Ebook Buying Addicts' Support Thread

[wyndslash]

i figure this is the only thread that can understand me :P

i'm torn between getting the rest of the Matthew Scudder series ($3.99 each, marked down from $7.99 for a limited time). that's 16 books times 3.99...almost $64. should i get them or wait for it to go lower, if that's possible??

[ATDrake]

Depends on how likely you are to read them in the near-future (or if the author is a favourite of yours whom you'd like to stock up on).

Chances are, if the sale is doing well enough at those prices, they'll hold it again at that level at some point in the future, if not even lower. Although that may take a number of years before they do it again.

If you've tried and enjoyed the first few books in the series and think you'll want to read the lot, go ahead. It'll be a reasonably good deal for something you know you want.

But on the other hand, if you're just sampling stuff from a well-reputed author who looks promising, I myself would not find that price point sufficiently low enough to be compelling for blind-purchase (or even squinty one-eye closed purchase, which is what reading the first couple would qualify as). At $1.99, perhaps, or maybe even $2.99, but I personally consider $3.99 per title a bit steep*.

* Disclaimer: I have paid roughly that amount basically sight unseen for a couple of Dave Duncan sword & sorcery books when they showed up with the 15% off new release discount + a good weekend coupon at Fictionwise. But I have read his sleuthy Renaissance mysteries and liked them.

[wyndslash]

@atdrake: i actually just bought his books since the sale, and luckily enough, i find myself getting hooked, which is the problem, since i have no independent income yet and rely on other sources on the other hand, i can live without them, but it's just the feeling that if i'd want to read it in the future and prices go up, i'd be kicking myself.

[ATDrake]

Well, from the looks of it, it's a deliberate publisher promo and the publisher in question is HarperCollins.

They do have a tendency to run sporadic deep-discounts on items, but at infrequent intervals for stuff in series.

So while there's actually a pretty good chance that the price on selected volumes would drop lower in the future, it's one of those things that will happen at intervals of at least a year or more.

So if you want to read them now, I'd say get them now if you think they're compelling enough to spend $64 upon. But if you're willing to wait for what the future holds, for all you know once the Big-5+Apple Agency pricing lawsuit is over, these may one day end up being deep-discounted as an Amazon deal of some sort.

The price will go up, but I'm pretty sure at some point it will come down again. The question is just when and if you're willing to wait however long it will take.

ETA: Wording in some of the posts in the Block thread implies that there was a previous recent sale on his other titles, so maybe you wouldn't have to wait all that long for the recurrence interval.

ETA: Searching for Lawrence Block in the Deals forums bring up the previous times his books have been discounted, some of them from the Matthew Scudder series for $2.99 from HarperCollins. So there you go.

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Well, from the looks of it, it's a deliberate publisher promo and the publisher in question is HarperCollins.

They do have a tendency to run sporadic deep-discounts on items, but at infrequent intervals for stuff in series.

So while there's actually a pretty good chance that the price on selected volumes would drop lower in the future, it's one of those things that will happen at intervals of at least a year or more.

So if you want to read them now, I'd say get them now if you think they're compelling enough to spend $64 upon. But if you're willing to wait for what the future holds, for all you know once the Big-5+Apple Agency pricing lawsuit is over, these may one day end up being deep-discounted as an Amazon deal of some sort.

The price will go up, but I'm pretty sure at some point it will come down again. The question is just when and if you're willing to wait however long it will take.

ETA: Wording in some of the posts in the Block thread implies that there was a previous recent sale on his other titles, so maybe you wouldn't have to wait all that long for the recurrence interval.

thanks! i guess i'll be waiting, then

[ATDrake]

Yeah, some of the Scudder volumes have been $2.99 from HarperCollins last year, according to forum search.

Best bet is probably to signup for one of those e-book pricedrop-checking notification services to e-mail you whenever Block's books go to $3.99 or less.

[wyndslash]

you're right. i've always relied on MR posts, but it never hurts to have additional help.

[Synamon]

wyndslash, I feel responsible for your addiction.

In his blog Lawrence Block seemed to think that the prices for the HarperCollins titles might only go up a dollar from where they are. He is self-publishing the titles he has reclaimed the rights to for $4.99, which includes 3 of the Scudder series. The fourth book A Stab in the Dark is one of those so, so if you bought up to the 3rd of the series you'll have that one you can buy for $4.99 later if the price of the others does jump back up to $7.99. And if you don't mind reading out of order, you could get the other two to keep you going until a likely future sale as described by ATDrake. If the prices settle at $4.99 then you could buy the books for only a dollar more when you want to read them without coming up with $64 right now.

[wyndslash]

a dollar more doesn't seem like much...until you decide to get the whole series :P

[pdurrant]

If you have plenty of other books on your TBR pile, I'd suggest waiting in hopes of a better deal later on. Perhaps they'll do a bundle deal on the set at some point.

[TimW]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

a dollar more doesn't seem like much...until you decide to get the whole series :P

I'll go with the consensus. Since HarperCollins decided to settle the DoJ suit, there could be some excellent deals in a few months. For a biblioholic, it would be like an alcoholic having access to a free bar. Binge buying!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by TimW

I'll go with the consensus. Since HarperCollins decided to settle the DoJ suit, there could be some excellent deals in a few months. For a biblioholic, it would be like an alcoholic having access to a free bar. Binge buying!

If you take a look at my lists for 2010 and 2011 (links in signature), you'll see I behaved just that way in February 2010 and May 2011 during Fictionwise sales. Ignoring the freebies, that was over 200 books bought in two months.

I managed to only buy nine ebooks in the recent 60% off fictionwise sale. But that's probably because I've already bought (almost) all the books I want in the fictionwise store.

[mikaelalind]

I am sort of dreading the end of Agency pricing, since I have no doubt that Kobo will have very generous coupons.

But good for you the US .

[pdurrant]

Kobo coupons might be my undoing. Although the fact that you can only use each coupon once, and on one book, is a great help.

My latest addition was a David Weber (favourite author) stand-alone novel, at 50% off. So only £2.82 (about $4.50).

[CRussel]

Coupon plus favourite author? You're absolved. (Which Weber, by the way? I'm overdue for one of his.)