Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[DrNefario]

You're not helping.

(I used the shopping cart trick to get 4 books, this time.)

[BelleZora]

Thanks to the Kobo 90% Refer-a-Friend promotion and a generous MR member (Thanks, Fbone!) I have now purchased more books in 2015 than there are - so far - weeks in the year. I do not regret the purchases. After all, those Kobo 90% coupons are just too rare and wonderful to ignore. Still, I feel that my entire book buying plan is in danger of collapse. But I certainly had it under control during the seven weeks I was exploring the desert with my 4-wheel drive truck and a tent. Now I must try to be both master of my fate as well as a civilized, wired member of society...all at the same time.

[issybird]

Weeelllll, so long as we're confessing....

In fact, due to a technicality, I'm still legitimate. Even before I formulated my challenge, I had an exception for books comfortably under a buck, which I considered to be effectively free and therefore didn't count. At 95% off (by going through ebates.com), a lot of books are comfortably below a buck. The flaw in this, of course, is that effectively free books individually are not free in the aggregate. Worse, they add to the eclutter, the control of which was my main object.

However, one of my long term goals is to read all of Wodehouse and getting the Master's oeuvre at 95% off is too good an opportunity to miss. I'd regret it in the long run if I were stupid in order to keep to an arbitrary goal. So once the dust settles, I'll figure out how to account for them and get back on the wagon.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by issybird

However, one of my long term goals is to read all of Wodehouse and getting the Master's oeuvre at 95% off is too good an opportunity to miss. I'd regret it in the long run if I were stupid in order to keep to an arbitrary goal. So once the dust settles, I'll figure out how to account for them and get back on the wagon.

I can't argue with that. Getting all of Wodehouse at 95% off is definitely too good to pass up.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I can't argue with that. Getting all of Wodehouse at 95% off is definitely too good to pass up.

It could be worse. Pre-1923 is pd in the US, I already have some of the later ebooks, and Kobo doesn't have everything. I'm also going to skip a few already reads that aren't among my favorites. However, Sir Plum was prolific and that still leaves, uh, several.

[Fbone]

I used my last 90% code to complete a trilogy I started a few years ago. At 71 cents I thought to pick it up even if it isn't read immediately. I also wanted to support the author.

[pdurrant]

Sounds like a valid use to me. It's unlikely that an author will ever make the third volume of a trilogy available for free.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Sounds like a valid use to me. It's unlikely that an author will ever make the third volume of a trilogy available for free.

The author was originally self published but was picked up by a smallish publisher who unfortunately went bankrupt in the US. I bought it from his British publisher who has been unaffected.

[pdurrant]

Hmm.. I've just bought a book by Neil Gaiman that was on special offer (£0.99) at Amazon UK, but I still have £4.44 in promotional credit to use up. Something will turn up!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Hmm.. I've just bought a book by Neil Gaiman that was on special offer (£0.99) at Amazon UK, but I still have £4.44 in promotional credit to use up. Something will turn up!

I'm sure it will, Mr. Micawber.

I've had quite the spree. I think I made the correct decision to use the 90% coupons to fulfill longer-term wants, but my goal for the year is dead in the water. All I can do is draw a line under my purchases and start fresh.

I need to formulate a new goal, one which will pinch but not too much, reflecting the uptick in unread books but allowing for some indulgence. Frankly, I'm floundering, but I'm feeling so glutted that I think I've got time before the urge strikes again.

[pdurrant]

90% off doesn't come along too often. Such offers are why we should be restrained at other times.

[Quake1028]

I have been quite good so far this year. I've only made 3 purchases, totaling $22.46. However, since one purchase was the Song of Ice and Fire bundle, I got 7 books for my $22.46, or $3.21 each. I can definitely live with that.

[Tarana]

Ugh... I fell off the wagon terribly in April with audiobooks. I won't even admit to how much (I checked the total 3 times). I generally didn't pay that much for most of them, but the accumulation was a surprise. On the good side, most of these books were on the wish list or part of series I'm already listening to. My wishlist barely goes to 2 pages now. So, other than the credits already paid for, I have to work hard not to buy any more audiobooks until November.

So, I'm coming up with strategies for the rest of the year. I think I need to stop participating in challenges and Book Clubs, at least for this year. That will help me with the TBR list a lot as well as reduce temptations.

[pdurrant]

Amazon special deals combined with Amazon Prime 'no-rush' shipping credits are allowing me to impulse buy. I'm still well under budget for the year as a whole, but I think I'm definitely going to break £25 this month.

[DrNefario]

I let my Prime subscription expire. I just have my one final credit to use at some point, from my Fire Stick (which I haven't even opened).

It puts me off buying anything physical from amazon, since I can't get the credit, so I save both ways.