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I challenge your assertion that it "doesn't cost a dime to manufacture" an ebook unless you're trying to be overly literal and ignore all of the non "manufactur

by travisp 14y ago

I challenge your assertion that it "doesn't cost a dime to manufacture" an ebook unless you're trying to be overly literal and ignore all of the non "manufacturing" costs that go into ebooks. "To produce a quality eBook takes just as long and costs just as much as producing a quality paper book. Yes, you save some money on paper, printing, and binding. And you save some money on warehousing and shipping. But you incur other costs." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-zack/making-ebooks-is-harder-t_b_1610953.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-zack/making-ebooks-is-h... In fact the difference in price between many ebooks and the the print copies is often more than the cost of the physical book (which is usually less than a dollar).

wlesieutre 14y ago
He's not saying it doesn't cost anything to produce, just that the incremental cost of "manufacturing" one digital copy of it is next to nothing. Sure, there's a fraction of a cent of bandwidth involved, but they could make a billion copies of an ebook for more or less the same cost as making the first one. This doesn't hold true for an optical disc, where the disc has to be physically manufactured, have its contents written, be put in a case, and then shipped (probably across an ocean) to be sold. One would like to think that since they're spending less to produce it, some of the savings would be passed on to the consumer. But I guess people are largely willing to pay the same price, so it just ends up being extra profits. The customer can't do much about the fact that a huge chunk of the price goes to inflated "delivery fees."
- travisp 14y ago
  I think you're missing my point and the point discussed in the article I linked to. Sure, the incremental cost is less (not 0, since places like Amazon may charge an electronic delivery fee), but the total cost still ends up being very similar for the digital version, even accounting for the lower incremental cost. The incremental cost of a paper book is also almost nothing, so I'm not sure where you expect these savings to come from. Overall, ebooks are in fact often discounted more than the cost of printing the paper book.
- astrodust 14y ago
  The physical costs for a book are much, much higher when you're talking about catalog titles that sell less frequently. On-demand printing makes them available, but at a higher cost, and warehousing larger volumes costs more money the longer they sit around. Just as how hard-cover books carry a significant premium, and higher profit margin, than the paperbacks that eventually replace them, e-book titles should be discounted at a certain point, encouraging more sales. After a few years, the sunk costs to produce a best-selling title are completely paid off. Why not let people have a legal copy for $5 at that point? Publishers seem to be adhering to a "one price, one format, forever" model.
politician 14y ago
> often more than the cost of the physical book (which is usually less than a dollar). Is that "less than a dollar per physical book" or "less than a dollar regardless of the number of physical books" ?
- travisp 14y ago
  Per book obviously. But, ebooks are often (but not always) discounted more than a dollar off the price of the physical book, while their total costs often end up being similar. Even for ebooks priced exactly at their physical counterpart prices (and ignoring that the total costs may actually be approximately identical), people aren't complaining that ebooks should be 80 cents cheaper, they are complaining that they should be significantly cheaper, which the economics of producing an ebook does not allow.
  - politician 14y ago
    So, even though physical books have a per-unit cost greater than zero and ebooks have a per-unit cost approaching zero, the total costs often end up being similar? I'm struggling to understand how that's possible.

by travisp 14y ago

wlesieutre 14y ago

He's not saying it doesn't cost anything to produce, just that the incremental cost of "manufacturing" one digital copy of it is next to nothing. Sure, there's a fraction of a cent of bandwidth involved, but they could make a billion copies of an ebook for more or less the same cost as making the first one. This doesn't hold true for an optical disc, where the disc has to be physically manufactured, have its contents written, be put in a case, and then shipped (probably across an ocean) to be sold. One would like to think that since they're spending less to produce it, some of the savings would be passed on to the consumer. But I guess people are largely willing to pay the same price, so it just ends up being extra profits. The customer can't do much about the fact that a huge chunk of the price goes to inflated "delivery fees."

travisp 14y ago
I think you're missing my point and the point discussed in the article I linked to. Sure, the incremental cost is less (not 0, since places like Amazon may charge an electronic delivery fee), but the total cost still ends up being very similar for the digital version, even accounting for the lower incremental cost. The incremental cost of a paper book is also almost nothing, so I'm not sure where you expect these savings to come from. Overall, ebooks are in fact often discounted more than the cost of printing the paper book.
astrodust 14y ago
The physical costs for a book are much, much higher when you're talking about catalog titles that sell less frequently. On-demand printing makes them available, but at a higher cost, and warehousing larger volumes costs more money the longer they sit around. Just as how hard-cover books carry a significant premium, and higher profit margin, than the paperbacks that eventually replace them, e-book titles should be discounted at a certain point, encouraging more sales. After a few years, the sunk costs to produce a best-selling title are completely paid off. Why not let people have a legal copy for $5 at that point? Publishers seem to be adhering to a "one price, one format, forever" model.

politician 14y ago

> often more than the cost of the physical book (which is usually less than a dollar). Is that "less than a dollar per physical book" or "less than a dollar regardless of the number of physical books" ?

travisp 14y ago
Per book obviously. But, ebooks are often (but not always) discounted more than a dollar off the price of the physical book, while their total costs often end up being similar. Even for ebooks priced exactly at their physical counterpart prices (and ignoring that the total costs may actually be approximately identical), people aren't complaining that ebooks should be 80 cents cheaper, they are complaining that they should be significantly cheaper, which the economics of producing an ebook does not allow.
- politician 14y ago
  So, even though physical books have a per-unit cost greater than zero and ebooks have a per-unit cost approaching zero, the total costs often end up being similar? I'm struggling to understand how that's possible.