eBooks Survey at Waterstone's - Page 2

columbus · 06-06-2009, 03:33 AM

Something I did not mention before & no one else has.

Like, I guess most people, I do a round robin search to see who has the best price for the Ebook I want. As it is never you I have never bought an ebook from you.

What is more interesting is that Play are always cheaper than you and this is for a pbook including delivery to here in Spain.

I don't buy pbooks now unless I can't get it as an ebook.

pdurrant · 06-06-2009, 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by columbus

What is more interesting is that Play are always cheaper than you and this is for a pbook including delivery to here in Spain.

Goodness me - columbus is right. The Alchemyst in paperback from play.com is £4.99 including UK delivery.

And since it's a paper book, their low-value VAT exception doesn't make any difference.

Makes £5.41 for the ebook look very expensive.

Hey - come to that, you're offering that same paperback at £4.79. And now having gone to checkout to check - with free delivery!

Hmm.... £4.79 for the paperbook. And you're paying to delivery it to me.
£5.41 for the ebook - and you're paying VAT on that. ex-VAT is £4.70

Does posting the book to me really only cost you 9p? I rather doubt it. Not to mention the storage and handling costs.

I will bear you in mind when I'm (very rarely) buying paper books though!

sirbruce · 06-06-2009, 04:16 PM

I completed the survey. Here's what I included at the end:

1. Keep ebook prices reasonable. When released simultaneously with the hardback, $10 - $13 is fair. When the paperback comes out, it should be lowered in price to less than the paperback ($4 - $8 range).
2. Give authors a greater royalties on ebooks than on physical books.
3. Be prepared to make quick corrections in ebooks when they are discovered by readers.
4. Provide an easy mechanism for corrected versions of ebooks to replace existing versions and for previous buyers to redownload corrected versions.
5. Offer ebooks in multiple formats, including at the very least non-DRM MOBI and EPUB.
6. Do not offer later ebooks in a series if you do not also offer earlier ebooks in that series (unless you don't have the rights to them).
7. Offer the first ebook in a series for free; that will generate additional sales of books in that series.
8. Don't just release ebooks of your new books; start converting your backlist to ebook format as well.

Tracey · 06-07-2009, 04:34 AM

Good morning everyone,

Very pleased to see this survey launched. Alex was part of the Team at Waterstones who replied to me during the "More disappointment with Waterstones" thread so i am pleased that they have been as good as their word and are putting some emphasis into this part of their product offering.

Thanks Alex!

Tracey

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06-06-2009, 03:33 AM	#16
columbus Wizard Posts: 999 Karma: 5487540 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: In my own imagination. Device: Sony Prs 650, 505	Something I did not mention before & no one else has. Like, I guess most people, I do a round robin search to see who has the best price for the Ebook I want. As it is never you I have never bought an ebook from you. What is more interesting is that Play are always cheaper than you and this is for a pbook including delivery to here in Spain. I don't buy pbooks now unless I can't get it as an ebook.

06-06-2009, 04:16 PM	#18
sirbruce Provocateur Posts: 1,859 Karma: 505847 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Columbus, OH Device: Kindle Touch, Kindle 2, Kindle DX, iPhone 3GS	I completed the survey. Here's what I included at the end: 1. Keep ebook prices reasonable. When released simultaneously with the hardback, $10 - $13 is fair. When the paperback comes out, it should be lowered in price to less than the paperback ($4 - $8 range). 2. Give authors a greater royalties on ebooks than on physical books. 3. Be prepared to make quick corrections in ebooks when they are discovered by readers. 4. Provide an easy mechanism for corrected versions of ebooks to replace existing versions and for previous buyers to redownload corrected versions. 5. Offer ebooks in multiple formats, including at the very least non-DRM MOBI and EPUB. 6. Do not offer later ebooks in a series if you do not also offer earlier ebooks in that series (unless you don't have the rights to them). 7. Offer the first ebook in a series for free; that will generate additional sales of books in that series. 8. Don't just release ebooks of your new books; start converting your backlist to ebook format as well.

06-07-2009, 04:34 AM	#19
Tracey Connoisseur Posts: 67 Karma: 68 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Wilburton, Ely Device: Sony PRS-505	Good morning everyone, Very pleased to see this survey launched. Alex was part of the Team at Waterstones who replied to me during the "More disappointment with Waterstones" thread so i am pleased that they have been as good as their word and are putting some emphasis into this part of their product offering. Thanks Alex! Tracey

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