Selling Epubs via Flash Drives

[theducks]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That seems pretty high to me. I pay £47 a month for electricity (about $60), and I'm projected to end the year with a small surplus in my account.

Our (USA) whole residential electricity usage (and electrical codes) is out of wack. My house has an (considered undersized) Main of 100A (120/240V). All new houses get 200A, and some 400A.

BTW $140 was a worst ever (I don't know what happened) usage.
$50-60 is the normal electric + gas (cooking, heating, hot water)
We get charged for the Electricity, another charge for 'Distribution" (the city buys bulk power from the grid), and the state surcharges because it is not 'green' power

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Apache

My in-laws lived in Huntington Beach California. The weather never got below 50 or above 80 and the humidity was mostly zero. The sea breeze kept them cool during the day and the breeze off the land kept them warm at night. No AC and the only time they needed heat was mostly in early morning to take the chill out of the air. About 9:00 AM they would open all of the windows and enjoy perfect weather. I remember their utility bill being around $20.00 a month.
Apache

I lived in Long Beach, California, three blocks from the beach. My apartment didn't have heat or air conditioning and I never noticed.

I miss California...

[theinfamousj]

Originally Posted by SigilBear

In that spirit, I wondered if some people might prefer to send an author a check with an extra $5 and have their book delivered via an inexpensive flash drive.

If I am tossing in an extra $5 and want my reading habits to be anonymous, I expect to receive a dead tree tome that might give me a paper cut while turning pages.

And since I am purchasing it from the author, an *autographed* dead tree tome.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[drjenkins]

Originally Posted by Apache

I still write a check each month to pay my utility bill. The fees imposed by the city for paying by credit card or electronic debit are excessive.

My water bill is like this. I get around it by using my bank's BillPay service. I pay online via my bank and they mail a paper check to the utility. I maintain a sufficient balance to get this service at no charge.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by drjenkins

My water bill is like this. I get around it by using my bank's BillPay service. I pay online via my bank and they mail a paper check to the utility. I maintain a sufficient balance to get this service at no charge.

It seems like a strange system. In the UK, pretty much all utility companies offer you a discount for paying by Direct Debit (automated withdrawal from your bank account) because it's less work and expense for them that way.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It seems like a strange system. In the UK, pretty much all utility companies offer you a discount for paying by Direct Debit (automated withdrawal from your bank account) because it's less work and expense for them that way.

Yeah, weird. Here in the Netherlands it's the same way, discounts for direct debit, or the other way around (a surcharge for anything else).

Originally Posted by mbovenka

Yeah, weird. Here in the Netherlands it's the same way, discounts for direct debit, or the other way around (a surcharge for anything else).

Here, discounts are available either for direct debits or automatic payments, with surcharges for credit card payments, and possibly cheques.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by theducks

Our (USA) whole residential electricity usage (and electrical codes) is out of wack. My house has an (considered undersized) Main of 100A (120/240V). All new houses get 200A, and some 400A.

. I have 25A@230V as my main breaker coming into the house, and that's normal here in the Netherlands.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mbovenka

. I have 25A@230V as my main breaker coming into the house, and that's normal here in the Netherlands.

It's 100A in the UK.

Domestic power consumption in the UK peaked in 2004, and has been falling steadily year on year since then, due to more energy-efficient devices (particularly lighting). In 2008, the average UK home used 4628 kWh of electricity over the course of the year; in 2017 it was 3760 kWh, a reduction of 19%.

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statis...tion-in-the-uk

[Apache]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It seems like a strange system. In the UK, pretty much all utility companies offer you a discount for paying by Direct Debit (automated withdrawal from your bank account) because it's less work and expense for them that way.

When banks and other companies started allowing online bill payment they started out charging a fee. Later most companies eliminated fees for online payments and increased fees for using the telephone and other live interactions for services. I guess my city likes the extra money they make charging for online payment.
Apache

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by Apache

When banks and other companies started allowing online bill payment they started out charging a fee. Later most companies eliminated fees for online payments and increased fees for using the telephone and other live interactions for services. I guess my city likes the extra money they make charging for online payment.
Apache

This topic came up somewhere before (maybe the Vent & Rant thread?) Someone pointed out that the utility company has to pay fees to the credit card companies. Instead of raising the overall utility rate to cover it, the utilities are charging the fee only to customers who pay by card and not making those who pay by check pay the credit card fee.

I choose online billing even if there's a charge because it means one less piece of mail that I then have to shred or recycle. I still have to pay my rent by check as the landlord is a small family operation and doesn't have an electronic payment option.

[Apache]

It isn't the fact that they are charging me a fee. It is the fact that they are charging me a much higher "fee" than they are being charged by their processing company.
Apache

[drjenkins]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It seems like a strange system. In the UK, pretty much all utility companies offer you a discount for paying by Direct Debit (automated withdrawal from your bank account) because it's less work and expense for them that way.

Our water utility is behind the times. My electric utility accepts Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) payments with no discount or surcharge. The water utility accepts credit cards with a surcharge.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It seems like a strange system. In the UK, pretty much all utility companies offer you a discount for paying by Direct Debit (automated withdrawal from your bank account) because it's less work and expense for them that way.

It does feel like the whole of the US is years behind in electronic payments.
I found my cheque book recently, and I haven't written a check since 2010. Even our window cleaner accepts bank transfers! And with many car parks now taking contactless payments, the need for cash has pretty much vanished too, they were the last things I carried coins for.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

It does feel like the whole of the US is years behind in electronic payments.
I found my cheque book recently, and I haven't written a check since 2010. Even our window cleaner accepts bank transfers! And with many car parks now taking contactless payments, the need for cash has pretty much vanished too, they were the last things I carried coins for.

Not the whole country. Just utilities.
Bear in mind it is a big country with tens of thousands of communities scattered all over, too. Some places were first electrified in the nineteenth century while many newer communities were established in the 21st.
Lots of small businesses and different (often weird) tax regimes, too. Many small businesses don't support the newer digital payments because the added overhead isn't worth it. Cash and Credit/debit card are nearly universal. The rest varies by business.

Some of the "weird" practices have a valid rationale, some don't.

You just grin and shrug it off.

As for the delivery of ebooks via Flash, I doubt any legit business would do it.
DVDs are much cheaper than even the cheapest flash drive and, of course, digital is near-zero incremental cost.