Budget Pet Peeve: Digital Books

[ancestry]

I suppose this is more of a rant than anything....

I am irritated that every digital book that I have bought recently costs equal to or in many cases more than the printed version of the book. My "budget" mentality is that the digital books should be cheaper than the printed book as they are definitely cheaper to produce.

I understand that the price is set by demand and since digital e-readers have taken off the prices of the digital publications have increased, but still I am annoyed by this.

Okay - stepping down off of my soapbox for now. I needed to get that out since I just ordered two books this morning and both were more than the printed version. Thank you for allowing me to vent.

 

[wvjules]

I suppose this is more of a rant than anything....

I am irritated that every digital book that I have bought recently costs equal to or in many cases more than the printed version of the book. My "budget" mentality is that the digital books should be cheaper than the printed book as they are definitely cheaper to produce.

I understand that the price is set by demand and since digital e-readers have taken off the prices of the digital publications have increased, but still I am annoyed by this.

Okay - stepping down off of my soapbox for now. I needed to get that out since I just ordered two books this morning and both were more than the printed version. Thank you for allowing me to vent.

The books I buy are usually cheaper than the printed version.

 

[scrapquitler]

I suppose this is more of a rant than anything....

I am irritated that every digital book that I have bought recently costs equal to or in many cases more than the printed version of the book. My "budget" mentality is that the digital books should be cheaper than the printed book as they are definitely cheaper to produce.

I understand that the price is set by demand and since digital e-readers have taken off the prices of the digital publications have increased, but still I am annoyed by this.

Okay - stepping down off of my soapbox for now. I needed to get that out since I just ordered two books this morning and both were more than the printed version. Thank you for allowing me to vent.

I agree. Much less expensive for them to produce. No shipping, no printing, no ink, no paper, etc. I figure they should cost no more than HALF the price of the hardcover book, certainly less than the price of a paperback. But not yet. I hope that over time the prices will go down. And hopefully the time frame will be short.

 

[lttlmc3]

I think I'm the only one in the world who just isn't in to the e-readers. I love good ole paper books.

 

[2manypets]

I don't get B&N charging tax for EPub material. I agree though, the ebooks are getting more expensive.

 

[GatorMama]

The books I buy are usually cheaper than the printed version.

This. Several of the books I wanted were free anyway. And the others I've downloaded have ALL been cheaper as an E book than as a paperback book. I also watch for sales.

 

[gatormommy07]

I think I'm the only one in the world who just isn't in to the e-readers. I love good ole paper books.

Nope!! I am right there with you!! there is just something so very satisfying about turning pages and getting to the end of a book, I do not think I would get nearly as much joy from an ebook!!!

 

[Pigeon]

It's going to be what the market will support. Publishers are in it to make money, and fewer people are readers, no matter the format.

I'm a librarian. Electronic books cost us much more than print books, and are infinitely more complicated. People have interesting conceptions about ebooks. They think we just buy the ebook (which should cost us less, so we should need less funding), and we can make it available to everyone at once. If only it were so easy...

 

[clanmcculloch]

When I search for specific books, it does always shock me that the ebooks are more expensive than the physical books. It seems to happen more often than not. This is what sends me to the library to check for books. I'm fine going on a waiting list in order to get the book since I have a bunch I haven't read sitting on my Nook. If the book I'm interested in isn't available through the library then I just skip it for now since I do have a lot of unread books.

I'm not fussy about what I read. I enjoy a wide variety of different types of books. I grab the free book from B&N every Friday even if it doesn't interest me at the moment because down the road I may feel like reading something different. I also peruse the free books on B&N periodically and download whatever catches my fancy at the moment. When I finish a book, I just go through my unread shelf and choose something else depending on my mood at the moment.

I've had my Nook since last December. I still haven't paid for a single ebook.

 

[minnie1928]

I don't get B&N charging tax for EPub material. I agree though, the ebooks are getting more expensive.

Why wouldn't they charge tax? I'm confused...

 

[labdogs42]

If you are willing to try new authors, you can find a lot of e-books for $0.99 or free on Amazon. I do tht quite often and have found some good reads that way. Most of my new release books have been priced less than the hardcover edition. I haven't seen many books where the e-format was more expensive. Maybe that's just on the Nook?

 

[miralys]

I totally agree. Don't get me wrong, I love my Kindle. Lots of free stuff to read, and I look forward to being able to check out books from the library later this year with it.

But if the digital version of a book isn't at least half of the "real" version, I feel like I am being scammed. Less product should mean paying less in my mind.

That being said, I have had my Kindle for over a year and still haven't paid for a book. I am not even halfway through the books on my Kindle either.

 

[idofabric]

I have a nook and a kindle(on my phone, for long WDW lines...), and I agree that the books have become a lot more costly. Our libary does have digital books, but I have been waiting for over 4 months for any of the books on my wish list to come in, and I am only allowed 5 books at a time with the libary...funny none have been checked in, I was #2 for a few of the books.
B&N does have a free book every Friday. Some have been ok, there were a ton of romances earlier this year. Last Fri. was a kids book, and fast to read, but free!
I have found several sites with free books, and if you like SiFi books then Baen Books has a lot of free books, AND they have current books for low as $4 to $6!!! You need to download them to Adobe Digital Editions software to transfer them to your Nook...but the price is great!
I think the most irking things to me is that no matter which site, B&N or Amazon, that you search for books they have tons of the same book, like Sherlock Holmes, with differnet costs, OR they have books in mystery or another catagory that is nothing but "Adult" content! I don't want to read about insert part "A" into..., well you know, if I am looking for a Cozy Mystery, or a SiFi series, like some of the kids ones, Percy Jackson, and so on.
On the other hand there was a book set in the future that had WDW in it, and everything you bought/how you lived was by your standing in life and how others viewed you. It was kinda interesting...And there is a WDW kids series, Disney after Dark, I think... those were cheap! And I got a Disney fix!!

 

[DisGirl819]

I get most of my books for the Nook free from the library. I suppose it depends on what library you have nearest you and what they have available. I rarely pay for ebooks and when I do its something I want and want to keep. Plus there are numerous places online where you can get free ebooks for the Nook. I don't know about the Kindle. Do some google searches and you should be able to find a bunch of books. Plus BN has a HUGE free section, if you go to the Nook section of their site and type in 0.00 you will find all the free books for the Nook

 

[RitaE]

I get what you are saying. That Agency pricing in the US royally sucks.

 

[RitaE]

If you are willing to try new authors, you can find a lot of e-books for $0.99 or free on Amazon. I do tht quite often and have found some good reads that way. Most of my new release books have been priced less than the hardcover edition. I haven't seen many books where the e-format was more expensive. Maybe that's just on the Nook?

No it's all the devices and it is caused by Agency Pricing in the US. Under Agency pricing the publisher sets the price and they typically set the Hardback (or paper) and eBook price to sell for the same amount. So a new release will be slated to sell for $12.99 or whatever on release day. The contracts allow for the retailers to discount the paper book price and for many of them you'll see Amazon, Barnes, Costco etc selling them for $10 or so. They aren't allowed to discount the eBook price though or they lose the rights to sell that Publishers books - so that will remain at $12.99.

 

[justbishop]

I purposefully chose a used Kindle over a used Nook when I decided to buy an e-reader with the intent of using the amazon gift cards I earn with swagbucks to buy ebooks, so they are free for me

 

[camlace]

Why wouldn't they charge tax? I'm confused...

Same here...why wouldn't they charge tax? You are still purchasing a product and still using the product. So by law a sales (and "use", in some states) tax would still be applicable.

 

[Hardy]

I've owned my nook color since mother's day and haven't bought a single book yet. I live in a rural area and even my library has access to lots of e-books (overdrive) and there are plenty free sources, and BN also gives out a book free every friday. However, when looking at prices I still think digital are reasonably priced, but the books that are important to me, I still buy a physical copy of. It's just not the same only having a digital version!

 

[kathie859]

Nope!! I am right there with you!! there is just something so very satisfying about turning pages and getting to the end of a book, I do not think I would get nearly as much joy from an ebook!!!

What I find satisfying is not dusting shelves and shelves of books!! Other than some reference and art books, I've moved to ebooks for the ease of maintenance, space issues and convenience of always having something to read whether it's the USA Today or a trashy novel FWIW I use my IPad as my eReader and the USA Today and ABC News feeds are free--and there are several other free offerings.