Kobo Discounts: Coupon Codes + Discussion

[Geralt]

Thanks CRussel. I am aware of VPN and Proxy services. But I don't care that much to want to use them. Now, if I was buying 200-300 books a year, I probably would. But I read 30 books a year and the coupons that I find either here or else provide just enough discount for me.

[DrNefario]

I don't "travel" myself. It just doesn't feel right to me. Books are cheaper in India because people are poorer. Everybody involved gets less money out of the deal: Kobo, the publisher, the author. The only person who materially benefits is the buyer, although yes, it's true that money might not be the most important factor if there's a greater benefit down the line from making a new fan.

It seems that if I want to be dishonest, I could get all these books for free, so where do you draw the line? I draw it this side of lying about my location.

Kind of off-topic, I know, but if other people are going to talk about it, I'm occasionally going to join in.

[daereli19]

Correct me if i am wrong. I believe Paypal blocks strongvpn. that's what happened to me when i tried access paypal using strongvpn in Japan. I haven't had any problems with Hidemyass but I read they monitor your connection.

[JoHunt]

For those who would like to easily travel without messing with VPN's, Hola (a browser addon) is worth a look It's a free service, with premium upgrade available.

https://hola.org/

[Docno]

Originally Posted by Geralt

This is off topic but actually Kobo is owned by Rakuten, a Japanese company.
As a result, they have strict policy in Japan.
I can't change countries, or "travel" as you say. My Japanese credit card is linked to my Japanese address. There is no alternative payment method such as paypal. My IP always redirects me to rakuten.kobobooks.com. It is impossible for me to open kobobooks.com
I don't want to rain on your parade, but this "traveling" might be a temporary thing, and Japanese may very well decide to enforce order on other Kobo sites as well.

I hope they don't though

I believe Kobo was originally a Canadian company and I think their tech work may still be done out of Toronto (esp. since most of their customers will be English speaking and the Japanese 'excel in other areas'). The tech guy I had an exchange with a couple of weeks back was based in Toronto.

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I don't "travel" myself. It just doesn't feel right to me. Books are cheaper in India because people are poorer. Everybody involved gets less money out of the deal: Kobo, the publisher, the author. The only person who materially benefits is the buyer, although yes, it's true that money might not be the most important factor if there's a greater benefit down the line from making a new fan.

It seems that if I want to be dishonest, I could get all these books for free, so where do you draw the line? I draw it this side of lying about my location.

Kind of off-topic, I know, but if other people are going to talk about it, I'm occasionally going to join in.

I'm fairly sure that it was Billingsgate in Hong Kong who mentioned a little while ago that as an Author with Kobo his fee doesn't differ when his books sell in India.

I hope that Billingsgate sees this post to alert me to the veracity of my recollection.

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

I'm fairly sure that it was Billingsgate in Hong Kong who mentioned a little while ago that as an Author with Kobo his fee doesn't differ when his books sell in India.

I hope that Billingsgate sees this post to alert me to the veracity of my recollection.

I thought that was the case with coupon discounts, but I'd have imagined that India simply had a lower retail price and therefore everyone's cut would be smaller.

[Fbone]

40% off code good today only March 12th.

EXCLUSIVE40

[koland]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

If Kobo decides to do so, they can close your account if you "travel" regularly. I actually have two accounts; my own, based at my own Dutch address, and one based at the US address of a family member who lives in the US and Netherlands alternately (depending on work). I also manage the Dutch account of an aunt. (A real aunt, with a real e-reader who buys real Dutch books.)

They must have to take into account frequent travelers (the ones on airplanes and EU trains) and multi-nation residents/students, as some of the countries (and stores) actually do want you to use the country you are currently IN, not just the one you live in most of the time.

[koland]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

I'm fairly sure that it was Billingsgate in Hong Kong who mentioned a little while ago that as an Author with Kobo his fee doesn't differ when his books sell in India.

I hope that Billingsgate sees this post to alert me to the veracity of my recollection.

Authors do get charged currency conversion fees by most of the ebookstores, so may receive less for sales outside their home countries. Most of them are used to dealing with multi-country tax issues, as well, if they allow sales outside of their residence country.

[Dr. Drib]

A post has been moved out of this thread and into the General Discussions forum.

Here is the thread:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=235735

If you wish to discuss these issues, then post to that other thread.

This thread HERE is for a sharing and listing of coupon codes.

Thank you for your understanding.


Don
(Moderator)

[Chapter One]

I received an email from Kobo saying thanks314 would save 40% but I cant get the code to work anywhere, maybe someone else will have more luck with it.

While I'm here, I noticed when shopping in Mexico, I get charged in UD dollars. Is the normal? Does Mexico always use US currency?

[Lynx-lynx]

Kobo charges in USD for Mexico and SIngapore and Norfolk Island and other countries.

[Billingsgate]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

I'm fairly sure that it was Billingsgate in Hong Kong who mentioned a little while ago that as an Author with Kobo his fee doesn't differ when his books sell in India.

I hope that Billingsgate sees this post to alert me to the veracity of my recollection.

I don't remember saying such a thing. As someone who has both self-published and been published by mainstream publishers, I can tell you that with Kindle books, the royalty from India is exactly half that from most other places. (are you surprised?) And, again with Kindle, ebooks sold at a discount receive a lower royalty, though I haven't yet figured out where the precise threshold lies, or whether it is publisher-directed discounts, or other discounts (like coupons) which trigger the lower royalty. That's for self-publishing (and, I would assume, mainstream publishing on Kindle as well). I'm talking about the actual percentage used to calculate. Hence, a $3 sale in India will net the author half of what a $3 sale in America would. As for revenue from Kobo sales, would they be any different than Amazon? While an author's royalty for paper books is often based on list price irrespective of the actual selling price (with provisos for remaindered sales), yet royalties for e-books and other products are based on "net revenue". I can't prove that sales discounted with coupons cut into the royalties, but my guess is that Kobo would separately report full-price and discounted sales, so that the royalty will be affected. Guess only.

And while we're at it, I'll weigh in on this latest conversation. I side with others who can't be bothered to rig the system for every loophole in order to save a few pennies on an e-book. I'm not a wealthy author, and I am as happy as anyone else to buy a few e-books per month at a discount. But to go so far as to install VPNs and maintain numerous accounts and change billing addresses, keep numerous browsers with 120 tabs open, in order to save a buck, seems somewhat over-the-top (I'm being polite). The only times I've been tempted to do so was one occasion when a book I wanted was georestricted to the USA site and wasn't even listed on the Hong Kong store. I installed a VPN, found it made no difference...and then I felt ashamed of myself for spending my time trying. I ended up buying the hardcover book from Book Depository, for just TWO DOLLARS more than the full-price e-book.

On the other hand, nobody here (as far as I'm aware) is stealing torrented e-books, so the obsessive mining for discounts is relatively harmless. All of us are likely affecting our favorite authors' royalties, but less so than by stealing.

[Lynx-lynx]

3 Jan 2014

Originally Posted by Billingsgate

That's interesting to note. It pays to globetrot. I wonder which version you found. Easy to tell: US (ashtray and typewriter on cover) or UK (red and yellow blurred picture of a bar sign on the cover). I'm guessing India is a UK publication region.

I note that when you self-publish on Kindle (as I have), and set pricing for different countries, Amazon India has a much lower minimum set price (if you choose the higher author royalty setting). So it seems India would generally be the cheapest place to buy ebooks.

Thanks for your post explaining the situation Billingsgate

The bolded part is where I got confused (I was going off memory in my earlier post)