Frustration with Book Pricing at Kobo (and others)

[Sregener]

Originally Posted by jackastor

The lack of actual deforestation make these books 100 percent enviro friendly as opposed to an actual print book where you must use, ink, paper, actual shipping costs for those materials, shipping costs for the stores that purchase the books, and all that means those books cost big dollars to make. The actual printing cost of an Ebook seems to me is zero dollars, not taking into account the revenue generated for the Author who I respect needs to get paid. What is wrong with corporate greed when the avg Ebook now costs almost as much as a hard copy of a first edition print?

Well, not 100% enviro-friendly. You have to take into account the environmental damage of producing your ereader, and its average 3-year lifespan. Batteries make electric cars very damaging to the environment, and the same is true of ereaders. You also use electricity to turn pages (on an eink) or to run the screen (LCD.). There is also energy used to run the server that holds the ebook for purchase.

Most of the Estores require a 30% cut of the sale price, which is much higher than what a traditional book store requires.

I want eBooks to be cheaper, but so far they appear to be making somebody a boat-load of money rather than saving us a dime.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Sregener

Most of the Estores require a 30% cut of the sale price, which is much higher than what a traditional book store requires.

They don't require it necessarily, it's what the publishers and Apple came up with when they started the agency system. Also traditional book stores generally make more than 30% on the books they sell (unless the store is choosing to discount).

[RareBird]

Originally Posted by taming

I have a monthly book budget. If I buy an expensive one (and I do), it reduces the total number of books I can buy that month. FWIW, I have had a book budget since 1971, when I got my first full time job. The format is irrelevant, from my POV. I am not buying paper or whatever those hard covers are made from, I am buying the books content--the information, enjoyment, etc. that i will get from reading the book.

On Saturday, my husband spent $15 to see a movie (he then bought popcorn and soda, so his total was much more). That same day, I spent $16 to buy the book Gone Girl. Neither of us feels ripped off.

That's not a bad idea having a monthly book budget. Of course, with so many books to read as it is with all the free ones I've picked up not to mention my monthly book from Kobo as part of the book club, I don't really need to buy any. Maybe when my TBR pile gets reduced a bit I'll implement a budget plan. I totally agree with you on buying the content and not the paper. I've bought my fair share of ebooks and haven't felt ripped off once yet.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by RareBird

Just out of curiosity, how did you train it? I'm still getting recommendations that are way off base for me. I draw the line at $10 but I've gone a little over if buying a bundle which saves me considerably more than buying the titles separate. I also download any free ones that may interest me. My wife always say I have a ton to read but if I see a book I like the look of that is free I grab it. And borrowing ebooks from the library is a great way to enjoy books for free and no late charges as a bonus.

Please tell us in the thread.

[Blue2u]

Originally Posted by Xennex1170

What makes it more infuriating is that ebook are considered 'licensed' for use and not 'bought' as property. As such I would expect prices to be MUCH lower due to not actually being able to 'own' the ebook.

I agree on this point as well, it's almost like renting a video, you can watch it, but with restrictions.

50 Shades of Grey- Paperback $9.57 on AMZ US
50 Shades of Grey- Paperback $8.98 on AMZ CA
50 Shades of Grey- Kindle Ed. $10.95 on AMZ US
50 Shades of Grey- Kobo Site $10.99

Why is it cheaper to purchase hard copies?!?!
(Not that I cared to read these, anyhow. And it's not 'Sour Grapes' either!!)

IMHO: This. Is. Totally. Unfair.

I agree also!

I think if publishers want to retain some hard copy purchases, maybe they should adopt what some movie companies are doing, which is being able to purchase the hardcopy[blu-ray/dvd] and also get the digital download with the package as well. I know there are a few books I would like hard copies of, but still would like them to be accessible to my reader.

I am on a buying freeze right now, hopefully with the big US lawsuit against some of the major publishers for basically price-fixing, I am holding out and hoping some of the books I want will come down in price in the coming months.

Besides since I've found MBR, I am now hooked on the Kindle daily deals and have WAY too many books in TBR pile. And I can be very patient when I'm waiting for a good deal.

[Wald07]

Originally Posted by Blue2u

Besides since I've found MBR, I am now hooked on the Kindle daily deals and have WAY too many books in TBR pile. And I can be very patient when I'm waiting for a good deal.

This is me, too!

[Sregener]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

They don't require it necessarily, it's what the publishers and Apple came up with when they started the agency system. Also traditional book stores generally make more than 30% on the books they sell (unless the store is choosing to discount).

Retail markups are generally 50% or more, but that is based on a very low wholesale price. So they may sell a bestseller for $16, but they only paid $8 for it. How much would an eBook have to cost for a publisher to get $8? Because 30% is lopped off the top, it's $11.42. Shockingly close to what most bestseller eBooks sell for.

In one sense, eBook sales raise the costs of printing traditional books - because the cheapest book to print is the last one off the line. Because fewer print books are sold, fewer get made and economies of scale don't come into play as readily. However, physical book prices are already as high as the market will bear. So they take the savings of producing the eBooks and use it to cover the increase in printing costs. Is this fair? Not to the eBook buyer, but it is what keeps printed books affordable.

The real dinosaur is the publishers. Many writers are going it alone, selling their work directly for $2.99 or less, but making more per sale than ever before. I read of one eBook author who was offered an advance of $250,000 to sell the digital and print rights to their books to a traditional publisher. Problem was, they were making $150,000/month from eBook sales. No need for the pittance the book publisher would give them per sale.

If you want cheaper eBooks, read the ones that aren't in print to begin with.

[Blue2u]

Originally Posted by Wald07

This is me, too!

Maybe it's a Canadian thing?

I keep giving myself a limit, when I was approaching 200, I told myself 'from now on only d/l books with more than 25 ratings'! On the weekend I downloaded 11 alone! I was good today though, only 3. But I'm approaching 250 now, so maybe 300 will be my stopping point?!