Fictionwise vs the Kindle Store

[Marcy]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

I should add, that another reason I don't shop around on top of not buying that many books, is that I pay for mine mostly through Amazon gift cards I get as rewards from my amazon Visa (put everything on it, pay it off in full each month).

So on top of not spending much, I'm not spending much "real" money anyway. Giving me even less incentive to bother shopping for deals on books that are $6-9.99 at Amazon anyway. Not worth the hassle to save a buck or two here and there.

The thing is, if you massage the fictionwise system properly you can with some work pay about $2.75/book and very easily pay $3.50/book. That's a big savings if you buy a lot of books. If you don't buy many books, it probably isn't worth the effort or joining the buywise club.

I'm embarassed to admit how many books I bought in December from fictionwise. The 40-60% rebates/discount combined with the 25% off coupons available made the $2.50 price point easy. I just went through my Quickbooks file and found my average price/book at Fictionwise for 2009 was $2.31, and that was after excluding the few short stories I bought. Not too shabby, especially considering I got all my Micropay Dollars by buying 100% rebate books that were usually >$10 and often >$20. This also includes the 5-year Buywise membership I bought this year -- If I had only bought a 1-year membership that would have brought the average down even more.

-Marcy

[dmaul1114]

Yeah, with buying 1-3 books a month it's just not worth the effort, nor the Buywise membership for me.

Definitely worth it for those who buy more. I'm much more of a deal shopper with Blu Rays and Movies, as well as video game, as I buy more and the costs are higher to begin with.

[Rob G.]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

You either have to purchase one of their DRM-free multi-format titles or pick any format, strip the DRM and convert (if you pick something other than mobi).

Wow, that was much easier than I expected, considering the Kindle likes MobiPocket in it's unsecured form.

I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about the whole discount thing and having to think about how I buy, but I signed up for a year of the club, so we'll see how it works out.

[Ea]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

Would you mind clarifying this? My understanding is that geo-restrictions are based on the for publishing rights in each country. If you are restricted from purchasing a book from the U.S. Kindle store, that same restriction should apply at any U.S. based ebook retailer (Fictionwise, BoB, B&N...).

I've bought books recently from Amazon, which I couldn't buy from FW. Actually, FictionWise seem to me to be by far the harshest at the moment. There's been few books I've looked for at Amazon, that I couldn't buy. Currently though, I'm taking advantage of cyberread.com's current offer of 40% off a purchase for writing a review. Then it gets hard to beat.

Originally Posted by Crusader

Yup, the Kindle store isn't that great for non-US users.

Not sure where $2.30 extra came from - for a $9.99 USA price, I'm charged $13.79 here in Denmark.... That's + $3.80

[Crusader]

Originally Posted by Ea

Not sure where $2.30 extra came from - for a $9.99 USA price, I'm charged $13.79 here in Denmark.... That's + $3.80

It seems to vary by country and depends on the taxes of that country. I know for SA it's an extra $2.00, for the UK $2.30 (according to user reports).

[Ea]

Originally Posted by Crusader

It seems to vary by country and depends on the taxes of that country. I know for SA it's an extra $2.00, for the UK $2.30 (according to user reports).

I was of the impression that it was the same amount for EU member countries, but of course they could have started to charge individually. It doesn't fit quite though:
$9,99 + $1,99 (presumed wireless hidden fee) = 11,98
+25% Danish VAT on this amount gives $14,98 which is $1.20 too much.

From previous discussions it was my impression that it was 15% for Europe (or only EU countries?), which is British VAT (apparently because Amazon USA is VAT registered for Europe (or EU) in Britain. (9,99+1,99)*1,15 = 13,77 which fits better.

[DawnFalcon]

UK VAT was temporarily reduced to 15%, it's back up to 17.5% as of this year.

[jasonkchapman]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

Yeah, with buying 1-3 books a month it's just not worth the effort, nor the Buywise membership for me.

Definitely worth it for those who buy more. I'm much more of a deal shopper with Blu Rays and Movies, as well as video game, as I buy more and the costs are higher to begin with.

I subscribe to three magazines through FW; F&SF, Asimov's, and Analog. That just about gets me to the breakeven point for the Buywise membership every year. The rest is gravy.

[tsgreer]

Well, the biggest draw for me to the Kindle store is the selection. You mentioned in your OP that "Kindle fanatics" seem love the amazon e-book store more than they should. Well, you know, since you don't own a kindle, no wonder you don't love the Kindle store.

But people who have a Kindle, love the Amazon site because for us, we don't have a problem getting our books onto the Kindle!! Also, most of the books you selected for the experiment were sci-fi, by the way. In my experience, fictionwise caters more towards sci-fi titles in their selection, but I could be way off base on that one. Just my observation.

I think Amazon has the best selection overall. I know some may hate Amazon, but the fact is that they have a broader selection--which is the very reason some people hate on them. Hating something because of the hype is understandable, but facts are facts. Unless I am wrong, then I don't know my facts. Which could be a fact.

Now, I do most of my reading on a Sony Reader 300. But I have a Kindle, so for me, the amazon store is the best place to buy ebooks. Many, many times I have seen a book on Amazon that I liked and then checked around, but the other stores just don't have it or it's more expensive.

So basically, I'm saying you have a flaw in your argument about Kindle fanatics going ga-ga over the store. If you are a non-kindle owner, there is no reason for you to enjoy the Amazon store because it's harder for you to buy books. For Kindle people, on average, it's just easier to stick with Amazon--because of selection and ease of reading right away

Now, there are exceptions, but selection-wise, it seems that the publishers gravitate towards Amazon. Irritating to some, yes, but a fact nontheless.

Now having said that, I hate the Topaz format. Because I like to own my books and be able to read them on any device. But that's another argument and I just don't buy Topaz books because I cannot liberate them from their heavy chains of woe...

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by tsgreer

I think Amazon has the best selection overall. I know some may hate Amazon, but the fact is that they have a broader selection--which is the very reason some people hate on them. Hating something because of the hype is understandable, but facts are facts. Unless I am wrong, then I don't know my facts. Which could be a fact.

I agree. I don't hate Amazon, but until recently I was very frustrated by them - here was this wonderful selection of ebooks, at good prices, and I didn't have access to them. In the long run it worked out well for me because it forced me to learn how to shop Fictionwise to my best advantage, but since I bought an iPod Touch (and now that K4PC has been cracked) I have the best of both worlds. I buy from Fictionwise most of the time, waiting and taking advantage of their micropay and sales, but if there's something that I want/need NOW and there's no sale in progress, I'll check Amazon because it may very well be cheaper there.

[Crusader]

For international users the Amazon selection is limited as well. I did consider a Kindle but none of the authors I enjoy were available for my region. So the selection at Amazon will greatly depend on your location.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by DawnFalcon

Okay, and for non-Americans, what happens when you include a $2.35 (UK VAT returns to 17.5% in 2010, so not $2.30 anymore...) fee per Kindle book?
Well, let's do it: 34 books, so...
Kindle store: $199.87
Fictionwise: $135.24
Although half the books probably aren't available, it does illustrate my repeated point about the Kindle not being the best deal outside America for many books.

The VAT is a government levy not a store levy. If Fictionwise is not applying this levy it is either because you lied in your geo settings for Fictionwise or they are just not respecting foreign tax policies.

[DawnFalcon]

No, =X=, Amazon charge a $2 contingency fee for "international" purchases. I was making the point that said fee was $2.35 because of the 17.5% VAT rate we've returned to rather than $2.30 from the 15% rate we had last year.

It's not about tax on the books themselves.

[=X=]

Ah okay now I understand

Does amazon also charge a $2 fee if you buy books from Kindle for PC

[DawnFalcon]

Yes, it does. (That's why I refer to it as a "contingency fee")