Kobo 50% off voucher till 30 Sept

[hwlester]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

It goes the other way too though. Some of the books I have bought were already 10-20% cheaper at Kobo than Amazon, so an extra 50% turns it into a 55-60% discount on the Amazon price.

I guess I'm buying the wrong books.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by ectoplasm

Is there a clear way to know if there is an EPUB version? I also have not yet purchased a book from Kobo, and I'm only interested if I can get an EPUB.

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I just took a look again and unfortunately you can't see exactly what format it is until after you've bought it. I've been lucky so far and only seen ePub, not kpub, so not sure what would happen the day I see that as I don't have a Kobo reader.

Their new website doesn't show what format, only what you can read it on. Unfortunately they are sometimes wrong and for me pdf isn't readable on any device. Maybe if enough people send an email asking what the format is they will fix this. They did say they would give a refund if you got a book you couldn't use.

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

WAH! Darn you!

Now I have to go look. Now Kobo may actually be cheaper than some of my other sources. And I don't want to buy more books because my TBR pile is already long.



If you have calibre... who DOESN'T have those plugins? They can be found within seconds using Google, and nowadays require no, or just a tiny bit of configuration.

Katsunami I think that Kobo's had a price increase because they seem dearer now than they were before.

And simultaneously I think that Amazon's gotten wind of the Kobo 50% off sale and likewise decreased the price of a lot of its books. As it did if you recall earlier this year when the bargainmousse 40% off sale was on.

Well that's how it looks to me when I price compare - which I always do prior to any purchase.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Katsunami I think that Kobo's had a price increase because they seem dearer now than they were before.

Even more expensive? Kobo already was the last place I looked for EPUB books. Other EPUB retailers (ebooks.com, feedbooks.com, diesel-ebooks.com, among others) are often MUCH cheaper than Kobo.

[cghipp]

I can't believe how many more books are eligible for the discount than there used to be. Literally every single book I've checked out has been eligible for the promo code. I haven't shopped on Kobo for a while because they stopped selling gift cards online (and, sure enough, my credit card transactions with them were flagged and halted AGAIN) but if I can find a workaround I'll be in big trouble!

[koland]

paypal .. add a balance and I haven't had problems with check out (as with a CC card - which stops me on every single book).

I think I've had one book I checked that didn't allow a promo code..,

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I just took a look again and unfortunately you can't see exactly what format it is until after you've bought it. I've been lucky so far and only seen ePub, not kpub, so not sure what would happen the day I see that as I don't have a Kobo reader.

AFAIK, you only get a KEPUB if you download using the Kobo app.

Downloading the ascm on the site and using ADE always gives you an EPUB.

At least, that was the case up until my last purchase...

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

AFAIK, you only get a KEPUB if you download using the Kobo app.

Downloading the ascm on the site and using ADE always gives you an EPUB.

Problem is that the 'new look' site doesn't give you the ebook format, and I bought an O'Reilly ebook via the new look Kobo Aus site on Sunday and ended up with a kepub, and DRM status unknown.

It's still an ongoing discussion with Kobo Customer care.

But now I know that I can still get access to the 'old look' Kobo site, that displays format and DRM status, via IE9 that's what I'll use to purchase in future. For how long that lasts, who knows!!

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

AFAIK, you only get a KEPUB if you download using the Kobo app.

Yes, one of their apps or eReaders.

Downloading the ascm on the site and using ADE always gives you an EPUB.

They also have some books that are DRM'd PDF which download the same way and then there are some books that are kePub only and don't offer an ascm/ADE download option.

The majority of their books offer an ePub or DRM'd ePub option, but it's those ones that don't which have people concerned (now that you can't tell before buying with the new look website)

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Yes, one of their apps or eReaders.

OK, at least that still works as expected.

They also have some books that are DRM'd PDF which download the same way and then there are some books that are kePub only and don't offer an ascm/ADE download option.

The majority of their books offer an ePub or DRM'd ePub option, but it's those ones that don't which have people concerned (now that you can't tell before buying with the new look website)

So... some books DON'T have the Adobe ASCM option available, or if they do, it might give you a PDF instead of an EPUB, and you only can find this out after buying the book?

That's retarded.

This, combined with their high prices compared to other EPUB retailers, is making Kobo very unattractive. Their only way to compete is that ***load of discount codes each day. (Where do people get them, anyways? It looks like they can be generated.) Without them, Kobo is often most expensive of all.

[hwlester]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

So... some books DON'T have the Adobe ASCM option available, or if they do, it might give you a PDF instead of an EPUB, and you only can find this out after buying the book?

That's exactly the issue since the redesign.

Originally Posted by Katsunami

This, combined with their high prices compared to other EPUB retailers, is making Kobo very unattractive. Their only way to compete is that ***load of discount codes each day. (Where do people get them, anyways? It looks like they can be generated.) Without them, Kobo is often most expensive of all.

I think it largely depends on what you're buying. On most of the stuff I've bought, they're lower than Sony (my e-reader), but comparable to most everyone else (although Amazon is sometimes cheaper). I've found a few titles that were cheaper at BoB (RIP) or Diesel, but with a large enough coupon, Kobo still comes out cheaper. I've actually found a few at Sony that are 20% or so lower than Kobo, so I wait until Sony does it's rare coupon codes and buy them from Sony (since Kobo's coupons are usually in the 20-25% range). I have noticed a few of the titles being slightly more expensive at Kobo lately, so it may be that they're raising their prices. I usually comparison shop anyway (one of the nice things about having an EPUB reader). Price comparison sites such as luzme.com can be helpful in this regard.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by hwlester

I think it largely depends on what you're buying. On most of the stuff I've bought, they're lower than Sony (my e-reader), but comparable to most everyone else (although Amazon is sometimes cheaper). I've found a few titles that were cheaper at BoB (RIP) or Diesel, but with a large enough coupon, Kobo still comes out cheaper. I've actually found a few at Sony that are 20% or so lower than Kobo, so I wait until Sony does it's rare coupon codes and buy them from Sony (since Kobo's coupons are usually in the 20-25% range). I have noticed a few of the titles being slightly more expensive at Kobo lately, so it may be that they're raising their prices. I usually comparison shop anyway (one of the nice things about having an EPUB reader). Price comparison sites such as luzme.com can be helpful in this regard.

Which country you buy from makes a big difference too. I buy only backlist, mainly SF/F. In New Zealand Kobo shop HarperCollins prices have been dropping, Tor prices increasing, others steady. Here most harperCollins books are now cheaper at Kobo than Amazon or anywhere else, Tor used to be a lot cheaper at Kobo but are now about the same as other places.

It also depends on exchange rate movements, as Kobo prices in local currency while Amazon and other expect to be paid in foreign currency. So in local terms Kobo prices stay steady while others fluctuate daily.

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

This, combined with their high prices compared to other EPUB retailers, is making Kobo very unattractive. Their only way to compete is that ***load of discount codes each day. (Where do people get them, anyways? It looks like they can be generated.) Without them, Kobo is often most expensive of all.

The latest 50% off codes come via Bargainmoose Canada

[cghipp]

Originally Posted by koland

paypal .. add a balance and I haven't had problems with check out (as with a CC card - which stops me on every single book).

I think I've had one book I checked that didn't allow a promo code..,

I'll have to try that - I just got a message back from my bank and they say they haven't declined any credit card transactions from Kobo. But I don't know how else I could have the first several transactions go through and then have an error on every subsequent transaction (without reaching the credit limit, of course).

[library addict]

Originally Posted by cghipp

I'll have to try that - I just got a message back from my bank and they say they haven't declined any credit card transactions from Kobo. But I don't know how else I could have the first several transactions go through and then have an error on every subsequent transaction (without reaching the credit limit, of course).

I can usually buy 10 books and then Kobo doesn't want any more of my monry. If I give it a few hours then it works again. The longest stretch I had to wait was 24 hours. My bank said none of the transactions were declined. The first time it happened I did a chat with Kobo and they asked me to try a different credit card. Same "unexpected error" happened. So now I just wait and try again later. It can be a pain. I liked it more when I could just puchase a gift card for myself, apply it to my account and spend money that way.