Are you prepared to pay the same price for an ebook as for the print book?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by John F

You should probably modify your statement for "members in Britain". And for what it is worth, book market size:

I've said repeatedly that I'm talking about the British market. I really don't think I need to repeat that in every post in an on-going conversation .

[John F]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I've said repeatedly that I'm talking about the British market. I really don't think I need to repeat that in every post in an on-going conversation .

Fair enough. Just making sure.

FWIW, I tried giving you some Karma (but couldn't, I need to spread it around a little more). Thank you for your patience and perspective.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I've said repeatedly that I'm talking about the British market. I really don't think I need to repeat that in every post in an on-going conversation .

Perhaps you could replace your proofreading tagline with a "I'm a Brit" tagline? Grinning and running for the exit...

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Perhaps you could replace your proofreading tagline with a "I'm a Brit" tagline? Grinning and running for the exit...

The Dalek doesn't spell it out?

(As a non-Whovian, why do Daleks always carry a toilet plunger? Did they start out as maintenance driods?)

[sufue]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Are most books sold to the 1-book-a-year brigade? Very probably, yes. I doubt that one person in a thousand buys the 100+ books a year that's entirely normal for MR members. We're the outliers, by any measure. But for us outliers, ebooks are cheaper than paper books, due both to the fact that most titles have cheaper ebooks than paper books, and because we pick up the freebies, deals and special offers that the supermarket buyers never see, and those can push the average price paid per book way down.

I wonder if there are any data publicly available addressing whether sales to the 1-book-a-year folks really are a lot bigger than to the 100+ book-a-year folks. Either for absolute number sold or value (dollars/pounds/baht/bolivars/whatever) - either would be interesting, although both together would be even more interesting. I imagine HarryT is right in guessing that sales to 1-book-a-year folks are higher, but sometimes one's instincts can be off in things like this, and sadly, I suspect there may be a whole lot of folks in the NO-books-a-year category which might skew things too.

Of course what would be even more interesting would be demand curves, but I imagine those would be even more closely guarded than data on sales...

[Sweetpea]

I picked the last option, as I read the second to last as: "I'll buy another book to read that is not more expensive than the one I wanted to buy". Because I'll go re-read another book instead and wait for the price to drop below the hardcover print book before I'll buy that book.

If an ebook is about the same price as a mass market paperback, I'll most likely buy it. As I place ebooks in that same category (with the one advantage that you won't lo(o?)se pages due to bad backs...

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

If an ebook is about the same price as a mass market paperback, I'll most likely buy it. As I place ebooks in that same category (with the one advantage that you won't lo(o?)se pages due to bad backs...

lose = verb (what you want here).
loose = noun (meaning "not tied up")

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by HarryT

lose = verb (what you want here).
loose = noun (meaning "not tied up")

Thank you, it's one of those words I always have problems with

So, you lose a page so you have a loose page

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Thank you, it's one of those words I always have problems with

So, you lose a page so you have a loose page

Yes, exactly. Don't worry - it's one that many native English speakers get wrong .

[Barrister1]

I would pay the same for an ebook (for convenience) but, I think an ebook justifies a cheaper price than a physical print book.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by darryl

It has become increasingly common to find ebooks that are priced at comparable levels to their printed counterparts. What is your attitude to this? Do you consider this good value?

PS: Since posting I realise that the last option, buying when the price is reduced, is not mutually exclusive of the other options. As I cannot edit the poll please pick one answer from the first four options and if you wish indicate in the comments whether you would consider purchasing when the price was reduced. My apologies. It's getting late over here and I must be more tired than I realise.

PS2: Clarification. The questions relate to new books, since used print books are often available at a nominal price. By all means indicate in the comments that you prefer these used print books.

I would never pay the FIRST "new" price of a p-book for the p-book or the equivalent e-book. There are too many alternatives. A few are listed below.

1. Wait and get a used paper copy. There are always economical books to read and videos to watch while you wait.
2. Book (paper and digital) prices usually go down with time because of the #1 choice above and because of over stocks and lack of demand.
3. The library might get the book.
4. A friend might have it and I do "share" books just like lawn equipment and camping, boating equipment and auto and power tools. I started to add hunting equipment but only once in my life did I loan a friend a rifle because he didn't have one and he needed it in 2 days. By the way that dear friend froze on the deer stand when the deer walked by and stopped briefly so maybe that didn't count.

The only books I ever paid full price for were school books in college when there were no second hand ones and technical books for the job. Now days you can rent a book at college.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by HarryT

A few dozen heavily discounted paper books on the bestsellers list doesn't counter the general point I'm making, which is that the overwhelming majority of book titles sold in Britain are cheaper as an ebook than as a paper book. If you don't want to take my word for it, ask anyone who buys a lot of books here!

It does bring up the possibility that although most titles are cheaper as an ebook most units purchased may be cheaper as a paper book.

Obviously, you'd need hard numbers to check, but if more discounted bestsellers are sold in total than all other books then, on average, ebooks are more expensive than paper books here in the UK.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Since I'm willing to wait until it hits my libraries, $18 worth of reloads and a trip to the gun range have more value to me. In the meantime, I'm listening to previous new releases that just hit the library.

D@mn, the monkeys are armed.
Planet of the apes is a documentary.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

It does bring up the possibility that although most titles are cheaper as an ebook most units purchased may be cheaper as a paper book.

Obviously, you'd need hard numbers to check, but if more discounted bestsellers are sold in total than all other books then, on average, ebooks are more expensive than paper books here in the UK.

Agreed, and that's exactly what I said in post #103 on the previous page .

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Agreed, and that's exactly what I said in post #103 on the previous page .

Long thread