Selling Epubs via Flash Drives

[Jean]

For me, one of the advantages of ebooks is the ability to download the book immediately. I would not care to pay for an ebook on a flash drive and then have to wait for it to arrive in the mail.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Apache

I still write a check each month to pay my utility bill. The fees imposed by the city for paying by credit card or electronic debit are excessive. Until they drop the fees I will continue to send them a check each month. Everything else I pay by electronic debit.
Apache

I have even started driving my EV downtown and dropping the payment in the slot. 30 cents of electricity vs (the upcoming)55 cents postage . (I remember 3 cent first class letters)

[Apache]

Originally Posted by theducks

I have even started driving my EV downtown and dropping the payment in the slot. 30 cents of electricity vs (the upcoming)55 cents postage . (I remember 3 cent first class letters)

And thinking that 8 cents for airmail was expensive.
Apache

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by theducks

I have even started driving my EV downtown and dropping the payment in the slot. 30 cents of electricity vs (the upcoming)55 cents postage . (I remember 3 cent first class letters)

Very cheap electricity you have there over the pond. It's about 15 € per month in June-July and 25 € in December here.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Very cheap electricity you have there over the pond. It's about 15 € per month in June-July and 25 € in December here.

Currently paying $.102 USD per KWH. (all taxes, transmission fees included.)

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Currently paying $.102 USD per KWH. (all taxes, transmission fees included.)

Well, I'm currently paying 16 eurocents per KWH, all the fees and taxes included (those actually make up most of the price).

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Very cheap electricity you have there over the pond. It's about 15 € per month in June-July and 25 € in December here.

Is that the cost to run the EV?

We have tiered rates where I live and I think it's around $0.22/KWh here. During summer with AC running (thermostat at ~78-80°F, just enough so we don't get heat stroke), our electric bill is $200-250 per month.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

We have tiered rates where I live and I think it's around $0.22/KWh here. During summer with AC running (thermostat at ~78-80°F, just enough so we don't get heat stroke), our electric bill is $200-250 per month.

Ah, that's more like it.
Fortunately we don't need the AC here (except for a couple of weeks in midsummer sometimes). We do need central heating for most of the year. Don't even get me started on its price...

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Cheques work extremely poorly as an international payment medium, and in many countries they are essentially (or actually) obsolete.

For most people in this area, credit or debit cards are the go to payment method with Apple Pay and other electronic forms slowly moving up in popularity and cash having dropped to about 36% of transactions. I haven't seen a store locally that accepted cheques as payment in this decade and a couple of local stores are now attempting to refuse cash payments. For food and beverage places, this runs into several contradictory court rulings though I suspect that, as usual, the only people who benefit from going to court would be the lawyers.

One decision I am aware of was based on a couple who after their meal left the payment plus tip in cash on the table and were stopped by the police on the way to their car. In that case, the police decided that since they had left payment for their meal, there was no basis for the arrest and the couple sued the the restaurant in small claims court (no lawyers allowed). The judge basically suggested that having the servers tell customers up front that cash was not accepted instead of depending on a small English only sign near the front counter would be acceptable and awarded the cost of the meal as damages.

[Deskisamess]

I still see many people, usually older, writing checks at the grocery stores. I don't think I've written a check at any retailer in at least 8 years, maybe longer than that. Up until 2 years ago, were still a couple of dry cleaners and one small garden shop in our area that wouldn't take any type of card, credit or debit. I think that dry cleaners closed recently.

We use cash on those rare stops at fast food and low dollar purchases. We use a credit card for 95% of monthly purchases, and I don't like having a bunch $4-10 charges to reconcile on the bill. But we earn points on every purchase, so it does get used a lot. (Haven't paid any interest in 7 years)

[SigilBear]

I should have emphasized that I'm considering flash drive delivery as an ALTERNATIVE option. People will still be able to buy my books via conventional methods. I just wondered if there might be a significant percentage who would want to do the flash drive thing - enough to warrant offering it as an option. Of course, I can always try it as an experiment.

[cromag]

Back in the late 80s my intro to ebooks was a CD-ROM of public domain books, but I probably wouldn't go for the flash drive option today. I'm far less nervous about online credit card transactions than I used to be. Also, if you py by check and the author delivers a blank flash drive, what leverage would you have?

[Apache]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Ah, that's more like it.
Fortunately we don't need the AC here (except for a couple of weeks in midsummer sometimes). We do need central heating for most of the year. Don't even get me started on its price...

I had to use the AC today to cool off my store. If I had been home in the afternoon I would have needed to use it there also. We probably use the heat less than 30 days each winter.
Apache

[haertig]

Originally Posted by SigilBear

I just wondered if there might be a significant percentage who would want to do the flash drive thing

Why bother with a flashdrive? eBooks are small enough that they can easily be emailed as file attachments.

Are you worried that someone will know what book you bought? They're going to know that no matter what. Someone has to send the book to you - either via website download, email, flashdrive, printed copy, whatever. And the person who is sending it to you will always know what book you bought. The method by which they transport/transmit it to you is not relevant.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

I still see many people, usually older, writing checks at the grocery stores.

The last person I saw attempting to write a cheque at a grocery store was about 3 years back and that was an American tourist couple who had trouble understanding why Safeway would not accept their cheque. The clerk spent way too long trying to explain that Canada Safeway does not accept cheques from local residents never mind citizens of a foreign country trying to write a cheque on a foreign bank and she did not care if they had a Safeway cheque cashing card (I think that was the ID they tried to use).

It reminded me of the episodes of Border Security where Americans try to bring their handguns into Canada and have trouble accepting that the CBSA does not care if you have a concealed carry permit or that you need 2 handguns in the car to protect your wife and children, etc. Generally, most of the episodes involve people who seem to have trouble understanding that they are no longer in the USA and the rules are different.