4 ms·

Just for the record: You don't just get a PDF. You get a real e-book too.

ekianjo 13y ago
WHatever. you are missing the point. Copying ebooks cost no money at all, there's no reason an ebook should cost that much in the first place. Dead Tree books were heavily dependent on material and inventory costs, ebooks do not suffer any of those yet they are still sold at similar pricing while they should be at least 90% cheaper, if you just kept the margin at the same level. It's pure profit for the publisher.
- ryanhuff 13y ago
  So you think that things should be based on their input costs, rather than the value that they provide?
  - ekianjo 13y ago
    And why is that value on ebooks so much greater than on paper then ? Why would the author be paid 15$ on an ebook and only 1$ on paper for the same customer price ? Is the author creating more value on paper than on a digital format? Certainly not.
- eric-hu 13y ago
  To expand ryanhuff's point, it seems like publishers are transitioning from cost-based pricing to value based pricing. Suppose publishers were to maintain profit margins and reduce prices by about 90%, as you suggest. I posit that their additional sales from lower prices wouldn't compensate for the profit margin drop because their books would hit market saturation first.
- Aldo_MX 13y ago
  Copying ebooks cost no money at all Can you please tell me where do I get unlimited storage/bandwith for free?
- dragonwriter 13y ago
  > WHatever. you are missing the point. Copying ebooks cost no money at all, there's no reason an ebook should cost that much in the first place. Well, sure, in the world where the only costs that sales price needed to cover were the marginal costs of the current copy, and not some share of the fixed costs of the content. > Dead Tree books were heavily dependent on material and inventory costs "Were"? Physical books are still around, you know. Also, those costs are partially marketing costs -- having the book printed and out on the shelf in a bookstore is a form of marketing. While they may not have the printing and inventory costs of physical books, ebooks definitely have marketing costs and, because of the low barriers to entry in the market compared to the market for physical books, arguably have more competing noise that their marketing is trying to be heard over. There's a cost of dealing with it, and the sales price of the books has to pay for it for selling the books to be a profitable business.
  - ekianjo 13y ago
    > Also, those costs are partially marketing costs -- having the book printed and out on the shelf in a bookstore is a form of marketing. While they may not have the printing and inventory costs of physical books, ebooks definitely have marketing costs and, because of the low barriers to entry in the market compared to the market for physical books, arguably have more competing noise that their marketing is trying to be heard over. There's a cost of dealing with it, and the sales price of the books has to pay for it for selling the books to be a profitable business. Meh, poor justification. A physical book is not really a form of marketing, there are tons of books sitting on bookshops shelves without ever being touched or opened by anyone. Only when you do an actual marketing campaign you get a prominent display with large amounts of your book in visible areas. Ebooks have marketing costs but you can target the potential customer much more accurately online than in the shop. Plus, there are tons of mechanisms to get your book reviewed and rated by peers, to have a full site to explain the contents in way more details than you could ever expect in an actual store. Ebook advertising is probably not cheap, but it still is nowhere near justifying the large margin they create on the selling price. It's a market ripe for disruption.

WHatever. you are missing the point. Copying ebooks cost no money at all, there's no reason an ebook should cost that much in the first place. Dead Tree books were heavily dependent on material and inventory costs, ebooks do not suffer any of those yet they are still sold at similar pricing while they should be at least 90% cheaper, if you just kept the margin at the same level. It's pure profit for the publisher.

ryanhuff 13y ago
So you think that things should be based on their input costs, rather than the value that they provide?
- ekianjo 13y ago
  And why is that value on ebooks so much greater than on paper then ? Why would the author be paid 15$ on an ebook and only 1$ on paper for the same customer price ? Is the author creating more value on paper than on a digital format? Certainly not.
eric-hu 13y ago
To expand ryanhuff's point, it seems like publishers are transitioning from cost-based pricing to value based pricing. Suppose publishers were to maintain profit margins and reduce prices by about 90%, as you suggest. I posit that their additional sales from lower prices wouldn't compensate for the profit margin drop because their books would hit market saturation first.
Aldo_MX 13y ago
Copying ebooks cost no money at all Can you please tell me where do I get unlimited storage/bandwith for free?
dragonwriter 13y ago
> WHatever. you are missing the point. Copying ebooks cost no money at all, there's no reason an ebook should cost that much in the first place. Well, sure, in the world where the only costs that sales price needed to cover were the marginal costs of the current copy, and not some share of the fixed costs of the content. > Dead Tree books were heavily dependent on material and inventory costs "Were"? Physical books are still around, you know. Also, those costs are partially marketing costs -- having the book printed and out on the shelf in a bookstore is a form of marketing. While they may not have the printing and inventory costs of physical books, ebooks definitely have marketing costs and, because of the low barriers to entry in the market compared to the market for physical books, arguably have more competing noise that their marketing is trying to be heard over. There's a cost of dealing with it, and the sales price of the books has to pay for it for selling the books to be a profitable business.
- ekianjo 13y ago
  > Also, those costs are partially marketing costs -- having the book printed and out on the shelf in a bookstore is a form of marketing. While they may not have the printing and inventory costs of physical books, ebooks definitely have marketing costs and, because of the low barriers to entry in the market compared to the market for physical books, arguably have more competing noise that their marketing is trying to be heard over. There's a cost of dealing with it, and the sales price of the books has to pay for it for selling the books to be a profitable business. Meh, poor justification. A physical book is not really a form of marketing, there are tons of books sitting on bookshops shelves without ever being touched or opened by anyone. Only when you do an actual marketing campaign you get a prominent display with large amounts of your book in visible areas. Ebooks have marketing costs but you can target the potential customer much more accurately online than in the shop. Plus, there are tons of mechanisms to get your book reviewed and rated by peers, to have a full site to explain the contents in way more details than you could ever expect in an actual store. Ebook advertising is probably not cheap, but it still is nowhere near justifying the large margin they create on the selling price. It's a market ripe for disruption.