Kobo Discounts: Coupon Codes + Discussion

[Lynx-lynx]

Well I'm wondering why people haven't discussed that the major change this Contest is not the low codes, they've happened before, it's the fact that the Contest codes appear to be geo restricted to the country in which the game was registered.

So, my observation is that if one plays the UK version of the Contest then the UK is the only country that those codes work. Can people playing the Contest in the US and Canada (because the UK, US and Canada are the only allowable countries under the rules) please confirm that that is the case. That is, try the code on books in India or Mexico etc

What that means for all of us is that if we can't use the codes in non publisher restricted countries we all go back to being 'captives' of the publishers once again. Yucko!!!!

Good news:

I tested a Comeback 30% code I recently got for my US account - and it works on publisher discount eligible books in Aus, and any book in India.

Phew

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by shunter

No, I cannot buy your arguments. The numbers do not add up; the evidence shows that Kobo is running scared and they may be taking a cautious approach due to the end of agency pricing. Kobo over the last four years has undergone phenomenal growth. The number of Kobo registered users as of June 2014 is up (+38.8% YoY) to 20.9 millions of persons (compared to 2010 at 3.5). And Kobo’s global content revenue: +32.9% YoY in Q2. The number of 75% and less coupons used over the last few years is really trivial compared to Kobo's growth. I cannot see how hundreds of 75% off coupons will effect their bottom line when their growth is in the millions of users. The numbers don't add up; millions of transactions vs 100's with coupons.

I hope this months contest is a bad experiment, and we get a better one next month.

Sources: http://global.rakuten.com/corp/inves...ments/results/
http://business.financialpost.com/20..._lsa=699d-dd36

Best,
Shunter

Thank you for this information and the link.

The increase in Kobo membership is very interesting and one can only speculate the reasons behind it, and I'm not sure that the demise of Sony accounts for the bulk of it.

These figures also put into perspective that the number of people who, via information posted on this thread, use the high discount codes across multiple accounts - we're a drop in Kobo's collective customer base.

I again thank all the members who posted the large volume high value Contest codes.

[Lynx-lynx]

There are 2 reasons that I buy books from Kobo:
1. I can travel to countries where there are no publisher restrictions and the prices are lower

2. there are discount codes that make purchasing a book a very attractive proposition on books that accept the codes.

[BuyMore]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

There are 2 reasons that I buy books from Kobo:
1. I can travel to countries where there are no publisher restrictions and the prices are lower

2. there are discount codes that make purchasing a book a very attractive proposition on books that accept the codes.

Well, I buy from Kobo because that's pretty much the only place I can find and purchase a good collection of ebooks. And yes, the discount codes are excellent, too.

I definitely hate the geo-restriction of the contest codes.

[Difflugia]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

* Yes, I know all about calibre's autoconvert feature. I still prefer getting a native EPUB when possible.

I'm the same way, but many AZW3/KF8 files were built from "native" EPUBs that can be extracted using KindleUnpack (either the command-line tool or Calibre plugin). If a real EPUB was used to create the KF8, then the EPUB that gets extracted is just like the original (the names of individual files inside of the zip are changed, but the XML/HTML is otherwise the same).

You can check to see if a valid EPUB was used to create the Kindle file by running KindleUnpack on the free sample. If it opens in ADE with more than a blank screen (the Calibre EPUB reader is much more forgiving, so don't rely on that), then it's actually an EPUB.

You can try it out with a few books that are free at both Kobo and Amazon to see if it suits your tastes.

[murg]

Originally Posted by beautifulsoup

Cool! I just won a Kobo mini in the contest! Woohoo! Went in exactly at midnight, EST

(Weird, though - the promo for the contest specifically mentions the Kobo Touch. But that's okay; I like the mini better. )

Wow! They're even down-sizing the eReader they give away in this contest!

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by zelda.owns.link

Not when Amazon is 99 cents and Kobo is 10 dollars!

Ok.

I've never experienced that large of a price difference.

[Melon Soda]

Originally Posted by murg

Wow! They're even down-sizing the eReader they give away in this contest!

Lol that was funny!

I have to agree with most of the posts here. Granted, Kobo may valid reasons to introduce the revised distribution rates for the contest and geographical restrictions, but as a consumer, the price (after discount) is pretty much the only reason I keep buying from Kobo. Just played the quizzes again today and the highest I got was a 30%. What a letdown. I guess I'll just get that new Lee Child's novella this month and save the rest of my money.

[ChandaK562]

Here's a thought. Maybe they're going to start offering contests exclusively for some of the other countries like India, Australia, etc. Maybe the geo-thing is a good sign! Maybe more code opportunities are on the way! I don't do the traveling, but I hope so for people who are in places where that's the best option for them.

[samosa]

I hope the publishers will sell their books direct becoz apparently some publishers get into troubles with Amazon working very hard to push their prices down. Well one may argue that will let the customers get their books at better prices, but becoz Amazon will take a cut so lower prices for the publishers (and authors) may not necessary translate to lower prices for the readers. And without being able to keep the publishers and authors in reasonable OK lifestyle there may not be books in the first place.

[samosa]

Originally Posted by zelda.owns.link

Not when Amazon is 99 cents and Kobo is 10 dollars!

Some of Amazon's daily and monthly discounts are truly extraordinary. Only thing is that I don't often find books that I already need, they are books that I buy becoz they are cheap and look interesting. Suppose that help me to expand my reading horizons. Sometimes I am grateful for that kind of random exposure. More often they sit there unread and a few months on I look at the list of books I have bought and I wonder why I have bought them...

[winsomnia]

Re: Geo-restrictions on contest codes.
All of my contest codes are won using email with Canadian addresses.

I've just tried all of my contest codes at Kobo's India store and found them unusable (but PERKOPOLIS still works for 40% off).
I went to the Kobo USA store and was successful in using (testing the code, not actually buying the book) all my contest codes (from Canada) on the same book I tried in India. And PERKOPOLIS still works in Kobo USA store for 40% off.

I don't know what this means as a trend for the future, but I'm not losing any sleep over these things. However, as a shopper I'm always looking for the most information I can get.

But these contests are free to enter, and in my experience free-to-enter contests generally suck at giving out prizes (at least to me). Kobo will still be a place I look at when shopping for e-books. I may not buy as often, but that's about all that will change for me. But PERKOPOLIS for 40% off still works, and I won't be using this code 5EBGC4 for 45% off. Using two distinct email addresses, that was the highest code I've won this week.

By the way, I've only ever bought ebooks at Amazon for $0.00 because I prefer to buy native epubs. I won't pay good money for books I have to convert myself, knowing that they may or may not turn out well for me.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by winsomnia

I won't pay good money for books I have to convert myself, knowing that they may or may not turn out well for me.

Heck, I've gotten some Big Five EPUBs that look like crap, from big-name authors. Stephen King's backlist comes to mind; It has the wrong copyright page (from The Stand) and Dreamcatcher has a lot of smallcaps text with no spaces on either side - so you get text that looksA LOT LIKEthis, all through the book.

[mambabasa]

I mostly play this contest for the hunt and rush of a big code. And while last months contest gave us really high codes, this month I found myself holding my breath each time I pressed the answer waiting to see if I was going to be disappointed or not....lol....I haven't made out too well, in 4 days I've received a 75% code that I'm holding on to....but I did get these

45%

2JDJ5L
2HPUTH

55%

5TPUE3


the rest are lower than 40%

[shunter]

Originally Posted by mambabasa

I've received a 75% code that I'm holding on to....

Hi Mambabasa:

First, thank you for the coupons!! When you are done with your 75% off coupon, could you post it? A friend and I were able to use the 55% off coupon on our respective account. This could mean that the coupons are multi-use @ one per account.

Thanks,
Shunter