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View Poll Results: Would you circumvent geographical restrictions SOLELY to save money? | |||
Yes | 131 | 67.18% | |
No | 53 | 27.18% | |
Other (explain in thread, please) | 11 | 5.64% | |
Voters: 195. You may not vote on this poll |
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09-07-2013, 04:53 PM | #31 | |
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I don't quite see why it would be useless. I didn't ask a question in the heading, merely stated the topic of the thread. Then I attached a poll related to the topic, because I was curious if people would (not if they do). Last edited by K. Molen; 09-07-2013 at 05:02 PM. |
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09-07-2013, 04:58 PM | #32 |
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A few people have brought up the idea that it's not the person that's circumventing geographical restrictions in order to buy cheaper books that's immoral, but rather the practice of having different prices for different locations.
I can see this point, it seems discriminatory to a certain extent. I can see the publishers' point too, though... they're simply charging what the market will bare, standard capitalist practice. I think perhaps it's the nature of the internet and the eradication of traditional commerce borders that's making this not very clear cut, at least to my mind. Last edited by K. Molen; 09-07-2013 at 05:09 PM. |
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09-07-2013, 05:33 PM | #33 |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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09-07-2013, 05:39 PM | #34 |
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Since we are talking about the morality of things: Atwood is a Candian born author who currently resides in Canada. Her book is 30% more expensive than in the US and slightly moreso when compared to the price in India. In other words, it is cheaper to reimport her work than it is to buy it where it was written.
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09-07-2013, 05:40 PM | #35 | |
Maria Schneider
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Stephen King gets better commissions than does Joe Nobody Author. Some debut authors get better deals than others. In short, there is almost no way for you the buyer to know what the author is going to receive. Buying "new" direct from a publisher site is your best bet for supporting most traditionally published authors; hardback and audio tend to pay the largest cuts. So, for example, I buy Frank Tuttle's books direct from his publisher site. I *think* he gets a larger cut of the sale, but again, it could be different for each contract/book (not just each author). Indie authors are a different bag and most likely buying direct from their blog/website yields them the most monetary gain; however there are rankings and visibility yields when buyers buy from any retailer (the main retailers anyway--B&N, Amazon wherever, Kobobooks, etc). But when you say it isn't cut and dried, you have the right of it! No wait, you said black and white. |
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09-07-2013, 05:42 PM | #36 | |
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That said, it's an informal poll on an internet forum, not a questionnaire to be used as a basis for scientific research, so it's hardly a big deal. |
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09-07-2013, 06:25 PM | #37 |
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As another Canadian, I buy Kobo and Amazon ebooks at the approved store and don't muss with success. I know there are some books cheaper at Amazon US but if it's really that much, I just wait and buy something else. However, Nook is not sold in Canada and those titles work perfectly well on my e-reader; I have been known to buy a few titles there. I don't find that practice immoral.
I also have been known to buy physical books and goods from Amazon UK or even occasionally DE, as well as US and Canada. There is no funny representations going on there: the goods are shipped to Canada. Often there are bargains, even with shipping. I don't find that immoral, either. |
09-07-2013, 07:04 PM | #38 |
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Just wondering: Are there actually geographical restrictions for ebooks?
I have three Amazon accounts, US, UK and DE, without any problems and without giving any fake addresses - my billing address is always to my one and only Austrian credit card. My Kindle account is at amazon.us (as you can only have one), and I don't remember ever being told that I can't download ebooks because of my location. That only happens only with videos and apps, as far as I noticed. I don't know how this works with Amazon India, but if buying elsewhere is a legitimate way, why would it be immoral? Personally I can't be bothered to go out of my way too much for some price difference, but I don't think it is immoral to buy where you get the best value. Most people do. |
09-07-2013, 07:17 PM | #39 |
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I see no difference buying from a legitimate seller in another country than buying from a legitimate seller in a different store. I'll buy from the place that will (legitimately) sell the product I want for the lowest price. IMO it's a global economy for buyers, not just for sellers. (BTW, what makes you think the author is losing royalties at the lower price? It's possible as the ebooks might come from different publishers, but I think if I were negotiating Indian ebook rights then I'd sell it to the publisher that offered the best royalty-even if that publisher were in the UK.)
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09-07-2013, 07:22 PM | #40 | |
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I was given a gift ebook for the UK version. I was "not allowed" to buy it. I exchanged it for cash and applied it to the US version (which was 4 dollars more expensive). The different pricing is annoying and I would not have bought the book in ebook had it not been gifted to me and a favorite author. I would normally have just waited for the a cheaper copy of a used book, but I do try to support authors as much as possible. Sometimes a book will be on discount in the US, but not other countries. Amazon tries to sell only to the country where you reside so they don't fall afoul of publisher restrictions. |
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09-07-2013, 08:00 PM | #41 |
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That isn't violating georestrictions, as far as I know. Buying ebooks through some mechanism is.
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09-07-2013, 09:43 PM | #42 | |
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I lived in Inuvik, a small town in the Canadian North for a few years and stores sold goods of any nature for more than 4 times as much as in the south. Milk was often $16 a litre. photocopy paper was $20 for a package. Past due dates on some products such as bread could be over a year old. Books strangely enough generally sold at cover price. I had a lot of things shipped in at pretty high rates on occasion, and saved more than 50% overall. The Inuit were usually not so lucky to be able to do this and paid through the nose. A sad form of georestriction if I ever saw one. Helen |
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09-07-2013, 10:58 PM | #43 |
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Sometimes the law itself is immoral. It would be one thing if our economy in the US was made up of US employees, US factories, etc. It's not. Corporations now outsource to get the cheapest labor, US employees have lost their jobs, etc. So, if Amazon outsources their helpdesk (and, yes, they do) so they don't have to pay US labor costs, why on earth should I be stuck paying the jacked up US prices if I can find a way around it? I do the same with dvds. I have a region free player and I've often bought UK dvds of UK shows and had them shipped here since they were half the cost of the price here.
Everything we buy these days was made somewhere else and I'm permitted to buy hardcopy books, media, clothing, etc. . . I can import anything I want except a simple ebook file that I'm really only going to read once? I do it and find absolutely nothing wrong with it at all. |
09-07-2013, 11:21 PM | #44 | |
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09-08-2013, 12:23 AM | #45 |
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It's mainly a problem for people who actually have a national Amazon store I think, or at least that seems to me to be the crux of the matter. There isn't a Norwegian one and I'm registered with the US, UK, French and German stores and have no trouble buying from any of them.
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