Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by issybird

As Tom Paine put it, "These are the times that try [wo]men's souls." I'm referring, of course, to the Kobo Refer-a-Friend promotion. Luckily, we're twelve weeks into the year and since I've only bought three ebooks so far, I can legitimately purchase up to nine and stay within the letter if not quite the spirit of my resolution.

This will take some planning, especially with the one book per account stricture. In truth, I expect to stay on the right side of my limit. I can't let such a good opportunity go, but I don't buy for inventory any more. I hope.

Sometimes it's too dangerous to fight the riptide.

I may have to purchase another gift card so as not to frighten AMEX with these small purchases. While this promo may blow my resolve there is some comfort in knowing that I'll still remain under budget.

[pdurrant]

As it seems to be one code per account, I shall just buy one with my main and only account.

But I do need to buy some from Amazon before the month ends and my credit runs out. "Luckily" the LightSpeed Magazine Kickstarter hasn't delivered yet, so it looks like they'll be getting accounted for in April, so I'm going to be well inside my budget.

[Soldim]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

But I do need to buy some from Amazon before the month ends and my credit runs out. "Luckily" the LightSpeed Magazine Kickstarter hasn't delivered yet, so it looks like they'll be getting accounted for in April, so I'm going to be well inside my budget.

I've heard some ENRON-clone might need a new accountant -- you might qualify

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Soldim

I've heard some ENRON-clone might need a new accountant -- you might qualify

I would have been inside my budget even with accounting for them in March. But I'm certainly not going to count them until they arrive - the same way I account for any pre-paid subscriptions (e.g. Grantville Gazette).

[issybird]

Yes, not forgetting my Amazon credits; I'll buy a book Kobo doesn't sell and use up my credits through April and since the promotion has changed, that will be the end of that.

I've bought three books, all rather pricey and at the top of my wishlist. I spend about $4.25 on books that retailed for about $78 (which includes swapping out a couponable Canadian book for a non-couponable but much cheaper English one). This is less than 10% because I buy at Kobo US through ebates, which includes another 5% off the list price.

[pdurrant]

Wow - that was a saving worth waiting for, and three books you really want.

A success story for this thread, I think!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Wow - that was a saving worth waiting for, and three books you really want.

A success story for this thread, I think!

Thank you kindly, sir, and you're right - it's this thread that caused me to formulate a resolution and stick to it. Without it, I'd have just lurched from whim to binge as I did before. One of my purchases was referenced in this post, from exactly a week ago.

Originally Posted by issybird

I had my first serious temptation last night, a book that zoomed to the top of my wishlist as soon as I found out about it. But it's quite pricey, give or take twenty bucks depending on which overseas option I employ (not available in the US), and I'm getting much better about acknowledging that I'll never be able to read all the books I want to read. So for now I'll wait. Maybe it will get cheaper and there's no point at all in buying it until I'm ready to crack its virtual binding.

OK, I'm not quite ready to read it, but I think the price justifies the purchase!

[HomeInMyShoes]

84 days into the year and I still haven't spent a single cent on books in any format.

[BelleZora]

^ Another success story, HIMS. I am really impressed that you could go 84 days without buying a single book. I purchased 10 books so far this year, still within my goal, but I'm seeing a red flag. The last one, just picked up with the 90% Refer-a-friend Kobo promotion, has been on my wish list all year, so that was nice.

[pdurrant]

It's time to spend my £7.33 of Amazon credit that expires at the end of March. I've gone for two books. I'm slightly annoyed that they're at higher prices than I've seen them in the past, but not by much, and they're both books I've been wanting for a long time and that I really want to read: The Monor Adjustment Beauty Salon by Alexander McCall Smith, and Ancilliary Justice by Ann Leckie. £7.90 in total!

My most expensive books for quite a while...

[issybird]

I've stumbled, but I haven't fallen yet and I've come to reveal all because it will help keep me upright.

I've bought three more books at Kobo, one of which is the Flashman omnibus suggested in another thread. It wasn't on my wishlist specifically, but I don't regret it. I still have to buy a Kindle book before some of my credits expire, also, and I will do that; it's too good an opportunity to get an undiscountable book at a discount.

So. The good news is that I'll still be two books under budget. However, I must admit that my actions are starting to evoke the bad old days and my dormant book lust has reawakened. There are a few more books I'd like and they'll never be cheaper and I could still get some and stay within my resolution, but I'm stopping now. Enough.

It occurs to me that the real value of this thread is when things are going badly. When I was cruising, I didn't need it. But I really do want to keep my resolution and that's more important to me than picking up still more books, no matter how desirable and cheap.

[pdurrant]

Good for you, issybird!

[Tarana]

Best coupon I got on the recent contest was 35%, so I'm able to resist Kobo another month.

Overspent this month. While 6 of my items were for series that I read, another 5 were just random purchases due to tempting emails. I don't regret the Wodehouse purchases at all since it goes to support the Classic Tales podcast, but it just shows that I haven't broken my habit of random purchases even though I have ENOUGH to read or listen to for 5 years. Must be more resistant next month since I'll be paying to have an entire series OCR'd so that I can read the darn thing. That and a couple of cookbooks and I'll be done with that.

[Fbone]

Finished my refer-a-friend purchases. Damage isn't bad and well within reason.

14 books for $11.23. Avg price 80 cents. This clears out my wishlist.

[pdurrant]

That was a deal worth waiting for. I only got one, because I can't be bothered messing about with different accounts, and I didn't find out about applying multiple codes in a basket until too late!