Kobo Discounts: Coupon Codes + Discussion

[danicca]

Yep, I was suprised too. I wonder if it was publisher or kobo's decision. I have bought dreamspinner books on kobo before and they were epubs. I guess I can figure adding drm, because that happened with bookstrand books, but why did it end as pdf?

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by danicca

Yep, I was suprised too. I wonder if it was publisher or kobo's decision. I have bought dreamspinner books on kobo before and they were epubs. I guess I can figure adding drm, because that happened with bookstrand books, but why did it end as pdf?

I've emailed them and awaiting a reply. I did ask Kobo but got the basic 'we only sell what the publisher provides' rubbish.

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Now here's something of interest - it's from bradsdeals.com

Read Free E-Books + Win $5000
At Kobo, when you read these free short story e-books (Crack the Codes) and solve the puzzle, you'll be entered in for a chance to win the grand prize of $1,000 or other prizes for 2nd and 3rd place, which includes a Kobo Glo signed by author Dan Brown. (expires April 25, 2014)

And here's the page that redeeming the coupon goes to:
http://www.kobo.com/thedescent?utm_s...azj_klb65zNvFg

Edit
When I open each of the 3 books that are part of the comp I get the following message:
'Sorry, but this page isn’t available in your region.'

I'm guessing that the comp hasn't started yet ....

WHAT A DUD!!!

This is last year's comp ..... my recommendation .... ignore all of bradsdeals.com !!!

[paola]

Originally Posted by issybird

Going by the posts in this thread, I think Kobo has an unacceptably high rate of undownloadable books. I got two during the sale, also, and I've also bumped into this issue more than once in the past.

I've reported one and I assume I'll get a refund. I'm trying to decide what to do about the other, which is on my "offshore" account. Do I want to invite the scrutiny (as if Kobo scrutinizes! )? Obviously, given the sale, it's for a trivial sum. I'll probably let it go.

if you can sync with the kobo desktop, those books should be downloaded in the book will be downloaded on your computer, in Windows the directory should be
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Kobo\Kobo Desktop Edition\kepub
once there, they can get a good clean

[Fbone]

I don't know if these contest codes still work.

65%
DkqV84UX
DJsSvfAX

[cromag]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

Stupid question time...

As a workaround, have you tried downloading the ACSM file with your netbook, transferring it to your Windows box, and opening that with ADE to complete the transfer?

Yes, it's a hack, but it oughta work.

Yep, I was going to do that when I had another "doh!" moment. I was having trouble with Firefox, so I started up IE and got it that way.

I suspect the problem is at my end -- I'm nursing Windows XP along on an ancient IBM ThinkCentre. I'm pretty sure it doesn't have the specs for Windows 7, anyway. I'm building a replacement, but maybe I need to get a little more serious abbout finishing the job.

Thanks for the reply!

[mimosavj]

Originally Posted by Fbone

I don't know if these contest codes still work.

65%
DkqV84UX
DJsSvfAX

Nope, they don't.. Well, until next time

[Raquel]

Originally Posted by mimosavj

Nope, they don't.. Well, until next time

One of my contest code (35% off) still works, so I think they're just already used.

[zelda.owns.link]

Originally Posted by Mort1997

Well done!

Thank you! *bows*

[Blue2u]

Originally Posted by hwlester

EPUB's and KEPUB's are both just ZIP files with some metadata. If you break them open with a ZIP program (7-Zip works great) and look for the OPF file, you'll find the title of the book and author listed in there in amongst the XML markup. Even with DRM, this file remains unencrypted, so you should be able to view it just fine.

This didn't work, zip just shows same file/# etc.

Mort1997: thank you for trying to help, I appreciate it! I did download the dreaded Kobo app just to get the kepub files.

A few people suggested mysterious 'obok', only found a word document.

Originally Posted by paola

if you can sync with the kobo desktop, those books should be downloaded in the book will be downloaded on your computer, in Windows the directory should be
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Kobo\Kobo Desktop Edition\kepub
once there, they can get a good clean

Clean how?

Sorry for sounding frustrated, but this is! LOL. Please be kind, I'm also not tech-savvy which doesn't help.
I can see all the kepub files. I just want my books now. All help is appreciated!


EDIT: Ok, visit 'Alf', and for me I could only see downloads with Antivirus software off. And I still can't get it to work. I give up, this is way beyond my tech-know-how!

[arasyi]

Originally Posted by Blue2u

Sorry for sounding frustrated, but this is! LOL. Please be kind, I'm also not tech-savvy which doesn't help.
I can see all the kepub files. I just want my books now. All help is appreciated!

EDIT: Ok, visit 'Alf', and for me I could only see downloads with Antivirus software off. And I still can't get it to work. I give up, this is way beyond my tech-know-how!

kepub files are encrypted using Kobo's proprietary DRM scheme.
Basically, to use Alf's tool, you would need to install Kobo's desktop app and python.
Unfortunately, detailed discussion on DRM removal is not permitted here.
Maybe you can go to Alf's web and ask for help in the comment section there.

[Mura35]

I just found out that 4 books that were not downloadable last october and for which Kobo compensated me yet never removed them from my library, are suddenly downloadable.

[darthyoda6]

I finally totalled my spending spree, but I wish I had a better organized wishlist too. One of the books turned out to be a pdf file, but all off them downloaded ok.

So I bought 25 books with the 75% discount code, which was $34.94 before taxes, on $139.73 before taxes worth of books.

Then I bought another 41 books with the 90% discount code and spent $24.30 before taxes on $243.71 worth of books.

And then after the code ran out I bought 1 more book with a 45% discount code for another 58 cents.

I also bought one book from Amazon for another $1.10.

All prices are in Canadian.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

in this day and age why are KOBO selling PDFS if their own software can't handle them?

I'm emailing the publisher about KOBO anyway as this is an independent publisher who has their own website. I've bought over 500 books from them and when you buy direct you get ePub, mobi and PDF, so no idea why Kobo is only selling PDFs and god alone knows where Adobe comes into the picture as they sell DRM free!

The Kobo app can handle PDF, but I agree with you overall. I had the same issue with an indie publisher, and the publisher responded that they use third-party distributors and exercise no control over what formats are distributed through which stores. I found this a bit baffling, but they did at least send me an EPUB version after seeing the screenshot of that page of my library...so that's something.

[lina23]

I started reading this thread last year when I got a Kobo Mini, to add to my Kindle. I specifically got a Kobo so I could borrow ebooks through my local library (most of the libraries here in Oz don't su pport Kindle for some reason), but have since found that most of the books I have purchased have been for Kobo as they are usually cheaper, thanks to the codes that are regularly offered.

On that, thanks to whoever originally posted about the code this weekend. I got busy, and cleared most of my very extensive wishlists. I originally purchased through the Oz site, then when the only books left to purchase were the agency books that the code wouldn't work on, I travelled to India and finished off my purchases.

I think I've blown my book budget for the year - 380 books for about $250 I think I'm set for the rest of the year

Thanks to the posters in this thread for all the useful info.