Kobo Discounts: Coupon Codes + Discussion

[tempest@de]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

The Mermaid Murders by Josh Lanyon, more crime thriller than romance but I thought it was very good.

If you like Paranormal or historical I can recommend everything by KJ Charles. She is an amazing author.

Thanks Josieb1, I read a lot of great things about Josh Lanyon, I read the first book in is Adrien English series but didn’t like it very much, I found it at times was too descriptive so I haven´t read any other book from him, I see that this one is from a new series and it looks good, I think I’ll give him a new chance, providing we have a good coupon soon.

I’m not a fan of paranormal, sometimes I read historical when I’m in the mood for something different. A while ago I grabbed a freebie from kJ Charles (Think of England) it was highly recommended here in the forum, but I haven’t read it yet.

[Lynx-lynx]

Okay, so a top of the front page banner on Kobo AU: Hot titles for to 40% off.

No doubt one would expect to see discounted titles .... well .... this is Kobo .... and it seems that someone thought up a grand idea, but the implementation team didn't think it was all that grand, or something ....

The 3 titles at the top of the Hot titles screen are $11.99, $11.99, and $4.99.

As Amazon prices them the same, well except $4.74 for the third title, I can't see how the price is any different than normal.

Edit
Another thought: maybe the 'up to 40% off' means from 0% off to 40% off .....

[Amaryllis]

I decided to test their price match guarantee. One book I wanted is 16.19 on Kobo, and 9.99 on Amazon - I am curious to see what kind of response I get and how long it will take.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by tempest@de

Thanks Josieb1, I read a lot of great things about Josh Lanyon, I read the first book in is Adrien English series but didn’t like it very much, I found it at times was too descriptive so I haven´t read any other book from him, I see that this one is from a new series and it looks good, I think I’ll give him a new chance, providing we have a good coupon soon.

I’m not a fan of paranormal, sometimes I read historical when I’m in the mood for something different. A while ago I grabbed a freebie from kJ Charles (Think of England) it was highly recommended here in the forum, but I haven’t read it yet.

Think of England is very good and if you can handle Regency her Society of Gentlemen trillogy is exceptional, imo.

Book 1 is A Fashionable Indulgence, £2.15 at kobo
Book 2 is A Seditious Affair, is reduced right now to 0.80p
(book 2 is my favoritie).
Book 3 A Gentleman's Position is out in April

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/eb...ble-indulgence

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/eb...ditious-affair

[samosa]

If Amazon is cheaper than Kobo I will buy from Amazon... for the silly reason that I have several Kindles with 3G capability and I can download the books at any time. I will probably never utilize the price match guarantee unless I purchase a book by mistake...

Recently I found out another reason why I may sometimes choose to buy books elsewhere, and not from Kobo... On Google Book if a book exists in both ePub and PDF version (they call them "Original Pages") you pay once and you get both versions. On Kobo some books have both versions and I have to choose either PDF or ePub, if I want both versions I will have to buy the same book twice. Sometimes in books with maths the equations renders rather poorly in ePub and mobi (smudgy, can't see the subscripts and supercripts etc) and I need to double check on the PDF version or may be switch over to reading the book in PDF. Having access to both versions is really handy.

This one isn't a maths book but it is an example of a book being in both PDF and KePub version:
Liberalism and the Limits of Justice by Michael Sandel

[tempest@de]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

Think of England is very good and if you can handle Regency her Society of Gentlemen trillogy is exceptional, imo.

Book 1 is A Fashionable Indulgence, £2.15 at kobo
Book 2 is A Seditious Affair, is reduced right now to 0.80p
(book 2 is my favoritie).
Book 3 A Gentleman's Position is out in April

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/eb...ble-indulgence

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/eb...ditious-affair

Thank's Josie,

I went I bought A Seditious Affair to give it a try, and added the others so I can look at them later after having read this one.

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by samosa

If Amazon is cheaper than Kobo I will buy from Amazon... for the silly reason that I have several Kindles with 3G capability and I can download the books at any time. I will probably never utilize the price match guarantee unless I purchase a book by mistake...

I didn't think I'd use it either, but I have a couple times now. First, several people here had good luck with it. Second, I used it when the price paid was still acceptable. That way I wouldn't be out much if it didn't go through or have a credit it would take me a while to use if it did. If there's a big difference, I just buy where it's cheaper and don't bother.

Originally Posted by samosa

Recently I found out another reason why I may sometimes choose to buy books elsewhere, and not from Kobo... On Google Book if a book exists in both ePub and PDF version (they call them "Original Pages") you pay once and you get both versions. On Kobo some books have both versions and I have to choose either PDF or ePub, if I want both versions I will have to buy the same book twice. Sometimes in books with maths the equations renders rather poorly in ePub and mobi (smudgy, can't see the subscripts and supercripts etc) and I need to double check on the PDF version or may be switch over to reading the book in PDF. Having access to both versions is really handy.

This one isn't a maths book but it is an example of a book being in both PDF and KePub version:
Liberalism and the Limits of Justice by Michael Sandel

That's something I like about Google too. Comics are often available in both formats there.

[Lynx-lynx]

It's very quiet in this thread, and I'm wondering if it's because there are no general coupons around. That is coupons that can be used on any discountable ebook.

I know I've bought only a couple of books from Kobo over the last two to three months, when Kobo stopped sending me 90% miss you codes, and those books were .99p on sale.

My next two next in series reads are paper books from my public library and I'm first in line to read both books (Jacqueline Winspear and Donna Leon). My library stocks a lot of the types of authors I read, so I'm not overly reliant on Kobo.

Well, if other's are like me it means that whilst we're saving money by not buying ebooks then Kobo isn't making money.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Well, if other's are like me it means that whilst we're saving money by not buying ebooks then Kobo isn't making money.

It's also not losing money, as it must have been with the 90% codes!

It was nice while it lasted, and it lasted longer than I thought it would. Now Kobo's got to get people to adjust their expectations in regard to discounts and I think it will take some time.

[cromag]

I just bolstered my TBR pile over at Smashwords thanks to the Read an Ebook promotions. Otherwise, I've been buying at Amazon.

I'd love to see a viable alternative to Amazon. but Kobo would have to make some major improvements to get there. When I buy an ebook at Amazon -- or, really, anywhere else -- it's a pretty routine transaction. I order, I pay, I download. But with Kobo there is often a snag. And when there's a snag you have to deal with their customer service. I've been there a few times.

I factor that "potential hassle" into my buying choices. Without a very hefty financial incentive (discount) I go elsewhere.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by issybird

Now Kobo's got to get people to adjust their expectations in regard to discounts and I think it will take some time.

Gonna be tough, although I guess they've been working their way towards it. When they launched it was $1 and $3 off no minimum purchase reusable codes, then the high percentage reusables, then they've been verrry slowly reducing percentages of the codes available and mostly doing away with multi use codes only to throw some out from time to time keeping folks expecting them. Thy've been trying the buy 2 get 1 type offers too, but those are hindered by limited selection. Now they seem to have quit everything almost cold turkey

Originally Posted by cromag

When I buy an ebook at Amazon -- or, really, anywhere else -- it's a pretty routine transaction. I order, I pay, I download. .

Yes, and they also have a painless process after the sale for getting updates to books when publishers fix things in them. Kobo, not so much.

I factor that "potential hassle" into my buying choices. Without a very hefty financial incentive (discount) I go elsewhere.

I'm with you on that. After my adventures with Kobo CS it's got to be a bargain or I have no incentive to shop there even though I primarily use a Kobo device.


That said I don't know how important customers like me are to them in their mind. If the majority of folks who own Kobo devices shop there exclusively since that's the device they have they probably don't care too much about bargain hunters and the like.

I remember reading an article a few years ago and Kobo had different classifications for different kinds of buyers, with cutesy names and everything. If their data shows they'd do okay, or possibly better, without the bargain shoppers and such then we may have seen the end of discount codes for the most part. Then again it's Kobo we might see a contest soon for Easter.

[lkmiller]

Kobo is my first choice because my Kobo is my favorite reader. Unless I don't want to bother with a price match or it's not available, I stick with Kobo.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

Kobo is my first choice because my Kobo is my favorite reader. Unless I don't want to bother with a price match or it's not available, I stick with Kobo.

I'd guess that's the majority of Kobo buyers too.

One guy at work doesn't care about prices, except if it's a price he's willing to pay when he goes to purchase. He doesn't care if it's $2, $5 or $10 cheaper on Amazon and says it's not worth the time to compare prices, not to mention convert if he were to buy from Amazon.

[GeoffR]

Something seems to be happening with HarperCollins' prices in New Zealand:

Google NZ is no longer discounting the HarperCollins books I have checked, they are all selling at the publisher list price. Kobo is still discounting, and promo codes still work on the HarperCollins titles I've checked, but it looks like a lot of the prices haven't been updated for quite a while, there are some that are much cheaper than list and some that are more expensive, and I have noticed a few recent HarperCollins publisher specials that have been available at Google NZ but did not show up at Kobo NZ.

I wonder if HarperCollins is in the process of switching to publisher-set pricing in New Zealand, like Hachette and Macmillan UK?

[sufue]

I was thinking the same thing, and I too haven't been buying much from Kobo in the past couple of months...

It's not just that Kobo hasn't had many coupons recently, but that they tend (on what I want to buy, at least) to start from a higher price too. So, if they want to reset my expectations to not having coupons, they also need to reset theirs a bit and offer at least close to competitive prices. It sort of reminds me of the couple year old JC Penney debacle in the United States (except that Kobo hasn't even done the everyday low prices).

From Forbes (emphasis mine):

Anyone who has an affinity for American business icons — as testaments to this country’s long-standing fondness for the free enterprise system— cannot help but be concerned over the fate of JC Penney JCP +4.19% . The company continues to lose money and burn cash, with no turnaround in sight. Investors are bailing out from the stock, which dropped to single digits during Friday’s trade, following a stock offering by the company.

What haunts JC Penney?

A strategic mistake made close to two years ago, regarding its pricing strategy –replacement of sales through coupons with everyday low prices.

The old policy has been working well for retailers, because it hypes consumer emotions, making them feel smart and encouraging them to talk with other consumers about it. That’s how hype and buzz begins.

JC Penney did away with this strategy after Ron Johnson assumed the helm of the company, modeling the company’s stores after those of Apple AAPL -1.12%.

link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmou.../#36e0e7c73a6c

All other things being equal, I prefer ePub, so would prefer to buy from Kobo, but at the moment, mostly I'm buying stuff on sale at Amazon, and also reading from the three libraries I belong to.

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

It's very quiet in this thread, and I'm wondering if it's because there are no general coupons around. That is coupons that can be used on any discountable ebook.

I know I've bought only a couple of books from Kobo over the last two to three months, when Kobo stopped sending me 90% miss you codes, and those books were .99p on sale.

My next two next in series reads are paper books from my public library and I'm first in line to read both books (Jacqueline Winspear and Donna Leon). My library stocks a lot of the types of authors I read, so I'm not overly reliant on Kobo.

Well, if other's are like me it means that whilst we're saving money by not buying ebooks then Kobo isn't making money.