Publishers still missing the point on e-book prices

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

Don't expect them all to be $3.

However, don't expect any novel, ever, to be $30.

$30??? I'll never buy it, HB or not.

[spindlegirl]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

$30??? I'll never buy it, HB or not.

I got my Kobo wifi in april. I went and looked in the Kobo bookstore for a book that I had read. The first book in a series of 18. It was 29.99. I posted my shock and horror in my "to read" bookshelf on Goodreads, that that book should be that price when all its sequels were far less. (and it was not a boxed set bundle, I checked repeatedly)

I suppose an employee must have had a Google alert for when they were mentioned, because prior to my posting it remained steady at $29.99 for weeks. The price was then re-adjusted to 9.99, and it was the same book because I had it bookmarked. (Either that or it was a strange coincidence) By then I had gotten it from the library, and had spent my budget on other things, and no longer cared, even deleting it from my bookshelf on Goodreads.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by spindlegirl

I got my Kobo wifi in april. I went and looked in the Kobo bookstore for a book that I had read. The first book in a series of 18. It was 29.99. I posted my shock and horror in my "to read" bookshelf on Goodreads, that that book should be that price when all its sequels were far less. (and it was not a boxed set bundle, I checked repeatedly)

I suppose an employee must have had a Google alert for when they were mentioned, because prior to my posting it remained steady at $29.99 for weeks. The price was then re-adjusted to 9.99, and it was the same book because I had it bookmarked. (Either that or it was a strange coincidence) By then I had gotten it from the library, and had spent my budget on other things, and no longer cared, even deleting it from my bookshelf on Goodreads.

If you think that a price is wrong (and this clearly was wrong) it's always worth checking with the bookstore. Prices are entered by people, and they do sometimes make mistakes.

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

Don't expect them all to be $3.

However, don't expect any novel, ever, to be $30.

(Shrug)

Yet there have NYT #1 bestsellers that have been $30 for the hardcover and $19 for the ebook. Obviously, tens of thousands of people think those prices are fine. Now you can disagree with the value judgments of such buyers, but it reinforces my contention that there are multiple price points for the book market, just as there are for many other markets.
If I am a guy with lots of disposable income, whose dream is to have a book lined, Victorian style personal library, then $30 or more for a bestseller HC is acceptable. Clearly its not acceptable for many people, but variety is the spice of life, etc.

[Mel]

If I am a guy with lots of disposable income, whose dream is to have a book lined, Victorian style personal library, then $30 or more for a bestseller HC is acceptable. Clearly its not acceptable for many people, but variety is the spice of life, etc.

The publishers don't see that variety. Because there are currently a sufficient number of people paying $30 for hardcovers to keep the publishers behind their mahogany desks in their high rise New York buildings they've decided everyone should pay that for the life of the book.

Perhaps they just need to put e-book prices on a timer. First 6 months $30, second 6 months $15, 2nd year $7, 5th year $2.50. Everyone can wait for the price they like.

[JD Gumby]

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

Don't expect them all to be $3.

However, don't expect any novel, ever, to be $30.

...other than the majority of hardcovers, of course.

[HarryT]

Wow - hardbacks are expensive where you live! They typically sell for about £12-15 in the UK, which is about $19-24.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Wow - hardbacks are expensive where you live! They typically sell for about £12-15 in the UK, which is about $19-24.

In the US full list price is $25-$30. This is what you may pay in an independent "mom & pop" bookstore as they usually don't discount. B&N may give you a slight discount in their physical stores.

We've all become accustomed to Amazon's big discounts on HCs which bring the cost down to $14-$18.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by TechnoCat

But why do you consider TV and radio irrelevant? Or the digital providers? If when you said streaming media you excluded audio and video, what precisely were you leaving in the mix? What precisely makes ebooks (and web pages) more different than TV/video is from Radio/audio?

Sorry, this is probably my fault for not being specific. I was referring to ebooks and its hardware when I stated "digital."

I keep hearing how ebooks will be 50, 60, 70% of the market in the next year or two but that won't be possible unless we see companies starting to earn a healthy profit. R&D and other expansions are expensive and then we have downward pressure on prices both for ebooks and hardware. Not a good combo for long term growth.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

Don't expect them all to be $3.

However, don't expect any novel, ever, to be $30.

Rule 34 by Charles Stross in hardcover is 198SEK ($29) which is a normal price in Sweden for imported hardcovers. A lot of them are more expensive.

So I definitely expect new paper books in English to be around $30.

[stonetools]

Mike Shatzkin asks this question:

Can Amazon continue to be relied upon to discount from high publisher suggested retail prices (the basis of high wholesale prices for the retailer), or will Amazon sell more frequently at the publisher’s declared price to “encourage” publishers to cut their suggested retail priceas and therefore bring Amazon’s costs, and publishers margins, down?

LINK

Publishers in the US really need to bring down their list prices to conform with reality. Perhaps the DOJ will force them to agree to this in return for letting agency pricing continue.

[HarryT]

What's interesting there, ST, is to compare Amazon UK's Kindle book prices with paperback prices. Now, of course, the Kindle book price is generally set by the publisher, while Amazon are free to discount the paperback. What you find in nearly all cases, though, is that the publisher has discounted the eBook to just - normally a penny or so - below what Amazon have set as the paperback price. Clearly the publishers are taking Amazon's paperback prices as the cue for what people are willing to pay, and are setting eBook prices just a little lower.

I don't know if you see the same pattern of behavior in the US with Amazon and the agency publishers?

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by HarryT

What's interesting there, ST, is to compare Amazon UK's Kindle book prices with paperback prices. Now, of course, the Kindle book price is generally set by the publisher, while Amazon are free to discount the paperback. What you find in nearly all cases, though, is that the publisher has discounted the eBook to just - normally a penny or so - below what Amazon have set as the paperback price. Clearly the publishers are taking Amazon's paperback prices as the cue for what people are willing to pay, and are setting eBook prices just a little lower.

I don't know if you see the same pattern of behavior in the US with Amazon and the agency publishers?

Really? That's quite interesting. I would be willing to pay PB and MMPB prices for an ebook.

I hadn't noticed that here (US) but I don't do as much book buying from Amazon as I used to. Mostly I just get the free books from them and then I buy in places like Baen, fictionwise and Smashwords. A few indies here & there as well.

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by HarryT

What's interesting there, ST, is to compare Amazon UK's Kindle book prices with paperback prices. Now, of course, the Kindle book price is generally set by the publisher, while Amazon are free to discount the paperback. What you find in nearly all cases, though, is that the publisher has discounted the eBook to just - normally a penny or so - below what Amazon have set as the paperback price. Clearly the publishers are taking Amazon's paperback prices as the cue for what people are willing to pay, and are setting eBook prices just a little lower.

I don't know if you see the same pattern of behavior in the US with Amazon and the agency publishers?

Hey Harrry, I just looked thjrough my wishlist. The pattern I see is this: when a book is is in hardcover, the price is generally between 12.99-14.99. (One of the books, The Swerve, is an astonishing $9.43. even though its still in HC).
When books come out in PB, the default price falls to 9.99. There are a handful of books where the ebook price is between 7.99-9.99, and there are a handful above 9.99. Sometimes there are promotions in which the publishers allow deep discounts temporarily.

The misconception that publishers NEVER allow discounts is just that- a misconception. We all wish of course that they would allow more.

I would say that in US the publishers generally do try to set ebook prices around where the PB price is, for books that are in PB.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by stonetools

The misconception that publishers NEVER allow discounts is just that- a misconception. We all wish of course that they would allow more.

The point about agency pricing is that the publishers DON'T allow the seller to discount the book; they themselves set the price, and the seller can't touch it. The publisher themselves may choose to discount the book, and in the vast majority of cases they actually do discount it, but the seller has no say in the matter.