Publishers still missing the point on e-book prices

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The thing is, with a pBook, I can get discounts and sales. I cannot with agency eBooks. So if the eBook and pBook are priced similar enough, I can get the pBook for less.

I know the agency publishers did this so Amazon could not discount any of their eBooks. But that does make it unfair for the eBook buyer.

No.
The point of agency pricing is that the publisher , not the retailer(particularly Amazon), has the power to set the price- and discount the price, if the publisher wishes . Lots of the Kindle Daily Deals and NOOK Daily Finds are agency priced books which the publisher discounts as part of a promotion . Joe Abercrombie's Book " The Herooes" , Which I purchased for $11.99 in February, was recently a Kindle Daily Deal for $0.99 (Much to my chagrin).
That's an example of the possibility of buying an agency priced book at a deep discount.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by MovieBird

It's about time the publishers and associated authors remembered ECON 101.

ECON 101 also says "A business must make more money than they spend." If customers demand ebooks at prices the publishers cannot support, they go out of business (and by the way, take all the contracted books with them).

[MovieBird]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

ECON 101 also says "A business must make more money than they spend." If customers demand ebooks at prices the publishers cannot support, they go out of business (and by the way, take all the contracted books with them).

Amazon was founded in 1994. They had their first profitable quarter in the last quarter of 2001. Now, they're the 8,000 lbs. gorilla in the room. I think you need to read up on your FINANCE 101 as well, as there are many ways to raise money for the short term (under 10 years).

If they go out of business, boo friggin hoo. Another business will pop up to exploit the market with a different strategy or more efficient production. If all the businesses go bankrupt, a la the buggy whip, it's because the consumer just doesn't want their product anymore.

EDIT: I should clarify that I don't see the need for investment in the current eBook market. People are buying at the current inflated prices, and it is the Publisher's right to charge as much as they can. However, to imply that the poor widdle pubwishers are just trying as hard as they can and just barely scraping by, is ludicrous.

[EscapeVelocity]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

ECON 101 also says "A business must make more money than they spend." If customers demand ebooks at prices the publishers cannot support, they go out of business (and by the way, take all the contracted books with them).

That same attitude drove many a company out of business, as the upstart competition moved in, and produced a viable business model with much less overhead and more effeciency. This is how the quality of life has been driven up over the centuries.

The old establishment said that they couldnt produce at a cheaper cost, and the entrapaneurs adopted the new methods of production.

Just one example, agriculture. Many jobs were lost to industrialization of farming, but the society as a whole benefited, even though it put lots of people out of work, who worked in the old models of production.

Also, asset liquidation of the old business wouldnt see the demise of any works, and any projects would simply be taken to the new business model businesses with new contracts drawn up.

But alas...

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by TechnoCat

I may be a fan of an author but unwilling to pay, e.g, $30 for that author's newest tome. I might be willing to pay $12 for it in paper, but unwilling to pay $8 for it in ebook form, because...

• Paper is still a bit more magical, and certainly more tangible, than an ebook.
• I can more easily lend out the paper.
• And I can, if desired, resell it. (Typically at a 75% depreciation, but none-the-less, even then it becomes less expensive than the single-user ebook.)

Hmmm. If you buy a book for $12, and sell it at a 75% depreciation, you've sold it for $3, therefore your total outlay is $9. That's still more expensive than the $8 eBook, is it not?

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Hmmm. If you buy a book for $12, and sell it at a 75% depreciation, you've sold it for $3, therefore your total outlay is $9. That's still more expensive than the $8 eBook, is it not?

Don't confuse him with math, Harry. That's unfair.
All those who are certain that ebooks are "overpriced" should ask themselves why the general public keeps buying more and more of those"overpriced" ebooks. Econ 101 tells us that if a product is overpriced, sales of that product should fall, or at least not keep doubling every year.
Its time to call most of this talk about overpriced ebooks what it really is-whingeing of the worst order. There are plenty of ebooks available at low prices-or even for free. You could assemble a library of hundreds of interesting, well formatted ebooks for free,without even leaving this website. If you want to buy a few ebooks at full price, hey, you are still well ahead of the game.
This month alone, I have :
1. Purchased one "agency" book for 2.99- down from 9.99
2. Purchased another book for 0.99, down from 7.99
3. Purchased two shorter works for 0.99 each, down from 1.99 and 2.99.
4.Downloaded 7 books for free aspart of a promotion

That's 12 titles for $6- and that's not even my best month. Over the past year, I've downloaded over 150 ebooks. Even counting just the ones I've bought, I'm doing less than $2.00 per book-and that includes a few full price purchases.

Anyone who is complaining aboutthe high price of ebooks just ain't doing it right.

[HarryT]

There are also significant number of buyers for whom price is not particularly a consideration, and I'd include myself in that. Reading is one of my main means of recreation, and if I choose to spend £100 or so a month on books, that's my concern, and I can well afford to do so. I know many people who spend a lot more than that on clothes, or just going to the pub. I choose to buy books.

[TechnoCat]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Hmmm. If you buy a book for $12, and sell it at a 75% depreciation, you've sold it for $3, therefore your total outlay is $9. That's still more expensive than the $8 eBook, is it not?

I shoulda checked my math!
In reality I don't resell anyhow, but I do place a value on the potential to dispose of it as I see fit.

[EscapeVelocity]

Looks like you are buying at the price range mentioned here, stonetools.

That is because that is where the market is.

And they wouldnt be selling books for $1 to $3 dollars if it wasnt profitable. They arent clearance table items, because there is no cost associated with physical goods...paper and ink, warehousing, etc.

Certainly they wish to maintain as high a price as possible, but the nature of digital distribution destroys the marginal cost of production. It then comes down to covering cost of promotion/advertising to increase demand for the product. Driving demand for the product and then cashing in on volume sales.

The highest cost for books, will be marketing costs....not production costs.

$3 million revenue on 1 million sales is better than $2 million revenue on 200,000 sales.

This will also drive ebook reader sales. As people seek to lower the costs of their reading. Reading will also significantly increase as an activity, creating a larger market for future sales.

But alas...

[spindlegirl]

Originally Posted by stonetools

With all due respect, a fan who isn't willing to buy an author's book isn't really a fan, IMO.

Depends whether or not they personally can afford it. I used to be accused of not being a fan of certain bands because I hate going out to concerts. Whatever.... What suits one may not suit another.

Much like with dtb's I still intend to do a lot of my newly published e-book reading via my library card. When I have enjoyed a book from the library, I know when a certain book calls out to me to buy it. I am incredibly picky as to what I will buy.

But I am pleased enough with the idea that I can borrow e-books from the library to carry me through until I can afford the e-books I really want to own.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by EscapeVelocity

Also, asset liquidation of the old business wouldnt see the demise of any works, and any projects would simply be taken to the new business model businesses with new contracts drawn up.

We've already become familiar with books whose rights were tied up under business collapse, holding up potentially for years the opportunity to produce ebooks. But that's another matter.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by spindlegirl

Depends whether or not they personally can afford it. I used to be accused of not being a fan of certain bands because I hate going out to concerts. Whatever.... What suits one may not suit another.

Indeed. There are many ways a fan can help an author, including spreading the word. I received "Bumped" for free from NetGalley and have gotten at least 4 people to buy it when it was the Kindle Deal this week. (And I bought a copy too, because WOO! AUTHORS! But I have the luxury to do that.)

Really, the sentence itself is silly. I'm a fan of Mercedes Lackey, but I know in advance that some of her books are not for me, so I don't get them. OH NOES I'M NOT A FAN NOW.

[tompe]

[QUOTE=sabredog;1899969
Living in a country that is heavily region restricted, I often go through hoops to be able to buy an ebook I want to read. I do not care what format it is, simply that I have LEGALLY purchased it and ensured that the author is paid (however little their publishers pay them). If the format is different and not one my Sony can display, I remove DRM and convert it.[/QUOTE]

Why do you think you have legally bought it? I think that fooling people or computers to buy something you should not be able to buy is a kind of piracy also.

[sabredog]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The publisher generally has no say in that, so it's not really a consideration. If it's not available to you, then you can't buy it, so the price is irrelevant.

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

Unless you are HidingYourAss (or changing your address) etc.

An America Online thing I tried not so long ago gave you a USA IP address too, come to think of it.

But yeah, if not selling it to you, the only price you can pay in general is 0.00 and grab it elsewhere.

Yep. Circumventing stupid restrictions is the only way to be able to purchase such ebooks.

What a stupid system they have presently.

Presenting such and such a book by Bill Blogs. Priced fixed at $14.99, 'cause that is the price of the hardcover. Incidently you can buy the hardcover (we desperately want you to do that) but you cannot have the ebook 'cause you live in Lower Denied Access.

Well bugger you Mr Publisherthal, VPN out, mask that evil and revealing IP and buy it anyway (just like HarryT says he does too) and at least the author gets his couple of coins. I might then have to format shift it though. Oh no!! I am a pirate now because I removed the DRM...Woe is me...

On the way around doing that, you notice a heap of authors self publishing that have good reviews who sell their ebooks for half the price of "such and such a book"

Or the easier way is to simply take a Google to the nearest under the counter ebook repository and grab it there, gratis.

Most people pick the later. The anachronistic system with its inbuilt price fixing, hardcover parity selling, discriminative restrictions and good old price gouging encourages casual piracy. But the luddites at the helms cannot or simply refuse to see that.

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by HarryT

There are also significant number of buyers for whom price is not particularly a consideration, and I'd include myself in that. Reading is one of my main means of recreation, and if I choose to spend £100 or so a month on books, that's my concern, and I can well afford to do so. I know many people who spend a lot more than that on clothes, or just going to the pub. I choose to buy books.

I count myself as one who thinks of reading as one of my main forms of recreation, and I have been able to indulge myself on a budget of $20 per month. That's five cups of coffee at Starbucks .
Maybe that's why I don't have much sympathy for those who are protesting that ebooks are SOO expensive . I don't think of myself as being any kind of genius shopper, either. I simply use some of the many tools available for finding ebook bargains- following the various Amazon, iBook, and BN promotions by email and Twitter, checking in on the Bargains forum on this website, managing my Amazon Wishlist , and using Ereader IQ. And if all else fails, the library.
Frankly, it's really not that hard. Does require some patience and foresight , though.

Instead of complaining about ebook prices, maybe people should work at being smarter shoppers. They would better achieve their reading aims that way, IMO .