The ebook is *HOW MUCH*?!

[GERGE]

Seveneves is a bestselling Kindle book right now, with a price of $17. It deserves it, quality cannot be quantified with the price.

[ebusinesstutor]

Originally Posted by ingmar

It's probably because you're in the Netherlands? I am offered $16.96 here in Austria. Might well be a glitch, though, taxes can't account for that much.

Perhaps Amazon hates the Dutch like Nigel Powers on Goldmember?

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by ebusinesstutor

Perhaps Amazon hates the Dutch like Nigel Powers on Goldmember?

Could be worse, here in the UK it doesn't even seem to be available.

[cadele]

Not available in Australia either. Typical...

[crich70]

I stick mostly to sites like MR myself. The books may not be new releases but they are all the same price. And when I do buy a new book I either stick to an inexpensive book (.99 to 2.99 usually) or I will download the sample first to make sure I will like it before shelling out my funds.

[Komavary]

Not only in NL. Same thing with different titles from JP too. I have started seeing this a few months ago.

There are two easy way to compare the intended and local price:
1. Put the book into your wishlist.
2. Click the "See all X formats and editions" option. You will see the intended US price)

Now, I could understand an addition dollar or two as "international tax", but double price?

(Interestingly, while I have no data to back it up, it looks like that less book have the Whispersync (ebook plus audio) option if you access the site from a non-US location.)

Here is an example:

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by GERGE

Seveneves is a bestselling Kindle book right now, with a price of $17. It deserves it, quality cannot be quantified with the price.

Really? The product page for this book does a great job puffing it but they never claim it's a best-selling book. Can you tell me where you got the information that it's a best-selling Kindle book right now?

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Really? The product page for this book does a great job puffing it but they never claim it's a best-selling book. Can you tell me where you got the information that it's a best-selling Kindle book right now?

As a Kindle book, it's number 3164. As a pbook it's number 86. So as a book I'd call it a bestseller, yes. As a Kindle book, perhaps not so much.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0062190377

[treadlightly]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Really? The product page for this book does a great job puffing it but they never claim it's a best-selling book. Can you tell me where you got the information that it's a best-selling Kindle book right now?

It is currently #60 in Kindle Format.

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-K...digital-text#3

[Barcey]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, sound business. There will always be people who are willing to pay more to read a book when it's initially published. Wait for the paperback release and the ebook price will fall dramatically. Baen have done the same for years with their "Advance Reader Copy" (ARC) ebook releases.

You really don't know if it's "sound business" or not. Just because it's been done that way in the past doesn't make it sound. To know if it's sound or not you'd need to know how many sales they lost because of the higher price and nobody knows that. Amazon probably has the best data on this and they've made it clear that their analytic information shows it isn't sound business. I'm inclined to believe them but I acknowledge that they don't know for sure either.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Barcey

You really don't know if it's "sound business" or not. Just because it's been done that way in the past doesn't make it sound. To know if it's sound or not you'd need to know how many sales they lost because of the higher price and nobody knows that. Amazon probably has the best data on this and they've made it clear that their analytic information shows it isn't sound business. I'm inclined to believe them but I acknowledge that they don't know for sure either.

By definition, nobody can know what would have happened had they done something that they didn't actually do, but I'm inclined to believe that publishers have a good understanding of the book market. The fact that someone didn't buy a book at a higher price doesn't automatically make it a "lost sale", of course; there are people like me who will wait for the MMPB release to buy the ebook at a lower price.

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by crich70

I stick mostly to sites like MR myself. The books may not be new releases but they are all the same price. And when I do buy a new book I either stick to an inexpensive book (.99 to 2.99 usually) or I will download the sample first to make sure I will like it before shelling out my funds.

This. Many authors I know I am going to like, but for someone I've never read before... I want a sample.