Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[pdurrant]

Past experience tells us that there will be another coupon along in a few months. Now it might be that something changes, and we never see a discounted ebook again. But that seems very unlikely.

It's probably best to proceed on the assumption that as good a coupon will become available sometime in the next year. In which case, ask yourself "Am I really going to read this within the next year?"

If the answer's "Probably not", then don't buy.

[Tarana]

They were all on someone in my family's wishlist/TBR but I spent $ that wasn't really in the budget.

I do sympathize. I buy those Morland Dynasty books for my mom with 50% off coupons and that series is rather endless. However, keep in mind that you are not buying to buy. You are buying to a plan since they were on a wishlist. Kobo will refund your money if you ask them (well, they give you a store credit anyway).

I, on the other hand, had an unplanned Bookbale purchase (8 books for $13). They have got to stop including Mike Resnick in these offerings. He's not my favorite writer in the world, but his stuff never sucks, so I always get it.

[gabby98]

Originally Posted by Tarana

...Kobo will refund your money if you ask them (well, they give you a store credit anyway). ...

I thought of that, but had already donwloaded the book by the time I realized I already had it.... will need to make sure to keep my TBO list updated so I can avoid more costly mistakes in the future

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by gabby98

Mean coupon codes got me again ...i bought 5 books last night. They were all on someone in my family's wishlist/TBR but I spent $ that wasn't really in the budget. Then I look and it seems I had already purchased one of them already .

I feel ya; I've got a few duplicate purchases in my list. Most of 'em came from the big Angry Robot "100 for 100" megadeal, but there are a couple of charity bundles, a couple of cases where I bought a single and then got a good deal on a "box set" that included stuff I didn't have, and finally there's a small handful of outright duplications.

Last night featured a combination of the last two. I'd bought books 1-3 of a series as Ent corpses, then picked up book 4 electronically - and last night, I saw a good deal on an omnibus of all four that was released to promote book 5. Buying the bundle was technically a full duplication, but it was worth it to me to get the first three books converted to digital.

Speaking of which, it's about time for me to hit the local used-book store again. Got another load to drop off...

[pdurrant]

A well-tended calibre database does help a lot. Mine meant that I could immediately find that I had already got this month's bookclub choice, Outlander, as a freebie back November 2010.

[gabby98]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

A well-tended calibre database does help a lot. Mine meant that I could immediately find that I had already got this month's bookclub choice, Outlander, as a freebie back November 2010.

I completely agree...still cleaning mine up after discovering some features that I was previously unaware of .

Will get better a double checking it though

[BelleZora]

Thanks to the $40 monthly budget instituted January 1, I now realize that I must become more serious about this thread. Last month I spent $53.76 while really trying to stay within budget. This month's purchases stand at $70.46. What is enlightening is that the only two purchases I can really justify were the most expensive. One was Fools Crow, the literary book club's selection, at $10.99, which I read and it was worth every cent. The other is a print book about the Butterfield Overland Mail Trail, with maps, which I wanted for my second hobby of hiking/exploring. It is worth the $25 and will soon be dog-eared. All the other purchases were for sale books I hope to read someday.

Some of the books purchased in January I did read this month, but it is clear that the small purchases not for immediate reading are the ones breaking the budget and cluttering the TBR list.

A 12-step maxim is to stay out of slippery places. For me that may mean unsubscribing from the Daily Deal emails. My current travels are introducing me to books I want to read now. I could buy them at full price for immediate reading and stay within budget if I gave up the 'bargains'.

[pdurrant]

I am still resisting the latest in the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, despite a price from to £2.99. Mainly because I still have the previous one unread in my TBR pile (so many good books!) and partly because it's not quite a good enough offer to tempt me. I suspect a better offer might come along become I get around to reading the previous one.

Having this book waiting there is quite good. For any purchase I just have to consider whether I want the book more than this one I'm already resisting, and so far the answer has been "no".

[issybird]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

What is enlightening is that the only two purchases I can really justify were the most expensive.

<snip>

Some of the books purchased in January I did read this month, but it is clear that the small purchases not for immediate reading are the ones breaking the budget and cluttering the TBR list.

A 12-step maxim is to stay out of slippery places. For me that may mean unsubscribing from the Daily Deal emails. My current travels are introducing me to books I want to read now. I could buy them at full price for immediate reading and stay within budget if I gave up the 'bargains'.

My situation has been exactly the same. I started keeping track of my purchases this year on a whim and it's proved to be most enlightening, sobering, and motivating. Six weeks into the year and the picture was clear. This thread has been immensely helpful, much more so than I expected. I'm even finding the fun in resisting purchases.

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Having this book waiting there is quite good. For any purchase I just have to consider whether I want the book more than this one I'm already resisting, and so far the answer has been "no".

Great idea, to have a specific yardstick rather than a nebulous concept of "good enough." I'm borrowing this and I have just the book, too.

Originally Posted by pdurrant

It's probably best to proceed on the assumption that as good a coupon will become available sometime in the next year. In which case, ask yourself "Am I really going to read this within the next year?"

My gut says that mega coupons will become scarcer. Kobo has to start making money at some point and now that it's pretty much the last man standing, at least in North America, in regards to eink epub readers, my guess is that they'll be less concerned with inflating their numbers and more about the bottom line.

That said, the "next year" standard is spot-on. I think the new shiny is always the most likely to be read. After a book has been considered and rejected several times in favor of something else, the odds of it being read go way down. And you shouldn't read a book just because you've bought it, either. The money's gone, no point in compounding a bad decision by wasting precious reading time on something that doesn't appeal.

A side benefit to this thread, for me: When I book I wanted to read wasn't available in eformat and Amazon marketplace sold a hard copy for a few bucks plus shipping, I tended to buy it. Now, I'm checking the local university library's listings first and they almost always have it. As a result, I've only bought one pbook this year and I've borrowed the rest. Score!

[DrNefario]

I bought a paperback at the full cover price yesterday. I don't know what I was thinking.

(Well, I do. I was thinking "I'd like to collect that set of ten books which is now quite rare, since I didn't buy most of them at the time.")

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I bought a paperback at the full cover price yesterday. I don't know what I was thinking.

(Well, I do. I was thinking "I'd like to collect that set of ten books which is now quite rare, since I didn't buy most of them at the time.")

I am very rarely tempted by paper books these days. If I was to buy any paper books, I think I'd certainly be looking at good quality hardbacks.

[DrNefario]

In this particular case, the one book in the set I already owned is probably my favourite book cover of all time, so I'm kind of looking on them as attractive objects, rather than especially as things to read.

It's the Gollancz Space Opera Collection. The one I already owned is Rendezvous with Rama, which is just a beautiful cover. In fact, I think I picked it over the cheaper Masterworks edition at the time (and it wasn't available as an ebook then.) Lately I've been thinking I should read more Al Reynolds, Adam Roberts and Paul McAuley, which made me think about these editions, and maybe collecting the set. Apart from Rama, the only one I have read is Ringworld (I think), although I do also already own a different paperback edition of Ilium. It was Century Rain that I bought yesterday.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

In this particular case, the one book in the set I already owned is probably my favourite book cover of all time, so I'm kind of looking on them as attractive objects, rather than especially as things to read.

It's the Gollancz Space Opera Collection.

What an odd title for the collection. Of the ones I recognise, I don't think I'd class any of them as Space Opera. Well, perhaps Ringworld. But those are fun covers. I especially like the paper aeroplane for Tau Zero.

[LadyKate]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Doing some Calibre maintenance is a good way to remind yourself that you already have quite a few books. I like it. Of course, it's just as likely to remind me that I'm missing a book in a series that I should get.

Ah but at least if you go ahead and buy the book you KNOW it is one of a series you really want to finish.

[Tarana]

I am currently $66 over my $40 per month goal. Sigh. As usual, it is the very cheap audiobooks through the Whispersync program that puts me over. Fortunately, I bought no fabric/yarn this month, so the extra cost is covered. Better next month.