Tell Me Something Tuesday is hosted by Rainy Day Ramblings and discusses a wide range of topics from books to blogging.
Question: Book Pricing: How much will you pay for an e-book? A hard copy? A paperback?
*emerges from the packing/moving cave*
Answer:
I’m a total sucker for .99 e-book deals. Especially when it comes to trying new to me authors.
I’ve learned to mostly skip the freebies unless they're a first book in a series I’ve been wanting to try or an author that people keep recommending. Otherwise, it’s a lot of not so stellar books clogging my Kindle.
So for the high end…for e-books I’ll say $4.99 is my limit unless it’s a much beloved-auto-buy author. But even then – possibly $6.99 max. But that's really pushing it for me for an e-book.
I prefer physical books so at that price point, it’s almost always cheaper to buy the actual book.
And these days when a new YA release price point for an e-book by the major publishers is almost $14.99 – I choose to borrow from the library.
And those limits pretty much carry over to all books for me. Obviously not the .99 for HC or PB but around $6.99 for a PB and $9.99 for a HB but again, I'm becoming a a big fan of libraries these days. Cheaper and no clutter!
What is your book pricing limit?
*burrows back down into the packing/moving cave*
I will usually only buy a book on sale whether it be ebook sale or from Bookoutlet for PB or HC. I will spend more if I have a gift card and really want a book. Good luck with the packing!
ReplyDeleteA GC is the only time I'll pay full price for a HC unless it's something I REALLY want but that hasn't happened in years.
DeleteI don't buy tons of books as I really need to get through many of the ones already on my shelves. LOL I do love the library for e-books and physical books. When it comes to buying e-books, $4.99 is probably my limit too. Over that, it just becomes too much for something that's not a physical book since I prefer those. :)
ReplyDelete-lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
I really made a dent in my TBR pile last year but it also taught me that I don't need a lot of books. I don't want to be in that place again so I'm more a library girl now.
DeleteHa! I totally agree with you on 99 cent books - I'm a total sucker. And I need to unsubscribe from ebook deal emails because I'm a one-click addict in recovery. ;) I also agree with you on $4.99 being a top limit for ebooks and that's because if it's more than that, I'll probably go for the PB version. As for PB and HC limits...well, I do love the bargain book sections of bookstores. :D I'd say ~$12 max for PB and ~$18 max for HC.
ReplyDeleteI'm a total sucker for tweeted e-book deals. That's my weakness.
DeleteI kind of put myself on a no new book thing while I tackled my TBR pile last year so I haven't really perused the bookstores in awhile. Now when I see a friend rec something - I add it to my shelf at the library to request when I have time.
I usually prefer physical copies, so unless the e-book is really cheap...I'll go for the physical one.
ReplyDeleteAnd do you wait for them to be on sale or will you pay full price? I find the romances or PB's easy to do that with but a lot of the YA is really expensive when it first comes out. So I'll either get it from the library or wait a year.
DeleteIt's crazy how expensive ebooks can be. I've got a bookperk alert for sales that I usually consult. My range is 99 cents to 3.99. I've done 5 dollars before, but for authors I love. If I have a giftcard I may go up to 7 but that's rare.
ReplyDeleteI don't even look for books anymore. I get my sale recs via twitter.
Delete14.99 for an ebook is like no way for me! Maybe I will get over it one day, or not
ReplyDeleteYou shouldn't! That's crazy!
DeleteI mean, the expense for the author and editing and all that is the same so they need to earn their money back but there should still be a substantive difference between the HC and ebook.
I like getting them for free t the library, winning them or getting them at NetGalley. I won't pay more than .99 for an ebook and I will buy paperbacks if I really want to read the book.
ReplyDeleteI'm leaning more and more towards library books these days.
DeleteI have paid full price for so few ebooks. I have so many that are unread, it just seems wrong. BUT, $1.99 books on my wishlist call for me to one-click. Though, I am with you, $4.99 seems to be my limit for the most part.
ReplyDeleteI'm horrible with twitter frenzy one-click deals. i just don't look lol
DeleteI don't pay any more than £2 for an e-book as I'm on a tight budget. The prices they charge on some e-books are crazy. I like to grab free and 99p books to try new authors or new series.
ReplyDeleteI'll do free if it's a deal to start a series or new author I've been interested in but I've cut back on the random ones because most were free for a reason lol
DeleteWhat an interesting topic. As I don't do digital copies I can rule these out straight away which is probably just as well as I think I'd soon have my memory capacity (do Kindles etc have limited memory capacity?) taken up with books of the 99p or free variety.
ReplyDeleteMost e-readers have a cloud so you can just download what you want to read and then put it back int he cloud so it doesn't take up space. But they can store a lot.
DeleteI'm totally over the freebies because most were awful.
I totally skip freebies unless its a good deal from an author I really love. For digital books it really depends and how impatient I am. Sometimes I can't wait until B&N open so I just buy it in kindle. But I won't pay more than 7 bucks (this is only for I must have that book now type of scenario and only has happened a handful of times). But I really prefer not paying more than five dollars for a ebook. If an ebook is more than print, I buy the print for sure. Pricing for digital copies is a bit ridiculous for some books.
ReplyDeleteThose freebies were just not worth it. lol
DeleteI'd rather have print but a lot of the authors I read don't have print books.
I don't really buy ebook because I tend to forget about them. lol. I usually get paperback editions because they're cheaper except for specific authors of course. I grab a book as long as they seem reasonably priced especially since I'm an international reader. Sometimes HC go over $20 and I don't want that. So I don't have HC adult titles.
ReplyDeleteI usually go around $16 for adult titles or YA HC and $10 for YA paperbacks. Also, $1 or less for secondhand books 💖
I used to do that but I did a bog Kindle cleanup so anything I download now I read quickly. But I don't buy much anymore.
DeleteThat sucks how expensive and sometimes limited books are for international readers.
Yep, I have become a big library user in the last couple of years. In fact, other than books for my kids and a few cheap ebooks, I can’t think of the last time I bougth a paperback or hardback for my shelf. Not ver often. I won’t pay $14.99 for a YA teen book, that is a bit too steep. I guess I don’t pay too much attention to book prices these days because I hardly ever buy books. Best to keep supporting my library. Hope the packing is going well!
ReplyDeleteI just got the Libby app through the library and the selection is so amazing and the app so easy to use that that's my preferred way to read now.
DeleteBetween no space and a conservative book budget along with a big TBR pile, I mostly stick with library borrows and review copies these days. If I get GCs then there are maybe a half-dozen books a year I'll get. I won't pay print prices for ebooks so some that I want still set on my wish list.
ReplyDeleteThat's how I am now since I found a library with the Libby app. It's changed everything!
DeleteI never buy ebooks. I just don't. My kindle is absolutely full of free eARCs and until I read through those I am not buying ebooks. Even when they are on sale. However, when I first got my kindle I did download a bunch of freebies and a lot of those are still there... unread >.>
ReplyDeleteI am buying most of my hardcovers and paperback books secondhand, or on sale. I have a four pound budget on paperbacks, and six-seven pounds on hardcovers. If I wasn't a student with a tight budget I would pay more.
Not that I am buying books anyway because I have been on a buying ban since November!
I tackled my Kindle a few years ago. I don't have many on there so when I buy something I usually read it right then and there.
DeleteYou know I have a rule that I don't buy books unless I've reviewed an ARC and liked it. I was spending way too much money on books that I ended up hating but because I hadn't gotten around to reading them right away, I couldn't get a refund.
ReplyDeleteI won't pay more than $7.99 for an ebook and that's really pushing it. It has to have been a 4 or 5 rating for me to pay that.
Same here. You can't impulse buy books anymore - they're expensive and you have to be as sure as you can that you'll like it.
DeleteFor ebooks I'm so cheap. 1.99 is pushing it for me. I'd rather just buy a print one. I do a lot of borrowing for ebooks instead of buying them.
ReplyDeleteI mostly spend .99 on e-books. I'll go up to $4.99 if it's a favorite author but that's maybe a few times per year.
DeleteI agree with you, up to £4.99 for an ebook is pretty much my limit unless it's an absolute fav author and then I'd go to £6.99 (the price of a paperback) max.
ReplyDeleteWhen I see ebooks at the price of a hardback I want to throw things... It's such a rip off!
I so rarely buy paperbacks/hardbacks nowadays but my limit with a physical book is about £12.99 and that's so rare... I just don't like it. I always remind myself how many ebooks I could get for £12.99 whenever a cover tries to lure me into then buying trap!
The big pubs are charging $14.99 for their ebook YA and that's just bananas
DeleteI prefer physical books too and only rarely get ebooks. I opt for the ebook if there are no cheap, used copies on Amazon. I always shop on Amazon and look for used copies and often find them for a buck!
ReplyDeleteRebecca @ The Portsmouth Review
I'm drifting away from buying books at all. I'm using my library more and more.
DeleteI usually only do ebooks for romances and novellas when i need a light read.
I used to download sooooooo many Kindle freebies, but I've learned to control myself lol. It's getting really frustrating how expensive ebooks are getting though! Especially, like you said, from the major pubs. Why is an ebook over $10??? Idk where you're getting $7 pbs though?? Even on BookOutlet the prices seem to be going up and the books are often $7 or more :-/ So yeah, I've been doing a lot of library borrowing too!
ReplyDeleteBooks are pretty expensive in comparison here in Australia and sadly, we don't have discount outlets like Book Outlet either. Hardbacks aren't typically sold anywhere here unless you purchase online, when a paperback is $22.95, there's no way readers can afford the $40.00 for a hardcover so they just don't bother printing them. $10.00 is my limit for an eBook, I've seen eBooks on Amazon Australia retailing at $19.95 and I can't for the life of me understand why. The overheads are so much lower and if they can charge $4.99 for some titles from the same publisher and $19.99 for others, surely there must be a happy medium or are consumers absorbing the cost of other books being discounted too?
ReplyDelete$3.99 is my Kindle limit. Firmly so. Because if I am going to spend more than that, I might as well just go ahead and grab a physical copy! I think I do $3.99 because some of the Tor novellas are that price and I *need* them sometimes. But that's my max. As for paperback/hardcovers, all bets are off. I mean- I usually won't buy them for more than $13ish? But I have also made exceptions to that rule, so.
ReplyDeleteGosh, I love that you are able to buy the books that are cheapest, and that you can go get the books you want at a library. <3 I.. always pay so so much for books I want. Sigh. But it is worth it. I think. I wish it was cheaper, haha. I never read ebooks, only a few eARCs. And buy hardcovers and paperbacks of books that I love. Aaaack. Always expensive, haha :) But I love my collections.
ReplyDelete