How Much Will You Pay For an E-Book?

[Zyzomys]

I will at most pay 10% of a real books paper cost. So if Its a $10 paper back id be willing to at most spend $1 on the ebook.

So how is this working out for you?

[dkb]

I'll pay up to $10 for an author I really like. If it's something that's been out awhile, $7 is my limit. I'm also influenced by how many pages and what the used price is.

[DMB]

I think I am potentially prepared to pay a little for the convenience of having it on the Kindle and not having another pbook cluttering up the place.

[church mouse]

For impulse buying, no more than £3.00.

Above this price, I used to go in to my local book shop and read a few pages of the dead tree version first - now, with the UK Kindle site, I just get a sample.

I have 2 rules:

1. That I will not pay more than the paperback price.

2. If the book is in hardback only, I will not buy it unless the e-book price equates to a traditional paperback price.

I breached the hardback rule once, for Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and realised why I should have followed the rule - nothing wrong with the book, but nothing so good that I could not have waited until it was priced at a paperback level.

[Andrew Kaufman]

Oh, I forgot to add my 2 Cents. For me, I won't go any higher than the original price Amazon had when the Kindle first came out: $9.99. I don't know why. Maybe it just stuck in my head, maybe because they promised that amount and I'm being stubborn! (probably the latter!)]

Drew

[jes1]

I have purchased a few books in the $10.00 to $14.00 range, but very few. Those were by my very small group of always buy authors. I picked up a lot of the Sony ebook gift cards when they were 40% off at Target, so those books ended up under $10.00. I wish I would have bought a lot more of those gift cards. It was such a good deal.
For most other authors, I don't spend over $7.00. For independents on Smashwords and other places, my cut-off is $5.00 unless I have read other works by that author.

[Zorz]

Originally Posted by Zyzomys

So how is this working out for you?

I havent bought any ebooks

[rhmorrison]

I will, never, ever, EVER pay more for an ebook than a pbook.
And I almost never buy hard cover books!
If it is a current best seller then I might be willing to play much closer to the price of the pbook for an ebook.
My nieces (who are voracious readers) have to the delight of my sister recently discovered Amazon used books and sales which is saving her tons of $$$.
Primary motivation for ebooks is mobility and shelf space.
On a three week vacation I go through 10 to 15 books.
Taking that with me on the plane is a pain in the A.
EBooks are the future!

[lance_]

My absolute cutoff is $10. Any more than that and I buy a used copy.

Ideally I get ebooks when they're $3-5 during sales or with coupons.

Exception: Some textbooks. I've paid $15 for a etextbook when it was $60 dead tree edition. Though I made sure I could rip the DRM off it so I could actually copy and paste for citations. And I wouldn't buy a textbook that requires a lot of back and forth reading, eink sucks for that.

[ProfCrash]

I pay what I feel a book is worth. The most I have paid is $14.99 (Princep's Fury and Firt Lord's Fury). I have paid over $10 for a few books but most have been under $10.

I tend not to read independent authors. The ones I have tried have not been that great. I know that there are some folks who love the indies but I have yet to run into one that I enjoy. So it is rare that I spend under $5.

[cvkemp]

I buy very few books. I read mainly classics that I can get for free. Every now and then I need technical books; those I pay what I have to because the ones I need will not be available used, but I can also right off as work related cost.
There are a few authors that I will get there books when they come out so I will pre-order. But that normally is no more that once or twice a year.

[Kumabjorn]

Let us take this in a slightly different direction.
Assuming a well established author, either the recipient of multiple literary prizes or established on best seller lists. This author comes out with a new book, E-book only. No slaughtered tree books to compare with. What are you willing to pay for something like that?

[ProfCrash]

If I know the author and I like their past work, I will pay $15 for a new book.

[cvkemp]

I have paid as much as $45 for technical ebooks. And I have paid as much at $20 for an author that I really like to get the ebook.

[robins777]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Let us take this in a slightly different direction.
Assuming a well established author, either the recipient of multiple literary prizes or established on best seller lists. This author comes out with a new book, E-book only. No slaughtered tree books to compare with. What are you willing to pay for something like that?

I would never pay more than £3 for an ebook no matter what it was about or who wrote it and even than it has got to be outstanding to even consider paying that amount.

If I can't get them for that price I will simply wait till they come down in price ot not purchase them. Having just recently got my Kindle I have purchased several book after reading samples and all have been just under £1.50. These books from little known authors have been every bit a rewarding as "multiple literary prizes or established on best seller lists" I have read in the past.