What are some publishers playing at?

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Timboli

While in essence I agree with you, as can be seen by my earlier comments, if Amazon don't provide an alternate means, like a Comment section per book, that others can see and respond to, they only have themselves to blame for those like myself who use the only means available.

They have always taken down reviews that don't pertain to the book itself. It can take them a while, but that has always been their policy. I've seen them remove "book" reviews that were up there complaining about Amazon as a whole (as opposed to the book). They tend to remove this sort of thing faster when the reviewer posts multiple times to multiple products.

From what I saw of your original post, the books you are complaining about have prices set by the publisher, not Amazon. Amazon is in the business to sell books (and other things). They aren't going to be terribly interested in posting reviews on politics, prices they don't control, probably even prices they do control, various opinions on any unrelated topic, etc. They've gotten more strict about it in the last year.

[Deskisamess]

I just read some low star reviews for a book I just finished. 3 of them were out and out spoilers, the entire plot and ending of the book was given away.

Granted, the end was easy to see coming, but still. Spoilers are one reason I don't usually read book reviews before I buy or borrow a book. If I do look at reviews, it's the 1 star reviews, especially if the author is unknown to me. But the spoilers just rip my shorts.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by Alohamora

The link to your review doesn't work now. I'm getting a "not found" page that also invites me to meet the dogs of Amazon. I didn't know Amazon employees could bring their dogs to work.

While I have sympathy for your pricing experience, I agree with Amazon and those here who've said that reviews are for the *content* of the book.

The link worked a few hours before your post. I managed to read his review. But now I too get the 'not found' page.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Luffy

The link worked a few hours before your post. I managed to read his review. But now I too get the 'not found' page.

I am not surprised they took it down. The OP himself brought it to their attention by posting it here. Most big corporations have a search set up to see how often they are mentioned.

[SleepyBob]

Originally Posted by darryl

There are many sources of books, both legal, doubtful and unquestionably illegal. Most books are fungible, and there are plenty of cheaper alternatives available.

I'm not sure I've ever read a book I considered fungible. When I read a book, it's because I want to read that book.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by SleepyBob

I'm not sure I've ever read a book I considered fungible. When I read a book, it's because I want to read that book.

If a book wasn't available, would you read a different book or quit reading altogether?

[crossi]

There are more books published than can possibly be read. There are even more books that you in particular would like than you could ever read. Even if you read that one book you can't do without today, tomorrow you would need a new book, so why not move on to the next book now and hope the other price drops sometime soon. Works for me anyway.

[Timboli]

Clearly different people have different views on what constitutes as acceptable in a review, and I believe each are entitled to that view. So if you don't like it skip it.

The price of a book is just as important as any other aspect of the book.
So a review can not only be about how good the story is, but whether it was good value for money.

And while yes, anyone going to the book page, can see the current price, they don't see what price it was or what price someone from another country is being asked to pay.

At the moment there is a war going on, between publishers who do the right thing and charge a fair price for an ebook, and those who don't. So I think it quite appropriate, to make a comment about price, that others can add their voice to.

In the end, the publisher is almost as interested in the book selling as the author is, so they won't want negative comments in a review. The author along with reviewer can also put pressure on the publisher.

Complaints need to be easily seen, and it is not the customers fault, that the review is the only place currently to write about an aspect of the book. So if they don't want such things to appear in a review, Amazon should add a book comment section.

In my view, Reviews are spoilers anyway, and highly overrated. They are good if positive, but can have a detrimental effect if negative, because you are not reading with an open mind ... you have another person's thoughts & conclusions there tainting things. So I tend to avoid them for authors I know and love.

Sometimes reviews can be helpful for an author you don't know, but they are very often a double-edged sword.

On another comment raised regarding price due to wage levels varying between countries, you also need to take into account many other factors, like the cost of living ... food costs, etc. So it is not as simplistic as was suggested, and so irrelevant in my view. At the end of the day, it is about money being returned to the seller/publisher/author, and what money goes elsewhere.

Here is a simplistic example.
An American buys an ebook, and it costs them $7.99 USD.
An Australian buys same ebook and it costs them $12.99 USD.
Where is that $5 USD difference going? A small part only of 10% is the GST (tax).
Is the author or publisher getting more money from the Australian? That would be wrong & racist.
Or is someone else getting it? And why?
There should be transparency about this.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by Timboli

It could be an error, and I am not discounting that, and it was part of the reason I would have preferred Amazon publish my review. It may have prompted a fix, like happened for the first book, and so I later amended my review to make it less accusing. I was even going to remove the review altogether in a few days. I may even still do so, but Amazon's response is annoying.

The link no longer works, because I deleted the review, as I earlier suggested I probably would, because the price had been restored. I might have let it stand a little longer, but as I had been locked out of my topic here, I no longer saw the point.

I am only responding here again now, because I can, and because I believe you good people deserved a response from me, after all your comments.

[SleepyBob]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

If a book wasn't available, would you read a different book or quit reading altogether?

I would read a different book. That doesn't make it fungible in any way. They aren't interchangeable, and I am relegated to a non-equivalent product.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by SleepyBob

I would read a different book. That doesn't make it fungible in any way

Yes, it does. Then it becomes a question of degree.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Timboli

Here is a simplistic example.
An American buys an ebook, and it costs them $7.99 USD.
An Australian buys same ebook and it costs them $12.99 USD.
Where is that $5 USD difference going? A small part only of 10% is the GST (tax).
Is the author or publisher getting more money from the Australian? That would be wrong & racist.
Or is someone else getting it? And why?
There should be transparency about this.

Well you're also looking at the same book put out by two different publishers, the Australian version is published by Hachette (Orbit), the US put out by Random House (Del Rey).

Ultimately as long as it's expected that a publisher will have a separate independent/semi-independent branch (with its own separate operating overhead) in various markets and as long as publishers/authors/agents insist on selling and buying the rights separately for various regions (sometimes US vs UK & Commonwealth, sometimes US, Canada, Australia, UK, etc. each separately) you're not going to get the global price equality you're after. You'd need publishers to buy global rights (like Baen does) and authors/agents to agree to the same thing. If Hachette didn't have it's own Australian branch to sustain you might get closer to the price equality you're looking for at least in eBooks (then again if they couldn't get the print cost down too you might not as I suspect they want to be careful about the disparity between print/digital cost).

[darryl]

At the end of the day it is really quite simple. It is the potential buyers who assess the value of particular books to them and make the decision whether to buy or not. Irrespective of the various arguments and theories about costing, it seems that most consumers do not see value in paying the same price or nearly the same price for an ebook as for a printed version. Some when confronted with this situation see the print book as value for money and purchase it. Many, perhaps ever the vast majority, do not. This is strongly suggested by the drop in Big 5 ebook sales following agency pricing. The various Author Earnings Reports make very interesting reading in this regard, and this year looks to be more interesting still.

I'm going to start a thread with a poll on the question.

[SleepyBob]

Originally Posted by issybird

Yes, it does. Then it becomes a question of degree.

In that sense, everything is fungible, and the word doesn't have any meaning.

I forgot my lunch and didn't have any cash, so I went hungry and read a book instead during my lunch break. Therefore food and books are fungible.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Timboli

Clearly different people have different views on what constitutes as acceptable in a review, and I believe each are entitled to that view. So if you don't like it skip it.

The price of a book is just as important as any other aspect of the book.
So a review can not only be about how good the story is, but whether it was good value for money.

And while yes, anyone going to the book page, can see the current price, they don't see what price it was or what price someone from another country is being asked to pay.

At the moment there is a war going on, between publishers who do the right thing and charge a fair price for an ebook, and those who don't. So I think it quite appropriate, to make a comment about price, that others can add their voice to.

In the end, the publisher is almost as interested in the book selling as the author is, so they won't want negative comments in a review. The author along with reviewer can also put pressure on the publisher.

Complaints need to be easily seen, and it is not the customers fault, that the review is the only place currently to write about an aspect of the book. So if they don't want such things to appear in a review, Amazon should add a book comment section.

In my view, Reviews are spoilers anyway, and highly overrated. They are good if positive, but can have a detrimental effect if negative, because you are not reading with an open mind ... you have another person's thoughts & conclusions there tainting things. So I tend to avoid them for authors I know and love.

Sometimes reviews can be helpful for an author you don't know, but they are very often a double-edged sword.

On another comment raised regarding price due to wage levels varying between countries, you also need to take into account many other factors, like the cost of living ... food costs, etc. So it is not as simplistic as was suggested, and so irrelevant in my view. At the end of the day, it is about money being returned to the seller/publisher/author, and what money goes elsewhere.

Here is a simplistic example.
An American buys an ebook, and it costs them $7.99 USD.
An Australian buys same ebook and it costs them $12.99 USD.
Where is that $5 USD difference going? A small part only of 10% is the GST (tax).
Is the author or publisher getting more money from the Australian? That would be wrong & racist.
Or is someone else getting it? And why?
There should be transparency about this.

Dumb question. What is the Australian price in Australian dollars?
Oh and since you mentioned the 10% tax that is included, you need to add between 0 and 11% to that US price for taxes. The book would cost me $8.65. If I go to the next state over the book would cost me $8.47. Now if I moved up by issybird, ebooks are not taxed yet.

Now do you gripe when petrol prices jump certain times of the year?
If you want to see prices all over the place, go to gasbuddy.com and pick a city. Prices vary from station to station. Same with food prices.

By the way, why should I care what someone else paid for a book or anything else? Prices of everything go up and down. Actually I do like it if the item is still on sale and I can get it at the same price.

Rather like I got a VGA cord cheap. Someone else needed it. They asked what I had paid for it so they could give me the money. I said "my cost doesn't matter. What is this cord worth to you?" He made another dumb comment so I said well if I sell you this cord and I need it later, I will have to pay retail to replace it. He did get the cord free with the agreement that if I ever needed it, he had to return it immediately.

I don't care if it is a book, a car, a can of baked beans or dog food, different stores are going to charge different prices. Heck, the same store chain may charge different prices depending on location.

I remember when I lived in the next town over, it was several miles into town. I kept a fairly well stocked kitchen. All the neighbors knew I was cheap and bought on sale. We did for a bit have a small grocery store and cafe in the community. They were delightful people but no one used the grocery store part because their prices were double what the expensive store wanted for name brands. They sold store brands they had got on sale.

Anyway one neighbor would on occasion need a can of something. She would send one of her kids down with what the item cost at the store and sometimes a few cents more.
She could have just borrowed and returned later but she didn't want to do that.