How many free or deeply discounted vs. $10 or higher ebooks have you bought?

[slex]

I bought more than 30 books for $10+ dollars last year, the majority of them being non-fiction and pop-sci. Some of them I need for my work, some are unrelated and I just want to read about the subject. I am reluctant to give more than $10 for fiction, though I have quite a few purchases in the $5-$10 interval. There are some good cheap reads and freebies out there, but the majority of the books in this price category simply do not catch my interest.

I am a very pretentious reader and usually this puts me in the position to buy the books I (think I will) like. Of course, as long as I can afford it. Having said that, I have made good use of discounts and coupons of various kinds. Also, my purchase rate has declined recently, having filled substantially my e-library last year. I will probably even skip the current 30% off at Kobo.

[Pomtroll]

I allow myself a limited amount of regular priced books each month (usually the paperback e-book). Probably around 5. Other than that I get freebies & discounted books.

[spindlegirl]

Originally Posted by stonetools

You are new around these parts, SG, so you probably don't understand that the issues of ebook prices and DRM have been debated to death.

I have actually seen long-timers who have had accounts here for years, actually say similar things as I have, and recently. So yes, I understand that perfectly.

I was expressing a personal opinion, which really isn't a debate. I am, as it is glaringly obvious, really terrible at debating techniques (failed it in school), as I am terribly subjective in my opinions.

I've bought many a backlist printed book for about $4-$7, so if e-books are not special snowflakes, and printing is really only about 10% of the retail value, then I don't think it's unreasonable to hope that I could get an oldie in e-book format for about the same....

I have also seen you say, yourself that you have bought many books cheaply. I actually am fine with many books being priced out of my range... it helps keep my reading habits more selective. I wait until my hold comes up at the library, and read it then instead of a quick download.

You are right, e-books are not special snowflakes. People want to have reasonable prices on them, too. I have yet to find a product that does not have people criticizing the price or construction or value for what they are getting...

[Tome Keeper]

I have several thousand e-books. I only have about 7 or 8 that cost $10 (£6) or over.

Should point out I'm a Kindle not Nook owner.

[spindlegirl]

I personally think authors should continue to write and I will happily pay for their talent, but presentation means a lot to me. I know a few authors personally, and in fact recently bought an e-book from one of my friends for $7 (the same price he charges everyone), not expecting a handout simply because we attend the same church. I have no sense of entitlement, and happily pay prices based on what I see as reasonable for what I am getting.

One of the authors in the "Independent authors who made it big" thread, Darcie Chan for the "Mill River Recluse" - that book's on smashwords for 99c. Like I said, I am not in the "all books should be 99c" camp, nor will I ever be. That is not realistic. But this is just an example.

But I apparently, like a lot of people, willingly gave her 99c. I am likely not to be the last person to continue giving her 99 cents and who knows, people will keep giving her 99c until the headcount is a million....? would be nice. Not saying authors are instantly rich, but it seems many newer authors who make it big seem to make the price quite tempting.

All for the same frontloaded work. One act, many people chipping in a buck (or more) to pay for that act. An archived file that produces itself forever and the stock never runs out. I'd even love to see many authors have "tip jars" on their websites for a service well received. (aka, money that only they will get that is deserved).

[Pax]

My amount of free ebooks are about 10% of my ebook collection.
I have many deeply discounted (25-30%) ebooks. I have to say, that I am from Germany and here the books & ebooks have a fixed price.
It is such a pleasure to be able to get discounts for ebooks on kobo for English books.

[theducks]

I am not against Paying the author and editor.
Paying a premium for an e-version just makes no sense.
There are no 'returns' or stripped books.

The data warehouse is way more expensive per square foot than for a dead tree book.
But the space for the publishers entire front and back list fits in less than a square meter. for 'e' editions.
I feel the authors are getting seriously cheated: the price being above paperback discourages additional sales.

I have no idea if their royalty is WAY higher for 'e' editions, but I guess they are cheated there also

[pdurrant]

I've bought close to 2,000 ebooks. Certainly over 1,500. If you count freebies, well over 2,000.

I've probably bought less than ten books costing more than $10. And probably less than 20 costing more than $6.

[anamardoll]

I have bunches of free books. And I will happily plunk down $1-3 on an indie author with a pretty cover.

[carld]

I don't really keep track, but the only books I can think of that I've paid more than $9.99 for are Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. I'm sure there have been a few more but not a lot. I'd guess my free and cheap purchases out weigh the $10+ books by at least 50 to 1, maybe 100 to 1.

[jessicalynn]

I've bought very, very few ebooks over $10. I can actually think of only one off the top of my head that was a new release I really wanted to read! I've taken advantage of a lot of freebies from amazon, b&n and baen, as well as discounted ebooks. I've also bought a look of books with Kobo coupons.

[mitchell_iles]

I am willing to pay 10 or more for something I know I'll like or has come highly recommended to me. My wife will wait forever for a good deal to come up or go through a thirty person wait-list at the library.

I'd say 50% of my books I've paid at least ten dollars.

[iq6000]

I am a big library user - I have never spent a huge amount of cash on individual books - except for textbooks that I HAD to buy. I mostly buy secondhand books at Vinnies or the Lifeline Bookfest.
I don't have enough room for more books in my little house - books are already on just about every surface in every room. (That reminds me - I want to go out today and see if I can find a cheap bookcase to fit into a small space next to the front balcony door, my mother is coming to stay and I need to free up some surfaces).
I go for free/cheap books on my ebook reader. I have bought some full price books but they are usually books that I have really liked and I know the library will get rid of, or to fill gaps in book series when the library has let me down and left gaps. Ebooks don't take up much room! Also I can't sell ebooks after I have read them.
That's the trouble with being a voracious reader like me...

Angela

[crossi]

Maybe 40 out of 800+ ebooks. I average about $6 and won't pay more than $7 for a single (non omnibus) novel especially not a backlist novel.

[Victoria]

I buy alot of ebooks, but i have always overspent on books . I justify it to myself saying "A book lasts a lifetime, but a hamburger and shake are over in a few minutes".

If I really want to read the book, I will usually buy it, whether over $10 or not - especially if I've been waiting for the author's next book to come out. The e- book is usually less than the p-book other people are buying. If it is just is too expensive, I walk away, as i did in my p-book days.

I never download books 'just because' they are free - it would make it harder to keep track of the books I want to read. But if the book is older, i always check to see if it's in the public domain first. And I've discovered great new 'old' authors here in the MR library.

I do do something that I feel ethically conflicted over: I have a kobo and a kindle, but I prefer to read on the kindle. When I get a discount email from kobo, I will buy a book from them, strip the drm, and put it on my kindle. But I can't seem to figure out how to strip the kindle books,( I've read Alf many times). If I could, then I'd make sure to give both companies 50% of my business, because I value their service and products. I do buy kindle books often, because i feel it's only ethical to do so, but it's probably not 50/50..................the ethical issue for me isn't the stripping of drm, but rather consciously supporting businesses that I value.