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What the heck is going on with Kindle ebook prices??!!!
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It is odd. However it was my understanding that the complaints about Amazon's books were the books that are part of their Kindle Unlimited program. The authors (often self-published) found it to be unfair the way Amazon had decided to pay them per percentage read and not per pages. Am I wrong in that thinking? Because if I am right then this silly price difference has little to do with someone caving and more to do with someone getting greedy.
I've seen that often with traditional published authors. Don't ask me why. All I can say is I'm very careful before buying a trad pub ebook, especially when I prefer paperbacks.
Traditional publishers are trying to get paperback prices for ebooks. And you can bet the authors aren't getting paid the increased profit margin.
Yea, even some of my favorite traditionally published authors' work is like $8-12 for an ebook. That's highway robbery!
And guess who's going to whine about "piracy is killing the market"? With such outrageaous prices, I almost feel compelled to get a .torrent file instead... -_-
I hadn't noticed this trend until I looked for the newest Ian Rankin book & saw it was $18.99 for the ebook & $20.00 for the hardcover.
Traditional publishers have renegotiated their contracts with Amazon. As part of that, publishers set the list price that Amazon displays. Amazon used to discount heavily to give the buyer a break but still returned the full royalty to the publisher. That no longer happens. The high e-book prices are because that is what trad publishing wants to protect paperback sales.Personally I wait for any trad published book I really want to turn up in the Bookbub email. I'm not paying over $8 for an e-book.
Astrid wrote: "It is odd. However it was my understanding that the complaints about Amazon's books were the books that are part of their Kindle Unlimited program. The authors (often self-published) found it to be..."Amazon was in a battle with the big publishers who Amazon said wanted too much money for their books. Guess they were right!
I found my own solution. I only buy Indies. Sure, I miss on the popular trads but then again, if I really want them I can wait and get it second hand for cheapers.
I've just seen this thread, and so checked out the price for my next book club read. In the U.K. the Kindle edition costs over a pound more than the paperback. I prefer to read on Kindle because it's easier on the eyes, and though I love 'real' books and don't wish to see their demise, a Kindle is also more convenient.
I don't mind paying the same as the paperback price... but I balk at paying more.
I think the publishers need to sort this out.
Astrid wrote: "It is odd. However it was my understanding that the complaints about Amazon's books were the books that are part of their Kindle Unlimited program. The authors (often self-published) found it to be..."Completely different issue. KU is part of an Amazon publishing program called KDP Select, which authors voluntarily choose to enroll their books in for 90-days at a time. Several months ago, Amazon did change the way authors are paid for borrows of their book (it's now based on pages read by the borrower), but this doesn't really have anything to do with the price of e-books.
"I found my own solution. I only buy Indies."Well you can always buy the more famous stuff used. Independent publishers like me keep prices low to attract buyers. Besides just how much is an electronic file worth?
I have a hard time with ebook prices, but as a self published author I have the final say on how much my book costs.
K.D. wrote: "I have a hard time with ebook prices, but as a self published author I have the final say on how much my book costs."Same here. I sell at a price that I'm prepared to pay.
When reading, I buy indies for kindle and get big name authors from the local library.
But, but, how can the publishers justify a higher price for ebooks than for a PRINT copy?That's just insane!
Supply, demand and the consumer's ability and willingness to pay drive pricing decisions in a free-market economy. As long as a sufficient number of consumers are willing to pay the price established by a supplier to meet or exceed profit margin goals, that is the price that will prevail.Cost evaluation is relative. One person's exorbitant amount may seem perfectly reasonable to another.
It's a weird situation. All of the Big 5 have recently re-negotiated contracts for e-books with Amazon for 'agency pricing', where the publishers set the price and Amazon can't change it. Amazon is just the intermediary.But paper books are still sold on the wholesale model, where Amazon pays the publishers a price up-front and then can turn around and charge whatever they like to customers, including at a loss.
So, two different entities setting prices for different versions of the book. Some think lately Amazon is deep-discounting the paper versions even more than usual, to make the trad pubs look worse. But who knows...
It's just me maybe but why would I pay 15$-20$ for a trad pub eBook when I can get an Indie paperback for a whole lot less, often between 8$ and 12$?
One weird thing I've seen on Amazon Australia: a ebook from a trad-pub author I like, sold for $19 - after a 50% discount!. I checked the Amazon US store doesn't have any of that shenanigans. Amazon UK doesn't list the ebook - only the hardcover.
Gotta wonder...
Ed wrote: "But, but, how can the publishers justify a higher price for ebooks than for a PRINT copy?"Because they want to protect their physical book market and keep their profits as high as possible. Keep in mind publishers pay authors a far smaller % royalty on print than on e-books, so more print sales mean a lesser payout to the author. Outrageous e-book prices are also why the media is full of doom and gloom predictions from the Big 5 about how e-book sales have peaked and are declining. The fact is their pricing is ludicrous and people are buying indie instead.
It has absolutely nothing to do with supply and demand and everything to do with a bloated, antiquated industry trying to preserve a by-gone era and justify their seven figure salaries.
Right, market forces do eventually set prices, but right now the printers are still working out how much to charge and finding what the market will bear. I suspect soon their prices will come down and buyers get tired of paying so much for books and they continue to lose out market share to smaller publishers and independents.
I'm only buying indies now and borrowing trad pub from the library. There are so many good indies now, my Nook is never lacking in things for me too read. If I shop wisely, I get equal or better quality than a lot of trad pub books for a lower price.
My God, check this Seveneves
The Kindle version is $17.99 !!!!!!!!!
The paperback is 'only' $14.89 !
What the hell happened? We're asked to pay 18 bucks for a data file? And that's not the only book.
Check any of the winners and runners up and it's the same story: outrageous ebook prices. Is Amazon pulling a fast one or is it the greedy publishers (who claimed a few months back that Amazon was unfair) looks like someone caved and we're the ones getting cheated.