Cost of eBooks vs dead-tree books

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by binaryhermit

But someone around here (I want to say Quoth, but I might be wrong there) said that increasingly bigger publishers are going to PoD for stuff they expect to sell slowly, like backlist titles.

I have no idea. But I'm sure I suggested that they OUGHT to do POD. Entire Catalogue.

On average:
Big name publisher ebooks are cheaper than Trade size copy in Bookshop, but not always cheaper than discount mass market in the Supermarket, but the supermarket discounted titles are a small percentage of titles.
Self published ebooks are either too cheap, or else gratuitously in multiple volumes to make them expensive for the entire "work". Many are priced reasonably.
Some books that are either out of copyright, or should be, are overly expensive as ebooks.

I prefer the paper version, though if the price is right I'll buy both.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Could it be that you're seeing hardcover prices increasing? A quick glance at my Amazon digital orders shows a fairly consistent $12-$16 for new Big-X (no idea what the number is any more) titles purchased on or near release-day over the last 3 years or so.

Maybe it is hardcover discounts are decreasing.

[Quoth]

New titles in the actual bookshop (Mid West of Ireland) for initial paperback release seem to be now €11 to €22, with the more popular authors at the €17 to €22.

Very few fiction hardbacks now in the local bookshop, except the expensive editions of classic omnibus of texts ironically on Gutenberg. Conan Doyle, Shakespeare, etc.

[John F]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Could it be that you're seeing hardcover prices increasing? A quick glance at my Amazon digital orders shows a fairly consistent $12-$16 for new Big-X (no idea what the number is any more) titles purchased on or near release-day over the last 3 years or so.

Anything is possible.

But that seems to disagree with what you previously posted? You said "Amazon digital orders shows a fairly consistent $12-$16 for new Big-X" and "I'm seeing the same savings on KindleBooks (over their paper counterpart prices) on average that I always have (post-Agency, anyway)".

And again, it is my impression. And I should further qualify it: fiction only with very little attention paid to some genres.

[DiapDealer]

I shouldn't have said "savings". My mistake. I don't often look at prices other than the ebook price. And since that has stayed fairly consistent over the last several years, I mistakenly assumed the savings were the same. I didn't take into account that the discount on hardcovers might be decreasing. That could have the effect of leading those who frequently compare hc prices to ebook prices to believe that ebook prices were being discounted more.

But allow me to be perfectly clear: release-day fiction ebook prices from the major publishers has remained fairly consistent for me over the last 3 years or so at Amazon.

[ottdmk]

I have to admit, I miss p-book sales sometimes. I used to buy a lot of books off of Chapters' regular "buy 3 get the 4th free" sales... which had the advantage of being store-wide.

Still, I like Agency. IMHO Agency is the only thing stopping an Amazon monopsony in the ebook space, and, for the most part, prices for the ebooks I want to buy are consistently a bit cheaper than the price for the closest paper format (MMPB often, TPB growing lately.)

In addition, sales, when they do happen from the publishers, can be astonishing. I picked up every Jim Butcher book I didn't own already in epub for $2.99 per book. Even Battle Ground, which, at the time of the sale, hadn't been released yet.

Yesterday, a four-book bundle of Sarah J. Maas' work went on sale for $3.99. ($3.59 with Kobo VIP.) It's back to the regular price now... $46.43 with the VIP discount. (You can still get the sale @ Amazon Canada if you're interested.)

All told, I'm happy with the current situation. I'm spending about the same as I would have for p-books, in a format that I greatly prefer, and sometimes, I'm paying a lot, lot less. (I would never have gotten Butcher's library for $2.99 a pop in the p-book realm. Never, ever happen.)

[darryl]

From what I can see the Big 5 are experimenting with what seems to be a very rational approach to maximise their e-book profits. New Releases are priced at a premium, as they always have been. However, when those prepared to pay that premium have been exhausted, the price is now often reduced, either permanently or for short promotions. It seems that the Big 5 are experimenting in pricing e-books so as to pick up demand at successively lower price points. Some Big 5 e-books are in fact sufficiently reduced in price so as to compete with Indie titles, if not permanently at least in periodic promotions. So far as older back-list titles are concerned, I'm not sure what is happening. Whilst some seem to be priced to compete with Indies, many seem to be available only at $9.99 and above.

Agency is still relatively new to the Big 5, as is retail price competition. They continue to experiment in an ever-changing environment. As has been pointed out in this and other threads, costs including production and distribution are relevant to pricing only when considering the lower boundary of possible selling prices. This is usually only a primary consideration in a highly competitive market. Rational sellers seek to set prices so as to maximise their overall profits. For the Big 5 the print book remains the primary product, with e-book's ancillary. They produce paper books and e-books. For Indies, e-books are the primary product. Where paper books are available, they are usually produced on demand rather than printed and distributed through physical book stores. It is naive to believe that the relevant considerations used in setting an e-book price are the same for Indies as for the Big 5. In particular, the Big 5 must consider the effects of e-book prices on paper book prices, and the status of e-books as ancillary to paper books. Likewise, Indies don't seem to care about paper book prices or in fact paper book sales. It quite simply makes sense for the Big 5 to keep e-book prices at a level that does not risk cannibalising their paper book sales during the periods when most paper books are sold. Likewise, once paper book sales have slowed down or stopped, it makes sense to then experiment with lowering e-book prices to pick up the demand at lower price points. This is simply not a consideration for e-book only publishers.

[barryem]

I just looked up an old book "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith, published 77 years ago in 1943. The ebook is $9.99 and the paper book is $15.99. So while it's true that the paper book is more expensive it's also true that both are overpriced. By the way, that's not truly a complaint. In capitalism that happens and it makes sense when there's demand, which there seems to be. And yet that's a lot of money to pay for a book that was published 77 years ago. I wouldn't pay it.

I did buy the book a few years ago when it was on sale for $2.99. (I just checked that). That's the way to buy ebooks. Catch them on sale. I read a lot of old books and old books nearly always go on sale.

By the way, even though I recognize that prices like that make sense in our system that doesn't mean I think they're fair or reasonable or any such thing. Capitalism is a way to control greed and this is another example of greed under control. But controlled greed is still greed. Someday in a more perfect world old books will cost very little.

By the way again, publishers, decades ago, tried to charge royalties on resales of used books. That way they could keep on making money on old books as long as they stayed in copyright. The Supreme Court in the USA, and I suppose similar bodies in other countries, said no. But now they've found ways to do it with ebooks.

Barry

[Luffy]

That's crazy. For $15.99, you can now get the latest Brandon Sanderson ebook, which is 1230 pages long.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by darryl

From what I can see the Big 5 are experimenting with what seems to be a very rational approach to maximise their e-book profits. New Releases are priced at a premium, as they always have been. However, when those prepared to pay that premium have been exhausted, the price is now often reduced, either permanently or for short promotions. It seems that the Big 5 are experimenting in pricing e-books so as to pick up demand at successively lower price points. Some Big 5 e-books are in fact sufficiently reduced in price so as to compete with Indie titles, if not permanently at least in periodic promotions. So far as older back-list titles are concerned, I'm not sure what is happening. Whilst some seem to be priced to compete with Indies, many seem to be available only at $9.99 and above.

Agency is still relatively new to the Big 5, as is retail price competition. They continue to experiment in an ever-changing environment. As has been pointed out in this and other threads, costs including production and distribution are relevant to pricing only when considering the lower boundary of possible selling prices. This is usually only a primary consideration in a highly competitive market. Rational sellers seek to set prices so as to maximise their overall profits. For the Big 5 the print book remains the primary product, with e-book's ancillary. They produce paper books and e-books. For Indies, e-books are the primary product. Where paper books are available, they are usually produced on demand rather than printed and distributed through physical book stores. It is naive to believe that the relevant considerations used in setting an e-book price are the same for Indies as for the Big 5. In particular, the Big 5 must consider the effects of e-book prices on paper book prices, and the status of e-books as ancillary to paper books. Likewise, Indies don't seem to care about paper book prices or in fact paper book sales. It quite simply makes sense for the Big 5 to keep e-book prices at a level that does not risk cannibalising their paper book sales during the periods when most paper books are sold. Likewise, once paper book sales have slowed down or stopped, it makes sense to then experiment with lowering e-book prices to pick up the demand at lower price points. This is simply not a consideration for e-book only publishers.

Another aspect to consider is prices of books that are out of print and not available as an eBook. For example, I can buy a copy of the The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History: From 3500 B.C. to the Present by Dupuy and Dupuy, a book of rather specialized interest which I bought at list price for $65 when it came out some 30 years ago, for prices ranging from $163 to $333 used and $253 new. One can't pound the table about the publishers in this case, since it's no longer in the publisher's control. It's purely a case of the market searching for the proper price point for a book of limited interest to the general public.

Overall, the publishers have done a reasonable job of establishing price points to maximize their profit, using a pricing model that has been successful for a long time. They have really done a better job than the music industry or movie industry, in that regard.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by barryem

I just looked up an old book "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith, published 77 years ago in 1943. The ebook is $9.99 and the paper book is $15.99. So while it's true that the paper book is more expensive it's also true that both are overpriced.

Originally Posted by Luffy

That's crazy. For $15.99, you can now get the latest Brandon Sanderson ebook, which is 1230 pages long.

Probably required reading in enough schools that it can sell at that price.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Probably required reading in enough schools that it can sell at that price.

If it was post-secondary, they could probably get away with selling it at $500 and just give you a crappy little slip of paper with an "access code." I swear textbook publishing is a racket.

[binaryhermit]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I swear textbook publishing is a racket.

It's almost like they're bribing professors.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I swear textbook publishing is a racket.

Originally Posted by binaryhermit

It's almost like they're bribing professors.

Going by my university days, many of the professors were also the authors of many of my textbooks.

[Apache]

A friend in the text book publishing business told me that they used to pay professors if they required students to buy their books. And that professors also change books every couple of years to prevent the students from using used text books.
Apache