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

[wvcherrybomb]

If I want a book, I will buy it regardless of the price. I have paid $10 - $15 for many of my ebooks. I don't care if it's more than the hardcover version because I don't want the physical book cluttering up my world.

I have hundreds of freebies - many still TBR. I only download ones that I am interested in and will read eventually.

I boycotted DRM for about 6 months before giving in and just going back to stripping it.

Amazon has most definitely profiting from me owning a Kindle:

Before Kindle - rarely bought a book. Read hand-me-downs and library.
After Kindle - average a book or two a month purchased at full price.

[MAT160]

Of the approx. 700 books in my library at least 675 of them are under $10.00 or free

[RDaneel54]

I've purchased three that were over $10, two of those were 2+ years ago.

Nowadays, with library loans and an abundance of lower priced quality books, it is an extremely rare book I'll pay over $10 for.

Also, Amazon has many sales for Kindle with Special Offers owners, that it is even more vanishingly slim.

Last, but not least, since I am an Amazon Prime Member, I can borrow one monthly from a huge list of books.

So much out there if one is patient and diligent in searching the legitimate sources.

However, I am sorely tempted to get 11/22/63 by Stephen King @ $14.99.

Dean

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by stonetools

I think Amazon has been the one leading the race to the bottom in hardware sales: remember , the $79 kindle 4 and the $199 kindle fire?

The $79 Kindle (with Special Offers) comes with an ad subscription bundled in. If you don't want them, you get to pay another $30 to revert to the *baseline* config.

I don't see a $30 discount for watching ads as a bad deal, but neither do I see the actual price I pay as *only* $79. Rather, I see it as *selling* my eyeballs for that discount. It's not that I necessarily mind the ads, but I do like clear book-keeping, so for me I see *two* transactions; one for the reader and one for the ads and special offers.

Just like the *free* Nooks you get with the NYT subscription, the fine print makes it clear you're paying $240 for a 2 year digital subscription + a $100 discount coupon you can apply to the STR or the NC. Or consider the Audible deal at Amazon that gives you $100 to apply to most any compatible device (Kindle, media player, whatever).

When things look too good to be true, they usually are. Mind the fine print to avoid heartburn.

In my book, Kindle prices are $109, $139, $189. (Plus $199 for FIRE.)
Not very different from 2010, really.

The rest is just a promo discount to build up their online ad business and (in the case of Fire) Prime just as the NYT is giving B&N customers a (temporary) discount to build their subscriptions.

[Alohamora]

I've purchased 3 reference books that were in the $15 to $20 range.

I think around 4 fiction books that were between $10 and $14.

Perhaps 30 or 40 in the $3 to $8 range.

Maybe 60 or 70 free or 99 cent ones.

I never purchased first run hardcovers either, I would wait for the paperback or wait for it to be available at the library or rent it. (The library has rentals of some of the more popular books for 25 cents a day.) The hardcovers I own were generally purchased as remainders or used. [The only exception I can remember was the Harry Potter series, I got the last 4 on their day of release.]

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryT

There are many of us here who think that current eBook pricing is entirely reasonable; the "everything should cost $1" brigade just like to try to pretend that we don't exist, and that they represent the "mainstream" view.

To be clear, since I think we're on the same side here:

*I* don't think everything should be $1. (I did say I'm not terribly price-sensitive.)
I do think there is a place for $0.99 ebooks just as there is a place for $7 and $10 and higher books. What place it is, for each book, should be up to the open market to decide. Let the product's quality set its price.

What I object to, in the so-called Agency Model, is the non-competitive aspects of the Scam. *That* is why I'm bycotting all Price-fix six content, e- and p-.

Nonetheless, I'm pretty sure there aren't very many people around here who *never* factor price into their book purchases. They exist, no doubt, and I've seen a couple who assert it (and I'll not dispute them) but most people around here are heavy readers who seem to like to stretch their reading budget as far as reasonable.

Fair 'nough?

[Elfwreck]

I don't buy (or download free) ebooks with DRM. That drastically changes the marketplace for me; I don't even look at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. (I'm aware that not all of their titles are DRM'd, but since I can't tell before I buy, I don't bother looking.) I buy from Smashwords, Fictionwise, DriveThruRPG, e23, Baen Ebooks, and occasionally publisher bookstores.

I've spent more than $10 on a single title maybe twice, for RPG supplements. For novels, my cap is $6. (I have bought a collection of 5 novels for $15.) I read a lot of free ebooks, and a lot of $3 ebooks. I don't read many $.99 ebooks, because those aren't as common away from Amazon.

I don't so much mind paying more than $6 for ebooks as I want to make my budget stretch, and I've yet to run across the novel that convinced me it would be more meaningful or entertaining to me than my list of to-be-bought books from Baen.

[Ginwen]

I have bought maybe 2 over $10. I've purchased quite a few at 9.99, and then a whole bunch for less.

If it's an author I really like, or a series I like, I'll happily pay 9.99 to get it when it's new, otherwise I wait. If it's under $3, and sounds good, I'll often take a flyer on something I don't know much about. A few of those have ended up selling me on the whole series.

I used to buy hardcovers for more than 9.99, but I did get used to that price. Also the way it's been handled irritates me enough that I just end up waiting, or getting at the library. In my case, they have definitely lost money, because there are books I would have pre-ordered at 9.99, but because they charged more via the agency model, I ended up getting them free at the library.

[Matth79]

Mum's Kobo Touch, loaded entirely free - it helps that she likes the old ones though, and if there isn't a free version on the store, I'll check Gutenberg etc.

[VoraciousOne]

I try to get as many free Kindle books as I can. Although there are a lot of - erm - not so good books to wade through this way. But every once in awhile you come across a real gem of a book.

It bothers me when Kindle book prices are higher than the actual book price. It just doesn't seem right. Probably the most expensive book I bought would have been one of Phillipa Gregory's books.

I also check e- books out of the library.

V1

[janicew]

I'd say that I probably follow the 80/20 principle. About 80% of my ebooks for my Kindle are free or under $3. Maybe 20% are books I've really wanted from certain authors or topics and have been willing to pay a higher price for. I'm definitely reading and buying more books than I did before, so Amazon is still coming out ahead.

I also know that using free books to introduce people to new authors is definitely working for me. I have found several new authors this way that I have liked, and I have bought additional books from. Usually these are the low cost books (under $3).

[Lazybones]

When I first got my Kindle I bought 5 books that were $10 or more, and probably would have bought more, but when the base price for new e-books at Amazon went from $9.99 to $12.99 and then $14.99 I started looking hard at independent authors. Since then I've bought maybe 20 books and none of them were more than $3.

[carld]

Originally Posted by Lazybones

When I first got my Kindle I bought 5 books that were $10 or more, and probably would have bought more, but when the base price for new e-books at Amazon went from $9.99 to $12.99 and then $14.99 I started looking hard at independent authors. Since then I've bought maybe 20 books and none of them were more than $3.

Exactly. I thought $9.99 was a good price for a new book from a top of the line publisher. At $12.99 and $14.99 I had to seriously rethink what I was spending money on. I went from buying new full-price books regularly to buying once or twice a year. Instead I'm looking at freebies, older books and independents.

[mikaelalind]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Wooaav, I'm impressed. Kudos for your principal standing on DRM, I feel soo stoopid for buying from Amazon at agency pricing with the added $1.50 surcharge for overseas delivery. I wish I could be as smart as the rest of you when purchasing, I suppose I'm just too lazy.

1.50? For me Amazon adds between 0-3 dollar. Which is one of the reasons I don't buy from them. Maybe you get a discount since you have a Kindle...

[rsand27]

I watch for discounts and free books. The Pixel of Ink website is great for finding deals. I know I have never paid more than $2.99 for an eBook. I'd rather pay a buck for an indie book that sounds interesting/has a good sample or reviews than $10 for a bestseller that's available in print for free at the library. As long as I can find entertaining stories under $3, why spend more?