W H Smith fights back — 66% of top 100 ebooks

[hols57]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's £2.76 at Amazon.

Yes, BUT I DON'T have a Kindle, so I can't use Amazon, which is why I'm stuck with Waterstones, WHSmith, etc!

[HarryT]

You always have the option of using Kindle for PC, "liberating" the book, and converting to ePub format, if you wish. Given that Amazon often have significantly lower prices than other retailers, it may be worth considering as an option.

[shanghaichica]

Just picked up the book thief for £2.78 at WH Smiths

[eric11210]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You always have the option of using Kindle for PC, "liberating" the book, and converting to ePub format, if you wish. Given that Amazon often have significantly lower prices than other retailers, it may be worth considering as an option.

If the price difference is significant, I'd agree with you. However, there are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Not everyone is technically oriented enough to do this.
2. Not everyone is comfortable with this.
3. There is a value in supporting independent bookstores. I personally will only get free books from the Kindle store which I can read on my iPhone when for whatever reason I don't have my reader available. I refuse to give Amazon my business since I believe they are trying to monopolize the market the way that Apple does for music (I also only use unsecured music and don't purchase from the iTunes store for the same reason).
4. Often, the cost difference is almost nothing. In the case of the books mentioned in this thread, it sounds like the cost is around 2-4 pence cheaper. For the few pennies it costs, I don't want to be bothered with converting books even if I could save a bit.

Just my 2 cents of course.

Eric

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by eric11210

I refuse to give Amazon my business since I believe they are trying to monopolize the market the way that Apple does for music (I also only use unsecured music and don't purchase from the iTunes store for the same reason).

I was going to comment on this bit of your post, but it turned into a rather long rant against Microsoft, which I'll spare you all.

[calvin-c]

Originally Posted by eric11210

1. Not everyone is technically oriented enough to do this.

Untrue-the only difference is how easily you can learn to do it.

Your other points are very valid, but IMO it's worth learning how to convert ebooks even if you decide not to use the knowledge. After all, you never know what'll happen in the future.

Wish I could point to a site that would actually help people to convert their books (as in giving specific advice) but the only ones I know of seem to be populated by arrogant SOB's-I actually had one tell me that it was so simple that I didn't need any help, after posting that I didn't understand the instructions. (No, I'm not going to mention that site. The quicker it dies the better the Internet will be, IMO.)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by eric11210

If the price difference is significant, I'd agree with you. However, there are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Not everyone is technically oriented enough to do this.
2. Not everyone is comfortable with this.
3. There is a value in supporting independent bookstores. I personally will only get free books from the Kindle store which I can read on my iPhone when for whatever reason I don't have my reader available. I refuse to give Amazon my business since I believe they are trying to monopolize the market the way that Apple does for music (I also only use unsecured music and don't purchase from the iTunes store for the same reason).
4. Often, the cost difference is almost nothing. In the case of the books mentioned in this thread, it sounds like the cost is around 2-4 pence cheaper. For the few pennies it costs, I don't want to be bothered with converting books even if I could save a bit.

Just my 2 cents of course.

Eric

All valid points, Eric. The key reason for doing is simply that Amazon have a very much larger ebook collection than anyone else, and often you can find ebooks there that aren't easily available elsewhere. Their prices are very often significantly lower than elsewhere.

[church mouse]

Whilst I can sympathise with all of Eric's points, I cannot agree with point 4 on price saving. The ten books I purchased from various e-pub sellers in the month prior to the UK Kindle site starting up I have discovered are available on Amazon at a saving of between £1.00 and £9.00 against what I paid (and I purchased each title at the lowest price then being offered). That is a significant saving and, whilst I fear the power of Amazon, I have no wish to be ripped off either.

I want an ereader that can handle all formats, but until that miracle occurs, I have used the last month to master drm removal from epubs and azw books, so that I am able to read my books on the reader of my choice. I am not happy that I have taken this step, but it is the only one which makes sense to me in the present market.

[Ben Thornton]

On the cost difference front, Amazon have very recently introduced their UK store, which significantly reduced the price of many ebooks purchased from the UK, and as per this thread, that has started something of a price war. So, there are many books with a small difference right now, but historically, and I would expect over the long term, Amazon has been significantly cheaper.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Ben Thornton

On the cost difference front, Amazon have very recently introduced their UK store, which significantly reduced the price of many ebooks purchased from the UK, and as per this thread, that has started something of a price war. So, there are many books with a small difference right now, but historically, and I would expect over the long term, Amazon has been significantly cheaper.

Amazon seem to have a deliberate policy on their UK store of having the eBook cheaper than the cheapest paperback edition, even if only by a couple of pence. This is VERY welcome, especially compared to Waterstones, whose prices are often eye-watering.

Eg, to pick an example at random, Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express":

Waterstones eBook: £6.43
Cheapest Amazon paperback: £4.49
Kindle book: £2.20

That one's actually unusually cheap. A more realistic example is Colin Dexter's "Last Bus to Woodstock" (the first "Inspector Morse" novel):

Waterstones eBook: £6.37
Cheapest Amazon paperback:£4.49
Kindle book: $3.48

[James_Wilde]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Eg, to pick an example at random, Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express":

Waterstones eBook: £6.43
Cheapest Amazon paperback: £4.49
Kindle book: £2.20

That one's actually unusually cheap. A more realistic example is Colin Dexter's "Last Bus to Woodstock" (the first "Inspector Morse" novel):

Waterstones eBook: £6.37
Cheapest Amazon paperback:£4.49
Kindle book: $3.48

Wonder how much the author's royalty is on these prices. If one looks at the Kobo model, one can imagine that the price of ebooks is going to come down to somewhere around 2x royalty, where one goes to the author and one to the publishing business, in Kobo's case often Kobo. Now that would put the fear of god into the music industry!

[lila55]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That one's actually unusually cheap. A more realistic example is Colin Dexter's "Last Bus to Woodstock" (the first "Inspector Morse" novel):

Waterstones eBook: £6.37
Cheapest Amazon paperback:£4.49
Kindle book: $3.48

For me to buy it as Kindle book it costs $ 10.22

[Ben Thornton]

Originally Posted by lila55

For me to buy it as Kindle book it costs $ 10.22

Harry meant £3.48, about $5, but still a big difference

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by lila55

For me to buy it as Kindle book it costs $ 10.22

We, on mainland Europe, are usually the worst off, considering ebooks. We can't buy from amazon.co.uk, half of the books at WHSmith are not sold here and only Waterstones sells without restrictions. But they are twice as expensive as the other two...

(I won't even look at the Dutch sites, because their selection of English ebooks is mostly drama, chick lit (whatever that may be), romance or horror, neither of which I like).

[shanghaichica]

I wonder how long they will maintain these prices.