eBook Prices - Is it just me…

[Morrus]

No. EN Publishing, as far as I have seen, does not state that you are buying a license to use the PDF.

For eBooks, Amazon clearly states that you are only buying a license to read the book. They can update or remove the book at any time. You used to be able to download an archived version of the book to manually add to your kindle in offline mode. They took that option away and have made further moves to restrict reading the licensed copy only on their kindle.

Many publishers and platforms have moved to this model of selling a revocable license to the content. In this manner, the buyer does not own the purchase and it can be removed or modified at any time.

This lessens the perceived value of a digital item. If someone does not own a copy, then they value it less.

Heck, it is illegal to pass my Steam, D&D Beyond, Fandango/Vudu, or Drivethrurpg accounts on the my kids when I die. It makes it so that none of that content is a transferable asset so property to lost value. It makes it difficult to see digital assets as equally valuable to physical ones.

I get that this is a peeve of yours, but it’s not what we’re talking about. Maybe start a new thread?

 

[Belen]

I get that this is a peeve of yours, but it’s not what we’re talking about. Maybe start a new thread?

I'll drop it although I think it is linked to people's perception of the value of a digital book. I agree that higher prices lead to a more equitable pay for creators. I do not mind the higher prices when I believe that the creators are doing better.

 

[Autumnal]

I buy a lot of ebooks - not just from Amazon, but in bundles from various sources and direct from publishers as well - but a lot of my interests are rarified enough that trends are hard to pick out. What would you expect price trends to be for new translations and commentaries on Gnostic documents, and like that. But yes, more general-purpose paperback-equivalent ebooks often do seem pricier than I’d like. Unless it’s by a friend or very trusted author, I’m likely to rate for the inevitable more or less random sales.

 

[overgeeked]

Or do they seem to be getting ridiculous?

Yes, they absolutely are. The memo about supply and demand seems to have been mysteriously lost in the conversation about digital products. An infinite supply (which you get with digital content) should mean lower prices. Yet they're going up instead.

Unfortunately, while I have the Libby app, they rarely have the books I want to read.

You sign up with your library and can have multiple libraries and library systems attached to your Libby account. What my wife does is throw a dozen or so books on her wait list and she reads whatever becomes available first. Besides the occasional cookbook or crafting book that's unavailable on Libby she's able to be constantly reading.

What are your thoughts? Do you use an eReader and if so, how do you get your books.

I used to work in book publishing. It's a nightmare all around. They understand that digital means infinite supply because they require libraries only check out a book so many times before the license expires and they purchase a new copy. So clearly they get it. But that's seemingly never applied to book sales. Unless there's a bundle where you get like 30 books for $10.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Yeah but you pay shipping on top (unless the retailer is eating it). It’s more part of the product cost, it’s extra.

I was thinking of shipping at the stage of where you get them from your printer to your fulfilment centre or warehouse. You don't send them out directly from the printer, do you?

Kinda guessing here (I'm not in the industry), but I think one of the other factors in the OP's complaint is competition. We're used to older books having lower pricing than new books, partially because physical retailers know that used books are an alternative option.

That's an interesting aside, I agree.

But I think some digital publishers have essentially decided/speculated that their key market for people who buy digital books won't consider used books as an equivalent option. Their key demographic wants that old book in digital form, and will pay new book prices for it if required.

While there's a crossover on the Venn diagram of people that like both formats, or will buy whichever one is available, there's also definitely people on both ends who will refuse either.

 

[Belen]

I was thinking of shipping at the stage of where you get them from your printer to you fulfilment centre or warehouse. You don't send them out directly from the printer, do you?

If you have the mailing list already, then yes. I ship directly from the printer every time with the remainder going to the warehouse.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

If you have the mailing list already, then yes. I ship directly from the printer every time with the remainder going to the warehouse.

Huh. I had no idea that was a thing.

 

[Belen]

Huh. I had no idea that was a thing.

It is much cheaper to have the printer bulk ship the copies to USPS than ship to a warehouse and then re-ship from that location. Of course, it depends on your logistics. If you print in the EU or China and ship to the US, you may collect them at a local warehouse or logistics point to dump into the local postal systems. Even then, you'd almost always have the printer delivery the bulk to a shipping location.

When I print in the US and ship internationally, we still delivery them to the shipper. We only warehouse unsold copies.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

It is much cheaper to have the printer bulk ship the copies to USPS than ship to a warehouse and then re-ship from that location. Of course, it depends on your logistics. If you print in the EU or China and ship to the US, you may collect them at a local warehouse or logistics point to dump into the local postal systems. Even then, you'd almost always have the printer delivery the bulk to a shipping location.

When I print in the US and ship internationally, we still delivery them to the shipper. We only warehouse unsold copies.

Interesting to know. I guess that I always assumed that Printers wouldn't want to be involved in that sort of thing , in general. I figured that when a company self-distributes, it would have to do all the work that a distributor does. Sounds like sometimes, some of it can be done between the printer and shipping company. That would save money for sure.

 

[Belen]

Interesting to know. I guess that I always assumed that Printers wouldn't want to be involved in that sort of thing , in general. I figured that when a company self-distributes, it would have to do all the work that a distributor does. Sounds like sometimes, some of it can be done between the printer and shipping company. That would save money for sure.

For my printer, Sheridan Press, we send them the mailing list each month and they add the mailing labels when they package the books or journals and then deliver them to the shipper.