusader]

I don't think that comparing Kobo pricing to Kindle daily deals are all that fair. 99% of those deals are limited to the US in any case.

I have to agree with Billingsgate. I'm in the same situation with that $2 surcharge, hence the reason I don't use a Kindle. I actually did a price comparison for a bundle of books (prices are converted to my local currency but you'd get the idea). Aside from 1 title Kobo was the cheapest on all the books. On average Amazon was 20% more expensive than Kobo. This also didn't take any coupon codes into account which would put Kobo in the lead by a far larger margin.

Something interesting I spotted was that Amazon only seemed competitively priced on new releases, on backlist titles they were considerably more expensive.

Most of the alternative stores selling epubs don't cater to my region so didn't include them in the comparison.

[spersephone]

I find that if I want a particular book, I go looking at all the various ebook sellers that offer epubs, and find Kobo is usually reasonably similar in price for me. Since I don't care about $1 or $2 difference, I will go to Kobo over the others if the price is more or less the same. However, I will source books elsewhere if the price difference is quite significant. I have given up on iBooks as they are impossible to convert, and now I have a Kobo, I can't go back to exclusively using an iDevice to read. I only use one where I'm stuck somewhere and didn't bring the Glo.

[Crusader]

Sept50 has now expired.

Time to put BookRiot50 to good use.

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by Billingsgate

I actually find this to be the rarity. Being outside the USA, Amazon tacks on a US$2 surcharge for every e-book, so I pay $2 more than I would from within the USA (has nothing to do with where I list my address--I actually have a US-based Amazon account; it's based on the IP address of where my computer is located). So I don't even bother looking at Amazon. B&N doesn't sell outside the USA, period. And f### Apple in every way imaginable. So I'm left with Sony and Kobo. All the other e-book sites like fictionwise are routinely priced so ridiculously high I'm surprised anyone buys a single thing from them. Between Sony and Kobo, Kobo is almost always cheaper, and Sony rarely has useful coupons.

So, hooray for Kobo!

Oh Amazon sucks for Australians, they treat us like second class citizens, they don't advertise their prices in AUD but in USD, and even after purchase you still don't know what exchange rate they've used!

Though Amazon don't charge us a $2 surcharge - how odd that charge, eh!

But they are good for freebies and I will buy the very low priced ebooks from them - only after a price comparison.

BTW, I bought the Aspe book from Sony

As for Kobo's Aus site - they apply geo restrictions which is why I view the Kobo site from different countries to get the best deal (via My Account), and I also check the Hong Kong site because sometimes you've got the best prices especially the English publishers.