This week I encountered a situation that I never thought I would; refusing to buy a book because of the price. Trust me I was just as shocked as you are right now.
I spend entirely way too much money on books as I am sure many of you can relate. I make an amazing effort to save money where ever I can when purchasing books. I shop used, I breakout coupons, I use lend me options. I think in a way it is me justifying the amount of money I spend on books. "Oh look how much money I saved". So when I went shopping for Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn I was eager to snag my copy. Then I saw the price...Anywhere from $15.00-$20.00 are you kidding me? Now that may not sound like a lot for you but I am a book buying penny pincher, I need a deal to buy.
I didn't get discouraged I immediately went into savings mode. I started checking my usual used bookstore spots. I started with Thriftbooks only to discover a used copy cost $16.00. Then I took it to ebay only to discover that the book was selling for $20.00. Then I visited half.com, then booksonboard, and so on and so on. I even took it to twitter and facebook in hopes of finding a copy to borrow with no luck.
It has now become a line in the sand; I refuse to purchase this book because I refuse to pay that amount of money. Secretly I think it is because I couldn't find a good deal but that's between you and me. The kindle copy is only a dollar less than the hardback and that is just ridiculousness. So I am literally on strike from purchasing this book not because I don't want it (because I do) simply because I refuse to pay that amount. Pretty Silly Huh?
I don't know what has come over me, I may have a fever. I am almost angry about the price, is that not the craziness thing you ever heard? You know as soon as the paperbacks comes out bookstores are going to stack the hardcopies in a corner and they will be cheaper than the paperbacks. I am just bitter.
This got me thinking, am I alone in my vengeful plot to not buy a book because of the price? Do other readers do like me and get angry and go on book buying strike? So I decided to bring it to Let's Talk because surely I can't be alone in this odd behavior, at least I hope not. Has this ever happened to you?
Sincerely,
Fighting the urge...to spend
The price will probably come down later, and you can try the library...
ReplyDeleteBut you're right. Sure, that's not an excessive price for a hardback, but if you're not buying it as a book collector, there is no reason for you to have to pay so much!
And there is absolutely no reason for the ebook to be so expensive, except that they are trying to shake down readers who really want the book to pay more.
So I say... good for you.
I think the price of the ebook made me more angry then the actual price of the book. Just crazy! Thank You!
DeleteYou are not alone...at all.
ReplyDeleteI actually hate Barnes and Noble because they sell at list price. I only used them when I absolutely have to, but Borders really spoiled me by marking things down so much. In fact I just got a box of box from Amazon in, all hardcovers but none of them were over $10. I will spend hours looking for the cheapest possible price before buying.
I think the only time I spend over $10 for a book is when I buy nice leatherbound editions...all other books are severely reduced in price. Same goes with Kindle books, it's to the point where I don't even buy ebooks...I only download the free ones.
Yes! I love the freeby ebooks, and honestly I don't think I have ever payed more than $10 for a book. I read so much romance I honestly never have to face much of an issue with it.
DeleteOh no, I refuse to buy a book, bound or digital that is that expensive. That's why I despise hardcover books. I don't know what those responsible for pricing are thinking. In this economy where food and shelter are more important, they really should reconsider the prices on books if they want more people to buy them.
ReplyDeleteyep! and to be completely honest I don't think hard copies are even comfortable to read. They are hard to hold and heavy so I prefer paperbacks.
DeleteI agree with both of you! There is only one author I will buy in hardback any more, all the rest have to be paperback or ebook and UNDER $8 if it's between 200 and 400 pages. Or under $4 for the rest. I don't understand the need to print books in hardback anyway. They are hard to read and you can't carry them around just in case you have a few minutes to read.
DeleteFor me the only good thing about a hardcover book is that it makes a good weapon if someone tries to mug you (true story). Other than that, I will not buy an expensive hardcover, or an e-book that costs more than a paperback book.
DeleteI will admit that with my auto-buy authors I have paid up to 15.00 for a book, but usually I am not willing to pay more then 10.00. I will never pay more for an ebook or even the same price. FYI
ReplyDeleteGone Girl is 14.99 at B&N online and 12.99 for ebook if you are a member you get free shipping.
Ya that is just way to much for me to spend. I am more into the $10.00 and under books. Heck a majority of my ebooks cost me $3.99. I may just be cheap.
DeleteOh, I agree with you.
ReplyDeleteI have two books that I'm dying to read Sea Of Tranquility @ $7.49 {kindle} and Me Before You $14.99 {kindle} but at those high prices I'll be waiting for them to come down, hopefully! Or see if they come to my library. I can't stand high priced books, especially e-books, and will always refuse to buy anything over $10 bucks(print) and over $5(e-book)
Gosh I was crying about $12.99 ebook $14.99 I may lose my marbles. What are they thinking?
DeleteI agree, specially if we are talking about a digital copy, when the prices started to look a lot like the hardcover prices but the physical books had it was outrageous, when people wanted to justify it, it felt stupid.
ReplyDeleteHere this people expect me to buy a copy only because I can see it in more places, but have stripped me from my right to lend a copy, sometimes to see it on certain devices, and they keep taking basic owner rights away from us but still expect us to buy e-books at the high price they are selling, that is why I usually don't buy them as you said it has to be a deal or a good discount for me to buy.
My least favorite thing is tell me I cannot lend a book. Then the ones I can I can only lend once? Did you know that, they limit you to one lend and then end it. I hate it. When I by a bound copy I can lend it to anyone who will take it, but give me an ecopy I literally own file.
DeletePrices on books can be expensive, I also search for the best prices, and if I know a book is going to be at its peak price point around the holidays and my birthday, well I always ask for it as a gift. Bt I have come to same same problem with Gone Girl, I signed up with Audio books through Amazon and was able to listen to two books through them for free, I got Gone GIrl and The Rook. I loved Gone girl so much and wanted to actually read it but I haven’t been willing to spend that much on something that I have already “read”. But if you signing up is still a good option, or if you know someone with a kindle who has a copy see if they can lend it to you. I also get books on my kindle through the local Library. It is really a great way to save money, sometimes you do have to wait for the book to be returned (even the e-books). I just have to go onto the libraries website find where they have there ebook section, select and if it is in stock I can have it delivered to Amazon then from amazon download it. If it is not in stock they will email me and let me know when it is available.
ReplyDeleteCurrently it is a bit of a challenge to get my library card. I am a full time student and I work so I run into issues with the library being open when I am able to go. I think I am going to call them someone said I can renew my card over the phone.
DeleteYou're definitely not alone. I was all set to attend a book signing of an author I really wanted to meet and to get the latest installment in her series. Then I discovered that it was out in hardback (the rest of the series had been paperback) and at a price of $25! I was furious. I stayed home and didn't even go meet the author. I was also heartbroken. As an author myself I'm all for paying full price so the author gets her/his royalties because I fully understand that concept. But since I only spend my royalties on books I have to be a serious penny pincher. I also passed up an ebook this past week because it was the exact same price as the paperback. MY eooks are less than my paperbacks and I won't pay the same for an ebook.
ReplyDeleteThat is another thing that causes me to pass on buying a book, if the ebook and the bound copy are the same price! I feel ripped off!
DeleteI used to pay anything (except Hardback prices) for a must buy author. Now, I rarely pay above $10. That really bites me when I want to buy a new, great YA novel. They tend to come out at $15+ even in digital these days. Who do they think is paying for these books? Not the 12-17 year olds reading them. It's their parents.
ReplyDeleteWhat I've learned is to wait and the price will come down, often to half. Sometimes it's only a couple months, other times it is as much as six months to a year. With the number of books out there to read, I can afford to wait. In fact, waiting allows me to buy a lot more books.
Very true! All though waiting is sometimes so hard!!
DeleteI used to buy anything/everything but when even ebooks were going through the roof a few years ago--I started drawing lines in the sand. I have very hard lined price points on Hardbacks, Paperbacks, and EBooks. I will refuse to get a book (or wait) till I find it at a price point below my line. It often means that I miss out but I am now ok with that. My only exceptions are signed to me hardcovers which I will purchase at signings.
ReplyDeleteExactly! I may be missing out on this book but I just have to draw the line. I am sure they won't miss my tiny bit of money but I will.
DeleteWell, this is called capitalism, and we aren't even talking about the price of bread sort of capitalism. Novels like Gone Girl are a luxury, plain and simple. Their price has never ever been pegged to what they cost to produce--their price is the result of supply and demand. Many people talk about how ebooks "should" cost less than print books, and perhaps they should, but it's not because of the supposedly lower cost of their production, it's because digital distribution creates an infinite, instant supply, which will in turn affect demand (if loaves of bread were infinite, delivered by long lines of trucks every minute at the grocery store, we wouldn't pay much for them, would we?)
ReplyDeleteThe value of a book is not in the medium (hardcover, paperback, digital file), it's in the content. You want this book so badly, not because it's a random pile of printed paper, but because you want THIS PARTICULAR STORY by THIS PARTICULAR AUTHOR at THIS PARTICULAR moment. Those are the aspects of your side of the equation, which is Demand.
The seller can therefore, and has not only the right but the obligation to himself and his side of the equation, Supply, to arrange for the most profit he can get based on those aspects of the Demand.
IE, he'll sell it to you cheaper, later, but he thinks right now that motivated readers will pay more. It's your decision, not his, whether you buy now at a higher price, or buy later at a cheaper price.
It's not really the big emotional issue you're making it out to be, and it's certainly not an ethical issue, which many people would like to pretend that it is. If we really were talking about loaves of bread, ethics would come into it, but there's no artificial scarcity being created, it's just a straightforward question of how much it means to you to read THIS book RIGHT NOW. There are literally millions of other books you could choose to read, for less money, even for free. You could go ride your bike instead. You have all sorts of other choices open to you. It's a free country, as they say!
If the book doesn't mean enough, you wait. It may make you impatient, and the publisher is hoping you'll overcome your budget scruples and decide you can't wait. That's all that's at stake on your side. There's not even any risk to you in this case of a luxury item, except to your feelings, which are your business, not the seller's.
On the publisher's (or retailers) side, they're making a choice and taking monetary risk. Certainly there are readers like you who may never buy the book--this is often threatened. Experience probably shows the sellers of certain books that whatever the threat, it's worth it to them to get as much as they can upfront, while it's fresh and hot. But this sort of decision is right at the heart of publishing and bookselling every minute of every business day. MOST books LOSE money for the publishers, and they have to make that up on the ones that are profitable or they go out of business. These aren't careless matters of just giving readers the finger--these are people trying to make a living at selling books. That's never been an easy business and lately it's really scary.
They may be right in a given decision. They may be wrong. It's their survival on the line, whereas for you, it's just another book out of millions. They do have a perfect right to take a risk and price the book up because they think people will buy it at that price.
Equally, you aren't at all odd or wrong in how you feel and react. But maybe if you just think of it as a time discount, you can get a more little perspective on the issue. You know the price will go down eventually, so you aren't being hurt in any way beyond a trial to your patience. :)
Goodness took me a bit to get through all that. Yes it isn't an emotional issue as more of a discussion issue. I have a line in the sand I won't spend over X amount of dollars on a book and waiting may trouble my patients but I can wait.
DeleteYou are most definitely not alone. I'm a very thrifty shopper when it comes to book buying. I scour the Goodwill and used book stores, use coupons, etc. If something is too much, it stays on the shelf. I'm sorry but with the amount of books I buy, I need to get the most for my money.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you-that price is too high. As a reader, I never bought hardback because paperback was cheaper and I've always been on a budget. Even now, I've seen books that look really good on different blogs, but when I click over to buy, if they're $8+ I don't buy, because I have VERY limited reading time. It's very likely that book will sit on my ereader for months, if not years, if it even gets read at all.
ReplyDeleteAs an indie author, sure I want to make $ so I can keep writing, but at the same time, I know 95% of my readers are probably in the same budget category as me (and you). I want them to be able to buy and enjoy my books, not look at the price and say, "OMG, no way!" I'd rather have more readers than more money. A happy medium is a win-win for all of us.
I absolutely love that quote "more readers than more money". And I truly hope more readers discover your books. My budget is the same $10 Max but its rare I spend that much. Thanks Stacey!
DeleteI never buy hardbacks or the ever more popular trade size. And it really gets my back up when I see a trade copy that is $15-$18. I have never paid more than $2 for an ebook and won't. Luckily, I'm one who likes to read series books and want to read them back to back, so I have no problem getting them as used books or library books. And the quickest way for a writer to loose me as a follower, to go from their series books being paperback ($7) to trade size($14) or hardback($20). This is a hard line that I draw cause I don't collect them and I always pass them on to other readers on Paperbackswap or Bookmooch. I'm one who reads 4 to 6 books a week and even if my budget allowed it, I'd not spend that kind of money.
ReplyDeleteI'm the same way. $10 mark (for hardback/paperback)is my max also. And even then I'll hunt down the paperbacks for $5 - 7.99 range. I won't spend more than $5 for an eBook. And that's usually a rare occurrence even for my max point. There usually in the 2.99 -3.99 price range with I think is more than exceptable for us readers and the authors. Now for my Audiobooks, I have my membership through Audible.com and get 2 credits a month = 2 books. When and if I buy more that are on my wish-list I'll buy them when on sale. Audible.com has a lot of sales especially the 4.95 sales I love. You can beat that price for an audiobook. Sometimes it takes 6 months to a year for that to happen but it's worth the wait. I have so many to read that for me it's not that hard of a wait anyways. For my absolute favorite series/authors new releases, I use my 2 credits a month for those which are still discounted from my membership.
ReplyDeleteDeAnna Schultz
I won't buy an ebook that is the same price as it's hardback or paperback edition. I'm sorry, but at those prices, I'll buy the physical book just so I have something tangible to hold. I honestly can't believe the price of ebooks. It makes me twitchy when I see a price that high. The only time I buy ebooks is when they are on sale and around $5 or less (I often only buy when they are $3 or less to be honest). Call me cheap, I don't care. I can't justify spending a crazy sum of money on a digital book that I can't resell later should I decide I don't want it anymore.
ReplyDeleteThe one good thing that comes from this is, I get to discover a lot of great indie authors and small press authors. :D
I'm a penny pinching book buyer as well. It drives me nuts when an ebook is close in price to the print copy. I have so many books in my library that I will wait it out hoping the price comes down. I don't need to read a book as soon as it comes out. I usually won't pay more than $5 for an ecopy but even that is rare, it's usually under $3. I read to much to spend $5 every few days, it adds up quickly! There is an exception though, a book that I have been waiting for 2 years to come out and when it's released in the fall I will pay full ridiculous price for it (but really, 2 years of waiting... I've earned the right to pay more than I normally would in order to read it right away!)
ReplyDeleteCall me cheap but this is why I maintain my NG EW & library memberships. I love them authors but someone needs to regulate the prices.
ReplyDelete