Paulo Coelho to publishers: "Don't be greedy"

[rollei]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Same book: pback vs. ebook.

Eg, my most recent purchase was "Living Proof" by John Harvey. Amazon ebook price £3.49, Amazon paperback price £6.39. ie ebook price is 54% of paperback price. That's pretty typical.

In that case, it looks like people in the UK are lucky to have e-books cheaper than printed books.

[Anthem]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I don't know where you buy your ebooks, but my experience certainly doesn't match yours. I buy a fair number of ebooks (4 or 5 a week, typically) and rarely pay half the price of the paper book.

My experience as well. The e-book version is almost always cheaper. I love getting brand new books in digital format because I can save a bundle over the print price. (However, sometimes the hardcover is so beautiful that I HAVE to purchase it, despite saving money on digital) (For example, just bought the Nook book of A Slip of the Keyboard by Terry Pratchett last week for $13.99 which would have cost me $17.72 at BN.com for the heavily discounted hardcover, or even $26.95 for List. AKA, Nook book was a fantastic price)

Originally Posted by binaryhermit

If list price is what I think it is, it's like MSRP, which is an inflated meaningless number the manufacturer invents so stores can say that they're saving you money by comparing their price to.

The numbers aren't completely meaningless. They take into account a wide range of economic considerations related to sustainability and profit, etc. What retailers do with the price is largely dependent on the economic situation of the retailer.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by rollei

Depends on what books you buy. e-books bestsellers and e-books from major publishers costs the same, sometimes higher than printed books.

Examples:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143034669
Ghost Wars by Steve Coll
Paperback $11.60
Kindle $19.89

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142001619
Salt: A World History
by Mark Kurlansky
Paperback $10.17
Kindle $10.28

Here are 2 examples, one each for e-book selling for $19.89 while the paperback version is selling for $11.60 and an e-book costs the same as paperback. There is hardly any bestsellers or books from major publishers (Simon & Schuster, Random House, Harper Collins, Penguin etc.) whose e-books are cheaper than paperback books.

From a consumer standpoint, if he wants the Steve Coll e-book, he pays $19.89. If he buys the paperback, it costs him $11.60. So it costs more to buy an e-book. The e-book should at the least costs the same as the printed books.

For Ghost Wars I get $13.68 for the Kindle book and most of that difference is probably VAT difference. AndI would have to pay postage for the paper book so the Kindle book is definitely cheaper. And in the second case the result is similar.Also cheaper for me to buy the paper book and the difference in prince mostly an effect of VAT.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Perhaps pwalker8was merely pointing out that List Price is and has always been a myth, and doesn't really have anything to do with prices as set by either Amazon OR the publishers...

That is correct.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by rollei

Depends on what books you buy. e-books bestsellers and e-books from major publishers costs the same, sometimes higher than printed books.

Examples:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143034669
Ghost Wars by Steve Coll
Paperback $11.60
Kindle $19.89

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142001619
Salt: A World History
by Mark Kurlansky
Paperback $10.17
Kindle $10.28

I'm showing $11.02 for the Kindle book of Ghost Wars.
And $9.66 for Salt: A World History. Both slightly less than the heavily discounted paperbacks. Of course, used copies of both are only $4.00 so that is one way where paper will be cheaper than digital.

[rollei]

Originally Posted by Fbone

I'm showing $11.02 for the Kindle book of Ghost Wars.
And $9.66 for Salt: A World History. Both slightly less than the heavily discounted paperbacks. Of course, used copies of both are only $4.00 so that is one way where paper will be cheaper than digital.

Looks like Amazon shows a different price for the same book (url link), depending on where you are. I'm in Canada and the prices for Ghost Wars are:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143034669
Amazon.com
Kindle $19.89
Paperback $11.60

Amazon.ca
Kindle $18.99
Paperback $15.16

(I can buy from either Amazon.com or Amazon.ca)

It appears that based on the replies here, only in Canada, e-books are more expensive (for best sellers and major publishers) while e-books are cheaper than p-books in other countries.

[HarryT]

On Amazon UK, "Ghost Wars" is £6.02 for the ebook, £10.39 for the paperback.

[rollei]

Good for people in the UK that e-books are cheaper. At £6.02, it is CAD$10.87, which is still cheaper than in Canada.

[HarryT]

At least you can console yourself with the thought that you can buy the paperback more cheaply than we can.

[HarryT]

For "Salt: a World History", we have £5.03 for the ebook, £8.79 for the paperback.

[sabredog]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Same book: pback vs. ebook.

Eg, my most recent purchase was "Living Proof" by John Harvey. Amazon ebook price £3.49, Amazon paperback price £6.39. ie ebook price is 54% of paperback price. That's pretty typical.

Here is another ebook at 51% of the dead tree version. Actually with the membership discount that percentage climbs higher to about 57%.

I was interested to see the cost difference here. I do intend to buy the hardcover as I have great interest in our ANZAC history.

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Same book: pback vs. ebook.

Eg, my most recent purchase was "Living Proof" by John Harvey. Amazon ebook price £3.49, Amazon paperback price £6.39. ie ebook price is 54% of paperback price. That's pretty typical.

A few examples don't disprove the point, particularly if also considering back catalogue stuff where the ebook price tends to be much closer to that of the paperback. You get maybe 10-20% discount if you look at the amazon price, rather than 3rd party seller prices that can often be cheaper than the ebook even for books that are listed as new rather than secondhand.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Crowl

A few examples don't disprove the point, particularly if also considering back catalogue stuff where the ebook price tends to be much closer to that of the paperback. You get maybe 10-20% discount if you look at the amazon price, rather than 3rd party seller prices that can often be cheaper than the ebook even for books that are listed as new rather than secondhand.

But it's not "a few examples", Crowl. I buy a lot of ebooks, and I honestly cannot recall EVER having paid as much for the ebook as I would have done for the paperback. Yes, sometimes 3rd party sellers can appear to be cheaper, but that's before you add the £2.80 postage cost. It really is the case that, in the UK at least, ebooks on average cost around half the price of paperbacks.

[Yolina]

Originally Posted by HarryT

But it's not "a few examples", Crowl. I buy a lot of ebooks, and I honestly cannot recall EVER having paid as much for the ebook as I would have done for the paperback.

I agree that in the UK, the ebook is often much cheaper than the paperback but there are some where the difference is negligible - for example "Pow!" by Mo Yan is £11.17 in paperback and £11.12 in ebook, and no it's not a recent release. Been waiting for ages for it drop in price but it's not happening unfortunately.
I've also come across some pricing oddities (using New prices sold by Amazon) "Sin" by Zakhar Prilepin is £5.95 for the hardcover, £13.80 for the paperback and the ebook has just gone from £6.10 to £5.65.

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by HarryT

But it's not "a few examples", Crowl. I buy a lot of ebooks, and I honestly cannot recall EVER having paid as much for the ebook as I would have done for the paperback.

It really is the case that, in the UK at least, ebooks on average cost around half the price of paperbacks.

Just like you I buy lots of ebooks too and I would say that the discount tends to be far less than half when comparing amazon's regular prices.

I just did a quick check and out of the last 20 I bought outside of sales or offers, the discounts were under 25% for 16 of them, 2 were around 50% and 2 were around 50% of the hardback price.

Maybe it depends on particular factors such as what publisher or when people tend to buy books, for me it would be rare to buy an ebook while the paperback was fairly new (and priced accordingly) as I would have either already got the ebook or it would have tended to have been out a fair while.

If your buying habits result in you tending to see higher levels of discount then good for you, but your anecdotal evidence in no way merits such a definitive claim as you have chosen to make.