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How much are you willing to pay for eBooks? (Macmillan wants $15)
You'd think that would be a good thing for book publishers. But here's the thing: Amazon, one of the driving forces behind physical and digital book sales, has been refusing to charge more than $9.99 per eBook for new release titles. That price is significantly lower than the price of most new hardcover books. And that makes sense. There's no printing, binding, paper, or distribution cost involved. Sure, someone still needs to pay for the writing, editing, marketing, and other costs. But it's hard to make a case that it costs just as much to produce and distribute another copy of a digital book as it does a physical one.
But Macmillan, which is one of the 6 largest publishers in the US, is rather unhappy with the $9.99 pricing. The company wants to be able to charge as much as $14.99 for eBooks sold through Amazon. In protest, Amazon pulled all of Macmillan's titles from its store this weekend. And when I say all, I mean it. Not just the eBooks, but the paper copies as well.
Of course, that hurts the customers at least as much as it hurts the publisher. Nobody wants to login to an online bookstore and find that 1/6th of the titles from major publishers are suddenly gone -- especially since most readers probably have no idea who publishes the books from their favorite authors. They just know that suddenly the selection has become much more limited.
Today, Amazon admitted that it can't keep up this fight. Because Macmillan has a "monopoly over their own titles," if Amazon wants to be able to sell those titles, the company will have to allow the publisher to set its pricing. But Amazon management makes it clear that it strongly disagrees with Macmillan's proposed pricing.
In other words -- Amazon wants eBooks to continue selling for $10 or less. And since the store seems to be losing the ability to set its own pricing, it's asking customers to vote with their dollars. If you think $15 is too much to pay for an eBook, then don't pay it. Publishers may need to lower their own pricing to meet customer demand.
On the other hand, if you're willing to pay almost as much for a digital book as for one printed on paper for the convenience of downloading your copy from the internet and having a digital copy that you can perform a full text search on, resize the fonts for, and perform all sorts of other digital tricks without fear of tearing a page, then by all means pay up.
Me, I'll probably keep picking up old paperbacks from used book stores and thrift stores for a couple of bucks per book. It's cheaper than buying new books or eBooks.
How much do you think eBooks should go for? Sound off in the comments.
Comments
38
Subscribe to commentsBrianFeb 1st 2010 8:01AM
I'm willing to spend $50 on a video game... if I've been awaiting its for a year. Otherwise I'll wait 3-6 months for it to come down to $20 - $30.
Likewise, I'm willing to spend $15 on a book... but only if I've been eagerly awaiting it's release. I don't "eagerly await" many books. Honestly, the company is going to make a lot more money off me if they sell the books for $10 than if they sell them for $15. Macmillan, you're only hurting yourself. Also, you're betting on the wrong horse... but that is for another discussion.
SDreamerFeb 1st 2010 8:02AM
I'm not willing to spend 15$ on an ebook, maybe a real Hardbound book, but not an eBook which I don't have an actual book. Amazon is right to price it for about 10$, there is no real book when buying these things.
Sey Hee ParkJan 31st 2010 10:43PM
I'll pay $15+ for an eBook...if it includes a regular paper copy. I've always wondered why publishers can't follow the current DVD model of DVD + digital copy...I don't know how successful it would be, but it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot, no?
fatgitFeb 1st 2010 8:08AM
I totally agree.
There are a number of books recently that have had their ebook releases held back to allow better bookshop sales, such as Under the Dome by Stephen King, and this would allow both to be released at the same time.
As it was, I ended up downloading a copy of the book (complete with lots of OCR errors) so I could read it on my Sony Reader, but I also bought the Hardback for £10 (about $16).
I'd prefer not to have to buy the paper version just to ease my conscience though, as I got the reader to reduce the shelves of books I have, not grow it, so I'd also pay the same cost as the Hardback for the ebook - as long as retailer discounting is taken into account, and not $35 like I've seen on some!
The average price for a new Hardback around here is £10-£12 ($16-$19), so personally, I have no issue with $15.
feffreyFeb 1st 2010 8:02AM
The only place I buy ebooks is from
http://www.webscription.net/c-3-webscriptions.aspx
Every month they release 6 - 8 books for $15.
3-4 of them are new, and the others are older books.
Each book is a full length novel and sells by itself for $15 or more
The books are in multiple formats from pdf, mobi, lit, html, rtf, word, and others, with no DRM at all.
While I can not get every book from them as they usually only have books published by Baen most of the books I read they publish.
Also they give you parts of the book 3 months before they are published in print.
eric welchFeb 1st 2010 8:02AM
I am willing to pay a price more or less equivalent to the paperback edition. Slightly less would be better. It should be pointed out that many books for the Kindle were priced significantly higher than $9.99. What worries me is that this is the first step in creating a less competitive environment. Will Kobo and B&N now raise their ebook prices as well. It would appear they have to.
I think everyone is overreacting to the iPad. I don't see it as a particulaly good ereader. It doesn't have e-Ink and is too large (as is the DX) for portability. I have a Kindle2, a Nook, iTouch and Droid. I like all of them but the iTouch with its Kindle and B&N software is an excellent reader.
I buy a lot of books and have increased my book buying since I got my Kindle and Nook. I always compare prices before buying. That may no longer be possible in he new environment.
I sometimes wonder of Amazon and Macmillan didn't collude in this little game. Amazon was losing money on titles priced at $9.99 because they were paying higher royalties to the publishers than under the Apple model. This way they look like they're the champions of consumers while getting more money in the bargain.
darwinsurvivorFeb 1st 2010 8:03AM
Depends.
- Do I get to keep it forever (no matter what the publisher says later)?
- Can I sell it to somebody else (removing my copy of course)?
- Can I put it on ANY device I wish to use (no DRM or proprietary formats)?
- Can I load it on multiple machines (laptop, pda, etc) without DRM problems?
- Am I required to have a constant internet connection to read it?
Some of these questions can answer others, but they are still all very important.
PonTelonFeb 1st 2010 11:23AM
I think a lot of people forget about your first point. Ebooks should cost less than physical books because we are getting less for the same price(assuming they charge the same price). We don't have the rights to(with most DRMs) let a friend borrow or resale. That last one is pretty huge.
Until DRMs include serial codes in their data so we can trade/resale and the publishers can ensure there is only one copy out there, the price should not be at/more than physical books.
There are tons of ePub shops online. As long as you don't own a Kindle, it's pretty easy to comparitive shop. I doubt many of the smaller shops will raise their prices because of this. It's really only Amazon, who has a chokehold on their customers, who can raise prices without having to worry about competition. Most other readers support Epub.
Boyd WatersFeb 1st 2010 8:03AM
I just spent $15 on an e-book by an author who had been treated poorly by the current setup until ebook distribution resurrected her career. (PC Hodgell, Baen Books). If an author "connects" with me somehow then I will throw money at them.
But I won't spend more than $2 on a first date. In general, I think that ebook prices will fall out like App Store prices: many free, or $0.99, ranging up to $9.99
But let the market decide.
Boyd WatersFeb 1st 2010 8:04AM
And I won't spend ANYTHING AT ALL on an ebook with DRM. Things are changing too fast, and I will want to read it later on different hardware, and all of the ebook drm so far has been a disaster for me. Never again!
dogboiFeb 1st 2010 8:03AM
I prefer e-books, mainly because I am decluttering my life and getting rid of as much physical stuff as I can. However, I won't always pay $15 for an e-book. $9.99 was a great price, and I bought a lot at that price. It was very easy to compulsively click buy when it was $10 a book. It's not so easy at $15, and I probably won't pull the trigger anywhere near as often.
If the print edition is within about 2 or 3 dollars, I'll still buy the print edition. I get free shipping (Amazon prime), so there's no reason not to. And I can give the book to a local used book store (they sell the books for a literacy program.) Besides the clutter issue, there's no real reason to go e-book at this point other than price. With the DRM and inability to share, e-books right now aren't a bargain unless they are significantly cheaper than the physical book.
Jeff GillmanFeb 1st 2010 8:04AM
It's apples and oranges, innit? You don't actually buy ebooks, you rent them, and the rental contract stinks. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20091227/2149027505.shtml
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/07/17/2138213
I would spend $0.00 on ebooks from Amazon.
Brian!Feb 1st 2010 8:04AM
I sell a lot of used books. Maybe not Fantasy ones, but just the other day I racked up another $200 in store credit. Something has got to be said about charging the same or more for a product that you can currently pick up in physical form and then re-sell later.
KevinFeb 1st 2010 8:05AM
I generally pay about $7-$10 for hardback editions of books I want. eBooks are worth $1-$3 at best.
TimFeb 1st 2010 8:05AM
Even $9 is too much when I can just go onto Amazon's "Used and New" and pay $4 for the same thing after a short wait...
nawidFeb 1st 2010 8:05AM
I'll gladly pay $9.99 for a new release/bestseller. When the book hits paperback, I expect the price to drop with it.
ahbiFeb 1st 2010 8:05AM
Well, then F' them
$6 for an eBook. About a paperback price and I am getting less than I would with a paperback (DRM, no 1st sale doctrine, AMZN/Apple can delete my copy if they wish, etc.)
I'd go up to +$3 for the ability to get an eBook WITH a physical book (e.g., $30 hard cover + $3 to get the ebook version too)
These guys have learned NOTHING from the RIAA.
I don't understand why every book published in the last 15 years isn't available as an eBook yet. They used a computer to publish the book in physical form. It isn't like they have to scan it from 35mm to DVD. It is in a text-based format already, just have the IT guys batch process it, and ship it to India for proofreading.
ahbiFeb 1st 2010 8:05AM
I should add if they want to charge $15 when the book comes out in Hardback, fine. I just won't buy it.
BUT, .... I want a fixed deterministic period of time before the ebook price lowers to a comparable paperback price.
You can't keep the eBook at hardback prices forever. Especially if you're selling a paperback for $15 or $6 (trade paperback & normal paperback prices)
ClementFeb 1st 2010 8:05AM
definitely below $10 is what I willing to pay. Or else I would just get books from ebay or half price book store. For the book I really really want, I willing to pay more to get hard cover, I can read it, keep it, share it and even resell it.
cuz84dFeb 1st 2010 8:05AM
Well, having worked for a publisher of specific types of books, I can tell you that manufacturing is at least 4.50 to make after all the editorial and content is created. The last stage before print is page layout for various hard and softbound books. Now if all the ebooks are the same size or can scale up or down like a word document, Amazon is charging about what it cost. MacMilliam is wanting to charge more to cover its losses from manufacturing less hard and softbound books and trying to keep them price fixed so its long term investments in manufacturing will stay steady. A typical press costs several millions of dollars and usually lasts for 20 years or more.. Now I bet MacMillian got nailed on their finances when Amazon was undercutting their expected ROI.