eBook prices getting stupid

[BillJ]

JWolf wrote:

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When a new Trek book is released, buy it then (be it eBook or pBook), don't wait because once it's out-of-print, the price is going to rise significantly now that S&S knows how to legally raise the price.

Some people I imagine weren't fans when the books were originally released. All insane prices do is make people acquire the books by other means.

[MarciaCat]

I noticed those odd e-book prices cropping up the last couple weeks or so; makes me glad I still have all my old Trek paperbacks dating back to the early 1970's, I'd hate to have to pay those prices!

[ATimson]

tomswift2002 wrote:

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"A Fury Scorned" commanding more than $10? I'm pretty sure that I could find a copy at a used book store for $2-$5. (Not to mention that the book originally came out 17 years ago.)

If used prices drove ebook sale prices, they'd all cost only a penny...

[TJ Sinclair]

ATimson wrote:

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If used prices drove ebook sale prices, they'd all cost only a penny...

I don't think anybody's saying that, but paying twice the cost of the book when it was new -- or more in some cases -- for a digital copy is absolutely ridiculous.

[Deano2099]

Some of those are plain stupid from even a greedy money-grubbing perspective too. Reap The Whirlwind and the Worlds of DS9 books are both middle books in a series. RtW is especially a problem as it's book three, and the entire Vanguard series makes little sense without it.

You limit the availability of them by charging silly prices and you risk putting people off the entire series. For the sake of getting twice the money for one book, you risk putting someone off buying the next five books in the series. So if the price puts (I think) one in six people off buying it, you've then wiped out any benefit from selling at a higher price.

[Relayer1]

There's always the 'its a free market' argument. If demand is elastic, when you don't buy them, the prices should go down...

[JWolf]

Relayer1 wrote:

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There's always the 'its a free market' argument. If demand is elastic, when you don't buy them, the prices should go down...

We are talking about an agency publisher here. Should and will may be too entirely different things to S&S. The problem is that the pBooks S&S deem worthy of print-on-demand get a stupid price. So somebody decides, let's apply the print-on-demand price to the eBooks as well. Time for another round of layoffs at the pricing department.

Personally, I won't pay such prices. I'm not giving S&S a thumbs up on those prices. I'd rather find it on the net then pay.

[ATimson]

TJ Sinclair wrote:

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I don't think anybody's saying that, but paying twice the cost of the book when it was new -- or more in some cases -- for a digital copy is absolutely ridiculous.

For books originally released in the early 80s for a cover price of $2-4, I don't think it's unfair to charge the "current" price for a mass-market book, even if it's twice or more the original price, for an ebook release.

But I certainly agree that it's absolutely ridiculous if it's twice (or even more than once) the cost of a new release.

[tomswift2002]

TJ Sinclair wrote:

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I don't think anybody's saying that, but paying twice the cost of the book when it was new -- or more in some cases -- for a digital copy is absolutely ridiculous.

Plus, if I remember correctly, A Fury Scorned was released as an ebook over 10 years ago (according to Amazon the ebook was released on September 22, 2000). I stand by what I said back in the fall about understanding how Simon & Schuster could be charging the equal amount for the book in its digital form as in its printed form when it's a new book. But I find it hard to believe that the digital version (which Amazon says has a list price of $18.99, but it's Kindle price is $11.76, and apparently you Save $7.23 (38%), with the trade paperback reprint currently being listed for the same, but reduced to $14.81) which is a 13-year-old file, could be upped by possible $10 dollars, no matter how Simon & Schuster crunches the numbers. $5 maybe, but $10 quite frankly seems ridiculous.

[TJ Sinclair]

ATimson wrote:

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For books originally released in the early 80s for a cover price of $2-4, I don't think it's unfair to charge the "current" price for a mass-market book, even if it's twice or more the original price, for an ebook release.

But I certainly agree that it's absolutely ridiculous if it's twice (or even more than once) the cost of a new release.

Yup, that's basically what I meant, just kinda phrased it wrong.

[Technobuilder]

I've been giving some serious thought to purchasing an E-Reader Device of late.

Since Trek Lit continues to be a big part of my regular book purchases, I've debated switching over to E-books only once I do.

This pricing model/trend is making me rethink where I was heading.

I still think $8 bucks a pop is high, but I enjoy the quality stories and like adding to my collection of Trek Books.

Not sure I could justify the costs of getting an E-Reader and then paying 10-18 bucks for each book...

E-Books should be making it easier to purchase older and out of print titles, not more frustrating.

[Patrick O'Brien]

Defcon wrote:

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Good thing agency pricing is gone, eh?

Is it to late to go back?

[Defcon]

Patrick O'Brien wrote:

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Is it to late to go back?

Wouldn't make a difference, I think. The retailers still have to base their prices on what the publisher demands if they want to make a profit, as the publisher gets 70% of the digital listing price no matter what, as I've learned recently. And S&S seems to think it's a good idea to base the prices on over-priced TPB reprints.

My comment was more of a sarcastic little snipe at somepeople here who always made it look as if we would get eBooks almost for free once the evil agency pricing is gone.

[JWolf]

I have some rather bad news. The star trek eBooks from BooksOnBoard has risen to the same prices as Amazon. So all that stupid prices I quoted in the first post are now really f'ing stupid.

[2of1million]

Ebook prices really ARE stupid. Especially since you don't even get a book, you just get a license to read it. Which is why, even though I have an e-reader, I still buy the Trek books on paper and read them that way. (I only buy DRM-Free ebooks) Sure, I could crack the DRM but that is illegal in my country and I shouldn't have to do illegal things to buy a book.