OK, starting to get a little peeved at the Connect Store pricing... - Page 2

Bob Russell · 10-09-2006, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morbius

OK, is there some way to ask everyone here to contribute to such a list, that's kept on this site? I'm pretty new to this group, and not as familiar with how things work here. But I'm pretty sure I alone couldn't find every instance where the Connect store is charging near-hard cover prices for books out in paperback. I assume that most everyone here will probably find out what a "printed" price is for the books they plan on purchasing from Connect, so if we could somehow compile that list here, we'd probably get a pretty good idea of how things are going.

Then if someone (Bob Russell?) actually has a contact at Sony we could provide the list to, say after a month, maybe they'd be willing to take a look? I suppose I could just try emailing it to the Connect store Help folks if no one has a better destination.

That's a great idea, Morbius. I will start another thread for the purpose of listing e-books at the Sony Connect online e-book store, with prices that seem out of line -- books that are available in paperback but are priced as if they are hardback equivalents.

I'll post the URL in this thread when it's available. We'll leave this thread open for a place to vent about pricing complaints and discussion, and try to keep the other thread "clean" with items that I'll pass to Sony after a period of time. Maybe in pieces as they collect.

I can't promise any pricing changes, but I do believe that Sony is interested in keeping prices in line as much as we are. And as we frequently remind everyone, publishers set the prices, so any pricing changes will be up to them. But it's a great idea to make them aware of where there might be some legitimate pricing concerns at the store.

Slava · 10-09-2006, 03:51 PM

Bob, we will need another two threads

1: Things to be fixed/improved/added (probably sorted by priority)
2: Another round of questions to Sony

Bob Russell · 10-09-2006, 03:59 PM

Here we go with the prices that are oddly too high thread...
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7986

Liviu_5 · 10-09-2006, 04:01 PM

The falacy of "masses of regular ebook readers"... Have not seen them until now, do not expect to see them soon. Unfortunate, but to spend 3-400$ or more on a reader, and pretty high prices on what are essentially disposable books is not something masses of people are going to do...(nonconvertible drm ebooks are something you do not buy and plan to read in a year since you may not be able to).

Liviu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Russell

You are definitely not alone.

For example, I think the masses of regular readers, that hopefully buy the Reader, will most likely only read books from the Sony store.

That doesn't change the fact, though, that the DRM system is broken right now from a consumer's point of view. It's definitely a hot topic and emotional issue.

NatCh · 10-09-2006, 04:10 PM

Bob meant masses of regular readers, not regular e-book readers, Liviu_5. You're right that there aren't any masses of those. At least not yet.

He's hoping some of those regular readers will become regular ebook readers, a hope I share, because greater numbers means we can yell louder, and hopefully get the things changed that need changing.

lordvetinari2 · 10-09-2006, 06:14 PM

Okay, I am starting to see a pattern here.

Basically, every book available at $15.96 in Sony and already out in paperback is sold at half the price at both Mobipocket and Amazon. Fictionwise normally has them at a little bit more than Sony. I started to fill Bob's thread with a list, but I got bored and decided maybe it's better to announce my findings here.

Maybe Amazon reached an exclusive agreement with the publishers requiring being the first ones with the ebook the same price as the paperback? Any ideas?

da_jane · 10-09-2006, 10:01 PM

Do you guys ever buy at Powells.com? That's where I buy almost all of my encrypted ebooks (other than Simon&Schuster). They sell almost all their ebooks at 20% off. Nice prices, imo.

MelancholyTea · 10-09-2006, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NatCh

I'm pretty sure that Sony has people watching MobileRead, though I think they're on the Reader side, rather than the Connect side (the different divisions are pretty insular).

As for making a list, we could start a new thread just for that purpose. I think there will be more than a few interested in helping catalog the price discrepancies.

Considering that the prices don't seem to be what lordvetinari2 had originally stated anymore, and in fact appear to be less than MobiPocket's prices now...a list is probably a good idea

Bob Russell · 10-11-2006, 09:16 PM

I posted one here (Patriots Club) and had to comment on it, but didn't want to clutter the other thread...

I think it is a bit demoralizing to look for a book (which takes some effort and time anyway), only to come up with a price that's out of line, or missing altogether. I love the way Sony is showing they care about getting prices right, but I sure hope they are looking at the big picture also. They obviously can't react to everything we notice, and even if they did it's only a sample. Many other frustrated customers will still find high prices, but they may never be heard from again after the $50 runs out. Surely eReader and MobiPocket have figured something out. Let's hope it's just the typical new rollout bumps in the road!

Hmmm... I take it back. Maybe this is a tougher problem than I thought. It looks like nobody got this one right. MobiPocket, eReader and Fictionwise all have it at similar price levels. Yikes! Surely the publisher doesn't intend to price it so out of line with mass paperback.

Bob Russell · 10-12-2006, 10:24 PM

Here's a follow-up on my Patriots Club post.

Our mysterious store price minder person has already knocked down Patriots Club to $5.59. (I hope there's not someone at Sony going sleepless trying to catch up with all the adjustments! But wow, you sure have to give them credit for effort to even pay attention to this. I don't know how long it can last, but it's much appreciated, and should be a benefit to all of the store customers.)

I'm grabbing a BBeB copy of this right now, lest the price jump up on me again! At a couple of dollars less than the mass paperback price from Amazon, and the opportunity to read it on my Sony Reader, how can I resist?

Now that I'm getting used to spending from the $50 store credit, I have a feeling that if there is a general pricing edge over paper for the majority of e-books at the store, we'll see a lot more impulse e-book buying. Me included, which completely surprises me. It takes away some of the urgency to find public domain materials all the time. If I make impulse paper book purchases, why not e-books too? I think the $50 credit was a great way to get people used to buying online.

ChrisAllenFiz · 10-13-2006, 03:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Russell

I'm grabbing a BBeB copy of this right now, lest the price jump up on me again! At a couple of dollars less than the mass paperback price from Amazon, and the opportunity to read it on my Sony Reader, how can I resist?

Now if only they could sort out the formatting so that it is consistant and fills the page. Oh, and most of the maps in the books I bought are unreadable because they only fill 1/3 of the screen for some reason.

ojleblanc · 10-13-2006, 10:33 PM

A strange follow-up to my post on the John Dean book, "The Rehnquist Choice." I reported it cost $20.86 at the Connect store, but only $9.99 at eReader.com and Mobipocket. The book was then dropped to $7.99 at the Connect store, but it is now back to $20.86! Not sure what's going on. I just wish I had bought it during the $7.99 window.

(Sorry to double-post this info, but I realized it was more relevant to this thread than the thread on general frustrations with the Connect store).

Bob Russell · 10-14-2006, 01:06 PM

Same thing with the Patriots Club. It went down from $14.36 to $5.59, which seemed like a reasonable price and in line with their strategy. Now I checked again and it was $14.36 again. They must either have some kind of automated price setting job that runs every so often, or the publishers are fighting lower prices! ;-)

ojleblanc · 10-14-2006, 03:18 PM

Hmm... "The Rehnquist Choice" back to $7.99. I'd better buy it now!

tallguy · 10-24-2006, 04:05 PM

strange stuff. One one book I'm interested in, "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity" by David Allen, the hardcover ISBN is 0670899240 ($16.47 on amazon, $24.95 list) and the paperback ISBN is 0142000280 ($9.00 on amazon, $15 list).

On connect, the print ISBN listed is the paperback one, but the print list price is shown as 24.95.

This all seems rather disingenuous to me.

10-24-2006, 04:05 PM	#30
tallguy Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2006 Device: sony prs-500	strange stuff. One one book I'm interested in, "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity" by David Allen, the hardcover ISBN is 0670899240 ($16.47 on amazon, $24.95 list) and the paperback ISBN is 0142000280 ($9.00 on amazon, $15 list). On connect, the print ISBN listed is the paperback one, but the print list price is shown as 24.95. This all seems rather disingenuous to me. Last edited by tallguy; 10-24-2006 at 04:08 PM.

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10-09-2006, 03:51 PM	#17
Slava Addict Posts: 285 Karma: 129 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: New England Device: PRS-500 · iPad · K3	Bob, we will need another two threads 1: Things to be fixed/improved/added (probably sorted by priority) 2: Another round of questions to Sony

10-09-2006, 03:59 PM	#18
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Here we go with the prices that are oddly too high thread... https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7986

10-09-2006, 04:10 PM	#20
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	Bob meant masses of regular readers, not regular e-book readers, Liviu_5. You're right that there aren't any masses of those. At least not yet. He's hoping some of those regular readers will become regular ebook readers, a hope I share, because greater numbers means we can yell louder, and hopefully get the things changed that need changing.

10-09-2006, 06:14 PM	#21
lordvetinari2 Zealot Posts: 137 Karma: 61 Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Gijón, Spain Device: Kindle 3G+WiFi & Galaxy Note	Okay, I am starting to see a pattern here. Basically, every book available at $15.96 in Sony and already out in paperback is sold at half the price at both Mobipocket and Amazon. Fictionwise normally has them at a little bit more than Sony. I started to fill Bob's thread with a list, but I got bored and decided maybe it's better to announce my findings here. Maybe Amazon reached an exclusive agreement with the publishers requiring being the first ones with the ebook the same price as the paperback? Any ideas?

10-09-2006, 10:01 PM	#22
da_jane Evangelist Posts: 405 Karma: 692 Join Date: Sep 2006 Device: Samsung Galaxy Note 3 \| Kindle Paperwhite \| iPad Mini	Do you guys ever buy at Powells.com? That's where I buy almost all of my encrypted ebooks (other than Simon&Schuster). They sell almost all their ebooks at 20% off. Nice prices, imo.

10-11-2006, 09:16 PM	#24
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	I posted one here (Patriots Club) and had to comment on it, but didn't want to clutter the other thread... I think it is a bit demoralizing to look for a book (which takes some effort and time anyway), only to come up with a price that's out of line, or missing altogether. I love the way Sony is showing they care about getting prices right, but I sure hope they are looking at the big picture also. They obviously can't react to everything we notice, and even if they did it's only a sample. Many other frustrated customers will still find high prices, but they may never be heard from again after the $50 runs out. Surely eReader and MobiPocket have figured something out. Let's hope it's just the typical new rollout bumps in the road! Hmmm... I take it back. Maybe this is a tougher problem than I thought. It looks like nobody got this one right. MobiPocket, eReader and Fictionwise all have it at similar price levels. Yikes! Surely the publisher doesn't intend to price it so out of line with mass paperback.

10-12-2006, 10:24 PM	#25
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Here's a follow-up on my Patriots Club post. Our mysterious store price minder person has already knocked down Patriots Club to $5.59. (I hope there's not someone at Sony going sleepless trying to catch up with all the adjustments! But wow, you sure have to give them credit for effort to even pay attention to this. I don't know how long it can last, but it's much appreciated, and should be a benefit to all of the store customers.) I'm grabbing a BBeB copy of this right now, lest the price jump up on me again! At a couple of dollars less than the mass paperback price from Amazon, and the opportunity to read it on my Sony Reader, how can I resist? Now that I'm getting used to spending from the $50 store credit, I have a feeling that if there is a general pricing edge over paper for the majority of e-books at the store, we'll see a lot more impulse e-book buying. Me included, which completely surprises me. It takes away some of the urgency to find public domain materials all the time. If I make impulse paper book purchases, why not e-books too? I think the $50 credit was a great way to get people used to buying online.

10-13-2006, 10:33 PM	#27
ojleblanc Enthusiast Posts: 48 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2006 Device: iPhone/Sony Reader	A strange follow-up to my post on the John Dean book, "The Rehnquist Choice." I reported it cost $20.86 at the Connect store, but only $9.99 at eReader.com and Mobipocket. The book was then dropped to $7.99 at the Connect store, but it is now back to $20.86! Not sure what's going on. I just wish I had bought it during the $7.99 window. (Sorry to double-post this info, but I realized it was more relevant to this thread than the thread on general frustrations with the Connect store).

10-14-2006, 01:06 PM	#28
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Same thing with the Patriots Club. It went down from $14.36 to $5.59, which seemed like a reasonable price and in line with their strategy. Now I checked again and it was $14.36 again. They must either have some kind of automated price setting job that runs every so often, or the publishers are fighting lower prices! ;-)

10-14-2006, 03:18 PM	#29
ojleblanc Enthusiast Posts: 48 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2006 Device: iPhone/Sony Reader	Hmm... "The Rehnquist Choice" back to $7.99. I'd better buy it now!