$12.99

[CS]

I'm sure this has been discussed in the past, but is anyone else infuriated by the new $12.99 standard that some publishers seem to be enforcing for their newer books/bestsellers? I guess the days of Amazon promising that most bestsellers would be $9.99 are long over. $12.99 just seems like too much for a digital book IMO.

I know I can wait for the price to go down, and I'm choosing to do exactly that. However, in the majority of cases, my interest has waned in a particular book by the time that magical price drop does occur (assuming it ever does).

Another annoyance: Kindle books priced the same as physical copies or only a few cents apart. Come on!

And of course, even worse: Kindle books that are more expensive than their physical counterparts. Smart one, publishers!

I guess the E-Book Honeymoon Period truly is over. 

Sorry for the rant, but this has been bugging me for a while. 

[MichelleR]

The pubs are the ones setting the prices and I think they'll figure out eventually that they're screwing up. If I want something, I'll pay more, but if my interest is borderline, those couple dollars make me move it to wishlist.

[Elk]

The tension between "it's the content that matters" and "but it's only an intangible collection of bits" creates some interesting emotional conflicts.

If reading the ebook version on a KIndle is a better experience, as many here, claim there should be no hesitation in paying more.  You are receiving a better experience.

Also intriguing is how many question the business model once the product is digital; "copies are cheap," "they are greedy," etc.. 

It's rare to see such complaints regarding a physical product.  For example, I don't recall seeing comments about $25.00 Kandles that apparently can be sold for $5.00 each.

Buy the ebook if its asking price is worth the experience of reading it on your Kindle.  If it isn't, don't buy.

[Ann in Arlington]

Yes, it has been discussed. . . . .some might say ad nauseum. . . . . I buy a book if it seems worth the price, and don't if it doesn't.  I am not "infuriated" because that seems like too much work.

[whiterab]

I've got a big backlog of books to read anyway, so I just throw the expensive e-books onto a price tracking website that notifies my email when the price drops to something I'm willing to pay for.  The one I use is...

http://www.ereaderiq.com/pricewatch/

I am tracking about 40 books now and the prices are coming down fast enough to keep my Kindle full.  This probably won't work for that "must have" book.

[Atunah]

I won't pay more than paperback prize for a drm'd ebook and I won't pay the same price as the hardback either. It might be easier for lots of us to read the books on the Kindle, but fact is, ebooks have limitations.

They have DRM, you can't resell, you can't loan (not counting the proposed once in a lifetime 2 week thats coming), you can't put them in a shelf and you can't read them on all ereaders (e-ink or equivalent, not computer screen) no matter the brand.
I guess technically we are buying a license to read a book on specific devices.

If the publishers want more money as a paperbook for it, they'll have to not only take the restrictions (DRM) off, but treat the ebook customers with more respect.

For me, a ebook should be at, or below paperback issue price. Even keeping all the usual costs attached to them, cover art, marketing, royalties, etc, the one cost ebooks do not have is distribution, shipping. So for that alone they should be cheaper than PP.

[ZankerH]

Agreed. As it is, when buying an ebook you're basically paying the publishers to treat you like a criminal. As long as that's the case, I don't have any qualms about using "criminal" methods to get around their preposterous pricing system.

[MLPMom]

Yes, it has been discussed. . . . .some might say ad nauseum. . . . . I buy a book if it seems worth the price, and don't if it doesn't.  I am not "infuriated" because that seems like too much work.

Agreed and sometimes for me, that is the $12.99 price.

[jmiked]

I'm sure this has been discussed in the past, but is anyone else infuriated by the new $12.99 standard that some publishers seem to be enforcing for their newer books/bestsellers?

I'm not infuriated, just disappointed. I can wait for the price to come down.

$12.99 just seems like too much for a digital book IMO.

Depends on the book. If the author has spent five years doing research on something that will sell maybe a thousand copies, then is $12.99 too much? Would $12.99 be too much for a book that sells for $75.00 in hardcover?

Mike

[amafan]

I've got so much to read on my K3 right now I can't imagine paying more for a new ebook.  I set my limit at $9.99 at that's only if for some reason I "gotta have it".  That's rare.  good news I'm discovering some of the classics and many of them are "free".

[mooshie78]

I'm not infuriated, just disappointed. I can wait for the price to come down.

Agreed.  Publishers, authors etc. can set the prices where ever they like.  They should have full freedom to do so.  As a consumer I have full freedom to pass on books I think are priced too high, and go buy and read something I think is priced reasonably and vote with my wallet.

[Minolta91]

maybe I'm terribly naive but cant all of this be construed as Price Fixing? Every book I look at while surfing on the kindle store is either 9.99 or some minuscule variation of that.

[CS]

If reading the ebook version on a KIndle is a better experience, as many here, claim there should be no hesitation in paying more.  You are receiving a better experience.

It is and it isn't.

It's a better experience because the Kindle is more comfortable to hold and read, you can control the font size, it's more convenient, less shelf space, etc.

It isn't because of DRM (as someone else pointed out), errors not in the print edition (almost every Kindle book has something, which is ridiculous), the inability to sell the book or lend it out (unless you illegally strip the DRM),  text-to-voice often disabled (granted, a paper book disables this feature 100% of the time ), etc. 

Yes, the words and content are valuable, but there are inherent limits with the e-book format that necessitate lower prices IMO.

[Cardinal]

I set my limit at $9.99 at that's only if for some reason I "gotta have it".  That's rare. 

Same here, I never buy fiction at more than $9.99 and at that price it is very rare.

I checked a book out of the library because I didn't want to pay the high eBook price, and I have been going back.  The last dozen books I've read are library books and I've picked the next two book series I am going to read, and I will get those from the library as well.  The publisher lost a lot of book sales from me.

[jmiked]

maybe I'm terribly naive but cant all of this be construed as Price Fixing? Every book I look at while surfing on the kindle store is either 9.99 or some minuscule variation of that.

I believe that several governmental agencies (dunno if state or federal, or perhaps both) are looking into the agency model pricing.

Mike

[Trophywife007]

maybe I'm terribly naive but cant all of this be construed as Price Fixing? Every book I look at while surfing on the kindle store is either 9.99 or some minuscule variation of that.

I'm curious about this, too... What is price fixing vs. does someone have the right to control what price their product sells for?

[amafan]

Price fixing refers to collusion between competitors to set prices, not for a manufacturer to set prices for their own products.  There are other mechanisms such as 'minimum advertised price" which is contractual agreement between manufacturer and distributor not to advertise for sale below a given price.  That's why oftentimes Best Buy or Radio Shack will advertise an iPod bundle (iPod, case, earphones, etc.) to gain a pricing advantage, because in the bundle the price for the iPod is not revealed.

[auge_28]

EBook reading has really started to take off but it is still a new market, I think publishers are still getting a feel for this market. For example in the article titled “Is the ebook the new hardback?” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/nov/04/ebook-web-first-hardback-kindle)
The author of the article suggests that publishers are speculating that they might amplify pre-paperback word of mouth by giving away digital editions.
At some point they will, in agreement with us the consumers, settle on a system that works.
We are all aware that publishers will charge the maximum that we will pay for . . . I detest consumer whining about how they are being over charged by villainous producers of products.
Each and every one of you would charge the most you could get for something you produced, these publishers are no different and they are running companies with employees, writers, artists and various other expenses that I don’t know of.
We should absolutely control our costs as consumers by setting personal limits, and we should also stop whining and blaming the ambiguous publisher for trying to make a buck.

[Elk]

Yes, the words and content are valuable, but there are inherent limits with the e-book format that necessitate lower prices IMO.

I agree, but remain surprised that so many on this board claim that ebooks are superior to physical books.

If ebooks are superior the higher price is reasonable and justified.

(I am surprised that ebooks have typos that physical books do not.  Physical books are in electronic format before printing.)

[CS]

EBook reading has really started to take off but it is still a new market, I think publishers are still getting a feel for this market. For example in the article titled “Is the ebook the new hardback?” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/nov/04/ebook-web-first-hardback-kindle)
The author of the article suggests that publishers are speculating that they might amplify pre-paperback word of mouth by giving away digital editions.
At some point they will, in agreement with us the consumers, settle on a system that works.
We are all aware that publishers will charge the maximum that we will pay for . . . I detest consumer whining about how they are being over charged by villainous producers of products.
Each and every one of you would charge the most you could get for something you produced, these publishers are no different and they are running companies with employees, writers, artists and various other expenses that I don’t know of.
We should absolutely control our costs as consumers by setting personal limits, and we should also stop whining and blaming the ambiguous publisher for trying to make a buck.

I'm sorry you "detest" someone giving their opinion. If you want to consider it "whining," so be it. You are entitled to that belief. I just wish you'd respect opinions that aren't your own.

[kb7uen Gene]

Once a price is set on an ebook, I don't see it going down because overstock isn't an issue for online retailers when dealing with electronic content.  Costco and other retailers reduce prices on books to free up retail space for new books once consumers loose interest in existing titles.

Gene

[GBear]

I am one who votes with my wallet and is perfectly willing to wait for the price of a book to come down to buy it. If the price doesn't drop (well below $10 for mass-market fiction), then I probably won't buy it. I also don't often go see first-run movies or rush to buy the DVD.

I take the cost of producing a product into account when I consider what "fair profit" I'm willing to allow the publisher. Yes, I prefer to read on Kindle, but that "better experience" to me shouldn't more than offset the lower costs related electronic delivery.

Still, it's nothing new for publishers to try to use the opportunity of a new format to increase profits. I was similarly "outraged" when music publishers managed to double or triple the price of albums in the shift from LPs to CDs. But I seemed to be in the minority there, and eventually got over it as I moved farther away from starving student status.

So I understand why Penguin is trying to maximize their profits, but they've certainly soiled their brand with me by appearing to value greed more than offering a premium array of literature at a fair price.

[auge_28]

 

I'm sorry you "detest" someone giving their opinion. If you want to consider it "whining," so be it. You are entitled to that belief. I just wish you'd respect opinions that aren't your own.

Um, after rereading my post I am seeing that it was harsher than I intended. Sorry to ruffle feathers.
“Detest” was too strong of a word . . . but I do stick with the "whining". I just think people forget what they taught us in high school about perceived value and the consumer’s power in the market place.
We have the ability to control prices, but the mass majority of us do not practice it . . . its far simpler to moan about how money grubbing others are.
All that said, I agree that the value of an eBook is substantially lowered due to the absence of a secondary market. If I buy a stack of paper books and read them I have the option of trading them or selling them to offset the price of a new book.
It would be nice if they allowed us to order eBooks and then “trade” them in (no longer attached to our accounts) for a couple dollar’s off of a new unread title.

Once again, I did not mean to say anything inflammatory . . . sorry.

[CS]

Um, after rereading my post I am seeing that it was harsher than I intended. Sorry to ruffle feathers.
“Detest” was too strong of a word . . . but I do stick with the "whining". I just think people forget what they taught us in high school about perceived value and the consumer’s power in the market place.
We have the ability to control prices, but the mass majority of us do not practice it . . . its far simpler to moan about how money grubbing others are.
All that said, I agree that the value of an eBook is substantially lowered due to the absence of a secondary market. If I buy a stack of paper books and read them I have the option of trading them or selling them to offset the price of a new book.
It would be nice if they allowed us to order eBooks and then “trade” them in (no longer attached to our accounts) for a couple dollar’s off of a new unread title.

Once again, I did not mean to say anything inflammatory . . . sorry.

Thank you, Auge. I appreciate that. No hard feelings, my friend.

I agree that we have the ability to control prices by voting with our wallets, and I certainly do my part in that regard.

I love your idea of a "trade-in" program for e-books, but I can't see it ever happening. Amazon and other e-book sellers don't *have* to do that, so they won't. I'd love to be proven wrong one day though.

[r1chard]

I guess it's lucky 13 (dollars) then