Which ebook stores have you purchased from?

[ficbot]

I was a regular Fictionwise customer, have since defected to Kobo and recently made my first purchase at Waterstones. I thought I could not shop there since I am not in the UK, but they had two books I could not find anywhere else in e-form (including one by a Canadian author!) so I decided to try it and was surprised at how easy and smooth a process it was. Now, I am more likely to go to Inkmesh and comparison shop instead of sticking with only one store. So I am curious, how many only shop at one store (e.g. Sony users only shopping at Sony) and how many have tried multiple stores?

[FizzyWater]

I used to try to restrict my shopping to Fictionwise as much as possible. If it turned out htat one or two books ended up a little higher priced, it was worth it to have them all on the same bookshelf...especially given my likelihood of buying the same books more than once!

Now, because of the sale at Target of Sony giftcards, it's Sony first. When those funds run out, I'll probably price check more, I don't know.

[sabredog]

Smashwords has been for me a great place to buy ebooks

[afa]

For anyone who has a Kindle (or knows how to strip the Kindle's DRM), the best place is probably Amazon.

Apart from having arguably the largest collection (at least when it comes to American publications), they frequently have the best prices, too.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

I used to try to restrict my shopping to Fictionwise as much as possible. If it turned out htat one or two books ended up a little higher priced, it was worth it to have them all on the same bookshelf...especially given my likelihood of buying the same books more than once!

Same here. I have all but two books at Fictionwise (those two other books are with BoB).

I'm in the market for a new store though, as neither FW nor BoB can't sell me the books I want anymore.

[Bookster]

As for others, I mean mainly French sites (FNAC and Immatériel).

[Laine]

I started at Baen and still shop there. Then went to Fictionwise and Ereader because I had the ereader program on my iPAQ. Then I branched out into anywhere I could find what I wanted.

I dropped Ereader after I got my Hanlin. And now I've dropped Fictiowise - they don't have anything I want.

Most of my money goes to Harlequin, Regency Reads, Baen, Smashwords, AllRomance and Books on Board. I have bought from ebooks.com, Read Without Paper, Waterstones Ellora's Cave and others I don't recall.

I did once buy 2 ebooks from Dymocks but I never succeeded in downloading them.

[DJHARKAVY]

Fictionwise is my preferred source. They were providing ebooks when Amazon was rejecting the idea outright.

However, now there are many more sources and fictionwise does not have as much available as their owners (Barnes and Noble) and so I search and shop around.

[Worldwalker]

I refuse to buy DRM-restricted books, which limits my options some.

I've bought from Baen/Webscriptions (way too much!), Lulu, BookView Cafe, and O'Reilly.

Plus I've got more books from Project Gutenberg, etc., than I can finish before I'm 90.

[pdurrant]

Fictionwise was my most used store - first for their multiformat, and once Mobipocket DRM had been circumvented, for "secure" Mobipocket. But now their book selection is tiny (under 46,000!) and their recent sales have been disappointing. I can't see it surviving for much longer.

Baen/Webscriptions is my favourite store, but can't supply all my ebook desires. (Some authors and some author's books aren't with Baen!)

Amazon/Kindle is, I suspect, where I'll be buying most new books from, although their pricing isn't anywhere as good as Fictionwise's was during sales.

I have bought one or two from other stores, but there don't seem to be many advantages over Amazon for most things.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

I used to try to restrict my shopping to Fictionwise as much as possible. If it turned out htat one or two books ended up a little higher priced, it was worth it to have them all on the same bookshelf...especially given my likelihood of buying the same books more than once!

I, too, tried to restrict most of my buying to Fictionwise but that was because of multiformat DRM-free ebooks being available. I liked the inexpensive pricing for unknown authors, especially considering how expensive DRMed books were in comparison.

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Now, because of the sale at Target of Sony giftcards, it's Sony first. When those funds run out, I'll probably price check more, I don't know.

Same here. The built-in 40% discount was/is an irresistable lure. I bought 10 of the gift cards, which will last me quite a while. But what the discounted giftcards have done is soothed my conscience as I spend $10 on an ebook (knowing that it really cost me $6). Also, I am more willing to buy from Sony since it dropped its own format and settled on ePub with ADE. At least I am not limited to buying only Sony devices in the future.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by afa

Apart from having arguably the largest collection (at least when it comes to American publications), [Amazon] frequently have the best prices, too.

Now with agency pricing, there is little difference among ebooksellers for a large group of books.

As for usually the best pricing, that may be correct under normal circumstances, but even Amazon can't beat the 40% discount on any title -- including an laready discounted title -- that buying Sony giftcards during the Target sale provides. If your device can handle ePub with ADE, my advice would be to keep a watch out for another giftcard sale, stock up on the giftcards, and buy from Sony.

[simplyparticular]

Before April, I had purchased exclusively from eReader.com and Fictionwise, 8 books a month, costing me $50-60 depending on the Reward/MicroPay. They no longer carry the Big 5, which is about 85-90% of the authors I read, so my reading strategy has changed dramatically.

Since April 1, I have:

• read 4 pbooks from the library
• read 3 paper books from my TBR pile (gifts)
• read 1 classic from FeedBooks
• read 3 ebooks from eNYPL
• spent countless hours on MR and blogs learning about DRM removal
• performed eReader DRM-removal until I can do it in my sleep (95 files still left)
• downloaded 2 freebies from Sony to practice DRM removal on
• learned how to strip Adobe ePub DRM
• downloaded 8 freebies from Amazon to practice DRM removal on
• purchased 1 Random House title from B&N (I was hoping it was ePub so I could practice on theirs)
• researched and downloaded iPhone reading apps
• learned how to load books onto my iPhone via Calibre's Content Server

I still need to practice on Adobe PDF and Mobi/Amazon, which are on my agenda this week. Once that is done, even with DRM removal, I'll have lots of time to read 3-5 books a week, for free.

I was willing to spend $4-5 to test an author, but not $8-12. So I'm left buying 3 favorite authors and I'll get the rest of my trial reading from the library.

8 books a month --> ~2 books a year.

So thanks to the Big 5, I'm saving a ton of money!

Maybe I'll save that money for an iPad, and then I'll have even less reason to spend money on books, since I'll probably use it to read blogs/forums, and watch video.

[KarenH]

You can add me to the list of people who used to purchase almost exclusively from Fictionwise, but since the whole agency pricing mess I have now switched to Sony, and of course that choice was prompted by the Target gift card sale. I also use the public library extensively, both for ebooks and audiobooks. I have made purchases from several other stores (Amazon, BoB, B&N, Kobo, etc), but not extensively.

[sakura-panda]

I mostly shop at Sony.

I bought a book from fictionwise because I wanted one and I can't access my Sony account from work. I bought a book from smashwords because it was a quick and easy way to get a book onto my Android phone.

Nearly everything else (that I purchase, not download for free) is from the Sony store.