Kobo Price Match - does it work?

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Kobo sells ereaders and ebooks. Those ebooks can be downloaded and read on any device or app that can read epubs. And people here do buy ebooks from Kobo that do not have a Kobo device or use the Kobo apps.

Moving the thread where would get the OP better answers? If you were suggesting the "Deals, Freebies, and Resources" forum, I might agree. The OP is asking about a "deal". But, any mention of the Kobo store gets pushed here. Unlike any equivalent mention of the Amazon book store which get left wherever it is mentioned.

To the OP: Sorry for the sidetracking. As others have said, people are claiming and getting something from Kobo. There has been some discussion in the forum I mentioned above, especially in the Kobo coupons thread. The main complaint I can think of has been that it can take a few days, but most seem to get the desired result.

Actually I was suggesting here instead of General Discussions.

[Rockin]

Originally Posted by bhyde

Here the particulars for the book:

9780190217037 is the #

https://www.google.com/search?q=9780...#wptab=BookGet

If that is the exact link you sent to Kobo, I can see it didn't work. It took me to a search results page. You should use the exact page for the book.

Like:
https://play.google.com/store/books/...d=TnqECgAAQBAJ

BTW: I have never had a price match be rejected in 8 or so uses.

[ottdmk]

For this particular book, it appears that price matching against Amazon would be worth it. Kobo lists the book @ $15.99, which is better then Google @ 19.62. Kindle has it for $12.74.

All of these are from US sites. If you're elsewhere in the world, not sure what the prices are.

[Rockin]

It showed 9.99 at google. I checked the link I added and it didn't have a price listed. Wonder if that was because I wasn't signed in.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Actually I was suggesting here instead of General Discussions.

And my point was why is it coming here? It was moved from General Discussion because that is for "General discussions about e-book reading not specific to a device, software or format". The post is not about a device, is not specific to a format and is not referring to any particular software. The only reason to bring it here is that it mentions "Kobo".

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by Rockin

It showed 9.99 at google. I checked the link I added and it didn't have a price listed. Wonder if that was because I wasn't signed in.

When I clicked on your link, it showed a price of $34.80 crossed out with the price of $19.62 beside it, making it more expensive than the current Kobo price. And I wasn't signed in when I checked.

Perhaps the price is cheaper when you are signed in?

If so, would that be considered some sort bargain/special deal and perhaps disqualify it for the purposes of Price Matching?

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by davidfor

And my point was why is it coming here? It was moved from General Discussion because that is for "General discussions about e-book reading not specific to a device, software or format". The post is not about a device, is not specific to a format and is not referring to any particular software. The only reason to bring it here is that it mentions "Kobo".

Ok here is my thinking and I may be way off base, I do wind up in center left field every now and again. If I need to know if anything related to Kobo works, I would want to be where the Kobo users are. That appears to be here. If I need kindle, I will go there. Samsung I would go to android. For pampered chef stoneware, I wound up at you tube.
None of which fit in general or what to buy.

[bgalbrecht]

Originally Posted by CmplxAdSys

I've used it several times, and never had an issue. You have to be careful with the fine print, though - for the price match to be valid, Kobo has to have the same ISBN as the book you found at another source for a lower price. This often means that Amazon prices don't apply, since Amazon doesn't use ISBN, but ASIN. You can also sometimes find a PDF for cheaper, but that won't apply since Kobo stocks ePubs only nowadays.

I usually use Google Books to find a lower price, but then buy it through Kobo. I copy-paste the ISBN from Google Books to Kobo's site and search based on that just to confirm that the ISBN is the same before I buy it.

Most of my price comparisons have been with books on sale at Amazon, and I don't think I've ever had one rejected, although in September, I had one rejected, I complained to a customer service person in a chat, and I showed them a link to an Open Road Media promotion page that showed it had been on sale that day (although they were originally confused because I bought it in the evening which made their GMT purchase time look like the following day) , and then there was another ORM sale item a few days later (which was on sale 2 days later at Kobo) that took about 2 weeks and multiple incidents with their Customer Service before I got the refund. A couple of days ago, I had two price matches that were submitted and refunded the same day.

I get the impression that the customer service team that you can chat with or talk to can't see very much detail about the price match request, that there's a special price match customer service team that can see the full details.

[darryl]

It's nice to know that Kobo price match does work, at least mostly. But in this age of convenience and instant gratification, I doubt many people will bother. The reality of the situation is that Kobo have no wish to compete with Amazon in particular on price. This policy is a compromise. They are able to keep those likely few readers who can be bothered shopping around whilst maintaining generally higher prices. I am simply making the observation, not criticising. It may well be a very sound business decision in Kobo's position. I can go to Amazon and know that in the vast majority of cases I am getting a good price. If I go to Kobo this is too often not the case. For me to bother with a price match I would have to have a very good reason for wanting to go with Kobo, as I imagine some people do. I suspect, however, that I would be seeking a price match on virtually every book I bought.

[bhyde]

Since nobody has mentioned ever having any problems with the price match I'm convinced this is a fluke. Would be nice to figure out why; but shrug.

I did originally submit a link to the listing in google books. I don't know the exact link though. Is there a way to turn an incident # into a URL where I can see the entire interaction including my original request?

It's interesting that there is some variation in the prices people observe outlined above. I consistently see 9.99 with the 19.99 crossed out. I see the same thing from an anonymous browser tab; not logged into Google, but who knows how much crazy pricing things these vendors do.

For example I paid $17.09 at Kobo because I got the VIP price. Well except I also got $5 off due to some coupon/promo. So now I'm thinking that maybe there is confusion around that.

ps. sorry to drag this out, really my only question was does this work well for others and clearly the answer is yes. So I will probably give up on this one and try again in the furture.

[bgalbrecht]

Originally Posted by darryl

I suspect, however, that I would be seeking a price match on virtually every book I bought.

I see a lot of books that are on sale at Amazon, price set by the publisher, that seem to be on sale nowhere else. Last December, Open Road Media set the price of several thousands of their books to free at Amazon, and nowhere else. I don't know why these publishers are willing to go so far as illegal price fixing "to stop Amazon" and then do deals that only drive more customers to Amazon. I probably never would have become a Kobo Glo HD owner and ebook customer if it weren't for the price matching policy.

On the other hand, I sometimes wonder how profitable I am for them given the nearly 100 price matches I've done. Some of them have taken advantage of the window between Kobo ending the promotional price at midnight on the east coast and Amazon ending it 4 hours later at midnight on the west coast, too. I sort of feel bad about that, but I sometimes don't get around to noticing the deals until close to midnight my time.

[bgalbrecht]

Originally Posted by bhyde

ps. sorry to drag this out, really my only question was does this work well for others and clearly the answer is yes. So I will probably give up on this one and try again in the furture.

I don't know how how many days ago it was, but if it's still within the 7 day price match window, I'd recommend trying customer service again, include a screen print of the URL Rockin provided, and if they don't give you a refund, ask them to forward it to the price match team. It might be harder to get them to reconsider if you originally gave them a URL that did not clearly show the price, and all of your communication since then was past the price matching window.

[darryl]

Originally Posted by bgalbrecht

I see a lot of books that are on sale at Amazon, price set by the publisher, that seem to be on sale nowhere else. Last December, Open Road Media set the price of several thousands of their books to free at Amazon, and nowhere else. I don't know why these publishers are willing to go so far as illegal price fixing "to stop Amazon" and then do deals that only drive more customers to Amazon. I probably never would have become a Kobo Glo HD owner and ebook customer if it weren't for the price matching policy.

On the other hand, I sometimes wonder how profitable I am for them given the nearly 100 price matches I've done. Some of them have taken advantage of the window between Kobo ending the promotional price at midnight on the east coast and Amazon ending it 4 hours later at midnight on the west coast, too. I sort of feel bad about that, but I sometimes don't get around to noticing the deals until close to midnight my time.

You should not feel bad about it. Amazon is still a business making a profit, so it is unlikely that Kobo is actually losing money from matching them. It it is, then it needs to look closely at its costs including its overheads and the prices it is paying for the books concerned, or, for agency titles, the "commission" it is receiving on the sales.

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by bhyde

It's interesting that there is some variation in the prices people observe outlined above. I consistently see 9.99 with the 19.99 crossed out.

That is exactly what I see from the US. Current price is $9.99 with the $19.99 crossed out. Maybe take a screenshot and send it to the Kobo rep through email that you're dealing with? It sounds like different people are seeing different prices for the same book.

[bgalbrecht]

Originally Posted by darryl

You should not feel bad about it. Amazon is still a business making a profit, so it is unlikely that Kobo is actually losing money from matching them. It it is, then it needs to look closely at its costs including its overheads and the prices it is paying for the books concerned, or, for agency titles, the "commission" it is receiving on the sales.

I don't feel bad about price matching in general, just when I know the book was on sale at Kobo for the same price as at Amazon, and then because Kobo raises the price 3-4 hours before Amazon does, I get an extra 10% off the sale price. When the book price is set by the publisher and it's only on sale at Amazon, I'm mad at the publisher for making an exclusive sale at their hated enemy Amazon, and/or mad at Kobo for not participating in the sale. I'm not sure why these sales seem to only happen at Amazon, but I think it's scummy, and is another reason why I try to buy my books elsewhere if possible.