Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[SeaBookGuy]

I did the Spend $20, Get $5 recently. As they were books I knew I'd read (like), that's okay... My story and sticking to it anyway!

[LDB]

Ok, I admit I didn't read the 358 original pages so I'm sure I missed some good stuff. I have 60 pages of books in my Kindle. A few are "The Complete" Conan-Doyle, Verne, Twain etc. and I have one collection with around 60 titles by Charles River Editors. So who knows how many if they were all individual. In my "manage your c/d" I have around 4300 titles total. And again, "The Complete" whoever means there are a few hundred more than that actually.

Over 95% were free I'm sure and the vast majority of the rest were 99c. A few dozen were more, mostly $2.99 or less and a handful for serious amounts. I pretty much stick with only free now, at least 99% of the time, and less than $2 the rest. I know I'll never read the majority of them but I want the option and I don't have to skip meals to get them.

[pdurrant]

Welcome to the thread.

There's an argument that freebies are a waste of time, as one is so unlikely to read them. But YMMV.

I've just fallen off the wagon thanks to a 'spend £15, get £5' offer which I used to buy some on-offer books that have been tempting me on my wishlist for some time.

[pdurrant]

Yes, now confirmed - I have £5 credit to spend before the 11th November. I shall try to resist any more books this month. at 10 books for £16.34, October is the most books I've bought in a month this year, and the second most expensive, and it's only the 11th!

It's this kind of special offer that bumps up the TBR. But I think it was worth it.

[LDB]

I did one of those a few weeks ago. I think it was something like spend $15-20 and get $6. I bought 12 books to spend the required amount and then used the $6 toward a $10 book I wanted and was waiting for a sale.

I read a lot of the freebies, in part because almost the entirety of what I have are freebies I guess. I don't really know if they are free or paid in many/most cases. I just pick whichever title speaks to me next.

[JSWolf]

I did buy one book this month tat I wanted that was on sale.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I did buy one book this month tat I wanted that was on sale.

I've only had 2 months like that. I can't quite remember them.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Welcome to the thread.

There's an argument that freebies are a waste of time, as one is so unlikely to read them. But YMMV.

I've just fallen off the wagon thanks to a 'spend £15, get £5' offer which I used to buy some on-offer books that have been tempting me on my wishlist for some time.

Me too but I've limited the purchases to books that are next in series I already read. They happened to be on reduced price, so I'll have to look for more to get up to the $20. I have until tomorrow evening. My ebook wishlist is getting pretty short. I typically use my credit for a historical fiction series that has never been on sale for my Mom or a non-fiction. I'm trying to break the habit of checking for westerns as Mom doesn't want any more.

[ekbell]

Originally Posted by issybird

An important part of the battle. When the sale creates the want, then it’s a book you didn’t need. Perhaps consider avoiding sales altogether and just checking prices on your wishlist? Either manually or with a tool such as ereaderiq?

The problem with only buying from a wishlist is that a fair amount of my wishlist would be things like a good history or science book covering a topic not in my library or a decent translation of a work of classic world literature.

Or in other words the sale did not create the desire for most of the books that I bought this month (three science, one Japanese literature anthology, one book of essays by a favorite author, and a 99 cent trek book bought because I like the author) but rather the desire for books of that type is a large part of the reason I check the sales.

What I'm trying to do is to remind myself is to check both my library and the local library before buying so as not to buy multiple books covering a particular topic with too similar a focus as well as not buying more books then I can read.

[CWatkinsNash]

Le Brat has returned, head hung in shame.

Let it be known to all that in this month, October of the year 2020, I have not just fallen off the wagon. No, I have leapt, flagrantly and without regard for decency, accomplishing two somersaults and a half-twist before sticking a 10-point landing on top of a pile of ebooks.

And then bouncing and landing gracelessly on my bottom.

'Twas a fantastic spectacle, but a failure nonetheless.

And so, I have returned here, to where my infernal legend began. Where else can I go? No one else in this world would understand.

Someone, please pass me an icepack for my bottom?

[DNSB]

Hmmm... I was looking at my books for 2020 to date and I've hit just over 840 books added to my read list. Thanks to Kobo Plus, my spending is actually down over the first 10 months of 2019. Sadly my TBR stands at a pathetic 3 though that is re-reads of the last 3 in the Brother Cadfael series. Happily being an ebook hoarder doesn't take up space the way my pbooks do.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Hmmm... I was looking at my books for 2020 to date and I've hit just over 840 books added to my read list. Thanks to Kobo Plus, my spending is actually down over the first 10 months of 2019. Sadly my TBR stands at a pathetic 3 though that is re-reads of the last 3 in the Brother Cadfael series. Happily being an ebook hoarder doesn't take up space the way my pbooks do.

840 added, but a TBR pile of only 3? How is this magic possible?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

And so, I have returned here, to where my infernal legend began. Where else can I go? No one else in this world would understand.

Time to reset, like the sign in the hospital of days without falls. I’ve been there. Once you stop resisting that first purchase, the rest follow so naturally!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

And so, I have returned here, to where my infernal legend began. Where else can I go? No one else in this world would understand.

Originally Posted by issybird

Time to reset, like the sign in the hospital of days without falls. I’ve been there. Once you stop resisting that first purchase, the rest follow so naturally!

Issy's right, of course. Just re-read the first post, try to ignore the oh-so-tempting 'bargains', and resolve to do better from now on.

I admit I also fell off the wagon this month because of an offer from Amazon. I ended up buying 10 books by the 11th October! But no more since, and I hope to exit October with no more purchases.

You can do it too!

[LDB]

Do you count free ebooks in this or is it just if spending money is involved. I get free ones all the time and don't think anything about it. It's just when money is transferring I try to be very cautious.