12-30-2008, 04:28 AM | #1 |
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Amazon Raised Book Prices
Last night I went to purchase 2 books I've been interested in but have not bought because I still have 18 books I've not read. But I received a $50 gift certificate for Amazon and I decided why not. The books were previously listed at $9.99 each are now $13.77 each. I went ahead and checked the price of a few books I bought previously and most of them had a price increase. Have you guys noticed that? This is just my luck, I bought the Kindle to solely take advantage of the Amazon store and it has not even been 2 months and now price increase!
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12-30-2008, 05:13 AM | #2 |
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Amazon advertises that "new releases" are $9.99, so some of the price jumps may be ebooks coming out of that status.
To my mind the reason for the high prices is the high list prices set by publishers. Amazon may be inadvertently causing these high prices by funding deep discounts out of their cut of the sale (consumers get low prices and buy more ebooks, publishers get close to $10 per ebook and whinge about how expensive ebooks are to produce, Amazon makes a tiny profit on ebooks but a huge profit on Kindle device sales). I checked my purchases. Of about 40 at $9.99, one has since gone down in price and 5 have gone up modestly in price. One ebook I bought above $9.99 is now on sale for $9.99. So the vast majority are still $9.99. Some of the lower price ebooks I bought have gone up in price since, but all are still less than $10. Reviewing the list, I see that I have spent more in ebooks at Amazon than the original price of the Kindle itself - although I don't buy most of my ebooks from Amazon. I have drastically cut back on paperback book purchases from Amazon though. |
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12-30-2008, 01:43 PM | #3 |
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I'm OK with it if new release stays at $9.99. I'll just have to get my books within that time frame.
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12-30-2008, 05:06 PM | #4 |
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Prices
Amazon often discounts new books, both dead-tree and electronic. They slashed my book's price by a buck when it came out; the one-year anniversary is coming up soon; I don't know if it will return to the original $4.99 then. But that may explain the price increase that you mention. Also, if a book goes from indie to big-house published, the new publisher may increase the price.
Libby Cone Author, War on the Margins: A Novel http://tinyurl.com/6y973d |
12-30-2008, 05:29 PM | #5 |
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Libby -- I just bought your book. The reviews were compelling and I really hope the book lives up to them. Congratulations on writing a novel and publishing it. I admire those who can convert ideas into words.
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12-31-2008, 10:24 AM | #6 | |
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You made my day
Quote:
Thank you for taking a chance on my book! I hope you like it, but even if you don't, I hope you'll review it on Amazon or your review site of choice. They say that if you can possibly avoid writing a book, do so. I couldn't avoid writing about this. |
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12-31-2008, 10:39 AM | #7 |
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Here I was waiting for the price of some of my books I want to go DOWN... I am starting to think maybe I should take a risk and just buy the ones I am interested in. I still have $89 left of gift card money and am trying hard NOT to spend it all at once!
Books I plan to buy soon: Ember series books 3 and 4 Uglies Series Dexter Series (those are the most expensive!) I love a good series, I like a story to continue for many many pages! |
12-31-2008, 12:53 PM | #8 |
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Yeah, I was surprised to see the prices go up too. Only once I bought a book over the 9.99 price...forget which one it was. I'm disappointed!
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12-31-2008, 04:47 PM | #9 |
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I just witnessed a price increase! Just this morning, I was debating whether to buy the Complete User's Guide or the Kindle Cookbook. They were both $3.99 a few hours ago and now The Complete users Guide is $9.19... I went with the Kindle Cookbook. I will let you know how I like it I probably should have just bought both this morning lol. Now I am worried that the novels I want will go up!
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01-22-2009, 02:27 PM | #10 |
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just when I was thinking buying Kindle they have raised the prices.
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01-22-2009, 02:42 PM | #11 | |
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Quote:
There are many other devices available. Have you checked the 'which one should I buy' thread? I am of the opinion the prices will go back down when they realize the lost sales. I may be wrong, but in the meanwhile, I certainly have no dearth of books to read, either free or from the library I downloaded to my kindle. |
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01-22-2009, 06:23 PM | #12 |
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01-22-2009, 06:58 PM | #13 |
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Interesting thread. I was doing some browsing this morning on this site and comparison shopping. I downloaded e-book "Eight Keys to Eden" free on this site and noticed that Amazon is charging $3.19 for the same book download for Kindle owners! I speculate that perhaps they are trying to recupe their whispernet wifi costs which are "free".
Just for giggles, I went to the Kindle store again and searched for a couple of other free e-books that I have downloaded from other sites (Feedbooks), and they were also being offered at a cost, small amounts to be sure, but the costs do add up! So glad I choose to buy the PRS-505 instead of paying more and would still be waiting for a Kindle! Last edited by MsAstoria; 01-22-2009 at 07:24 PM. Reason: added more info |
01-22-2009, 10:26 PM | #14 |
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Just an FYI - You can get "Eight Keys to Eden" (and many other titles) free for the Kindle as well as the PRS-505 (which is also a great reader).
They just aren't free from Amazon. |
01-22-2009, 11:40 PM | #15 | |
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Quote:
Of course, books like that cost money in the Kindle store. Just like if you go to Barnes & Nobel you would have to pay for Treasure Island and other out of copyright stuff. BOb |
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