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Does the price of a book matter?

edited December 2013 in - Reading
If you're prepared to pay for a particular book does the actual price make much difference to you?

Comments

  • edited December 2013
    It really depends on the book subject/author/size of the book...
  • I was thinking of fiction paperbacks.

    If you picked one up, read the blurb and decided to have it, would the price make you change your mind? (I don't mean if it was £10000s of pounds - assuming it was close to the price of other paperbacks)

    Would a special offer encourage you to buy a book you'd never otherwise have considered?
  • If it was a book by an author I'd not read before, or a genre I sometimes read that has occasional gems, but doesn't generally appeal, then a special offer would encourage me to buy it- if it turns out to be dreadful/boring/or doesn't keep me interested then having got it on offer isn't as bad as having paid the regular price.

    But that's me.

    I've bought books at the standard price just on the basis of the blurb and reading a couple of pages, but that's usually within my own genre. I would be less inclined to do that if it was a genre I'd never tried before.

    Will be interesting to see what others say.
  • Hmmm... interesting question. I buy most books by authors I love. Sometimes I've read a lot of an author's list, but have not read others - Iain Banks for example. If one of his that was cheap came up, I'd probably buy it.

    If I was waiting for a book and it turned out to be 17.99 and there was an offer, then I'd think seriously about waiting for the paperback.

    If it's on Kindle then the price matters MUCH more - as I would rather have copy of an actual book if it was too much.

    Where it does make a difference is if you as an author are selling your own books where you do readings. People are not that happy about handing out a tenner, but for children will hand over a fiver, and for adult books up to about 7.99.
  • I'd think twice if it was over 7.99, unless it was a book I'd been waiting for (one of my favourite authors, for instance). And while I was mulling the purchase over, I'd probably choose a different book. I'm afraid this might make me sound cheap, but the bottom line is that I love reading and I'll buy them second hand, borrow from the library or from a supermarket if I have to, as long as I can get my hands on books. Someone once bought me a large paperback for 13.99 that I had wanted, and I did enjoy it, but I still think that was a lot.

    As for Kindle, I'm even more miserly. My logic may be completely wrong (feel free to tell me if so) but knowing there are no production costs, I don't want to pay the same as a paperback. I wanted to buy the Harry Potter books on my kindle, and was so shocked at the price I collected them for £1 each from charity shops instead, even though they're taking up most of a shelf and my daughter's not ready for them yet.
  • I buy a book on the basis of several things; e.g. the author, the genre, the title, the story, whether it is being widely praised or largely forgotten. The price is completely irrelevant.
  • [quote=Abster]As for Kindle, I'm even more miserly. My logic may be completely wrong (feel free to tell me if so) but knowing there are no production costs, I don't want to pay the same as a paperback.[/quote]

    Well there are still production costs- the cover design of the paperback may not be good enough for the thumbnail image, so you might need a new cover, some may be okay, so this is a questionable cost.

    Formatting the e-book for the different readers, kindle, ePub etc. That is time and in the checking, and we know time costs.

    The (inescapable) extra cost in UK is VAT. E-books have to have VAT paid on them- unlike paper based books, they currently do not qualify for zero rate VAT, though the EU has been doing things with that issue.

    Standard royalty rates are 25% for authors in mainstream publishers, compared to the lower % on print versions, so publishers will still expect to recoup costs and make a profit...

    We have also had the earlier issue of publishers setting the price that retailers can sell their books at under the Agency model scheme, that has now gone the way of the world, and should make e-books a little cheaper.

    Now back to PM's original question :)

    "If you're prepared to pay for a particular book does the actual price make much difference to you?"
  • I have asked my son for books for Christmas, both English text books. One from Amazon UK is £12.68 pbk, £5.97 on Kindle. If I bought them here through Amazon France, they would be 19.52€ and 8.95€, because of French taxes. (At today's exchange rate they would otherwise be 15€ and 7€). So it makes sense to buy them cheaper in the UK.

    Mr Bear has asked for Pratchett's Raising Steam: £8 in hbk in UK, a whopping 23,74€ here. That one's a no-brainer.

    To answer your question, if it's a book I need as opposed to want, I'd be more likely to spend on it. If I saw it on offer in a bookshop, I'd be thrilled. If it's a book I fancy, I can wait. I saw a book advertised by an author I'd never read; I went to look it up, and found another by the same author for 3€ less. I went for that, as a trial, rather than buy the higher priced one - why be disappointed for more cost? In fact the book I read was okay, though not great, and I may buy the other later if I'm stuck for something to choose.

    What it comes down to is that I have no real disposable income to throw at things - so yes, price matters.
  • Abster, I do expect ebooks to be cheaper than the paper versions. As Carol says there are some costs, but there are no raw materials, storage or transport costs. If the price was almost the same I'd always opt for the paper version.
  • [quote= Phots Moll] If the price was almost the same I'd always opt for the paper version.[/quote]

    That's an interesting point, PM.

    We're writers so we do have a deep attachment to books, but how many of the reading public just want to buy a book, read it, then dispose of it- give to a friend, sell it on ebay/amazon, or give to a charity shop?

    So price may be more of an issue for them...

    Likewise as mentioned by Mrs Bear, limited incomes...
  • I think I'm more liable to take a punt on an unknown author or style of book if I feel I'm getting a bargain. The Waterstones Buy-One-Get-One-Half-Price offer is a good example of this - usually I'll buy a book I know I want and pick up something on impulse to go with it.

    Generally I'll spend anything up to a tenner if I'm reasonably sure I'm going to enjoy it. Sometimes it seems like a lot but when you consider how long a book lasts it's far better value than a cinema ticket or cup of tea in Starbucks, etc.
  • I think it depends how much money you have! I pick up paperbacks second hand and download cheap reads onto my kindle. If there's something expensive, I add it to my Christmas list. I do read a lot though and it would be a very expensive hobby if I spent £10 a book every few days. I like reading autobiographies too, and these tend to be more expensive, so I wait for those.
  • There is a book I want, non fiction, saw it in Waterstones yesterday it was £17. I have very little work and am on limited budget at the moment so I checked Amazon when I got home and saw it was just over £4 so I have ordered that copy.
  • My OH and I are prolific readers so we do buy lots of second-hand books. But if I see a book by a favourite author I will pay the going rate without worrying too much about the price.
    I don't really agree with Carol's comment that it's writers who have a deep attachment to books. I have plenty of non-writing friends who share my love of books and have shelves groaning with them - including my OH.
  • edited December 2013
    [quote=claudia]I don't really agree with Carol's comment that it's writers who have a deep attachment to books. I have plenty of non-writing friends who share my love of books and have shelves groaning with them - including my OH.[/quote]

    Sorry I was generalising with that comment, Claudia.

    I meant the average person who enjoys reading, but wouldn't get overly enthusiastic about buying and keeping books, it's something they do but wouldn't be worried if someone turned around and said the only books that they could buy and read from now on would be digital.
  • I buy second-hand books, too - but I try to limit it to deceased authors and those whose work I've never read before, or particularly nice editions of books that aren't available elsewhere. I think it's important to support living authors and obviously they get nothing from books sold in second-hand and charity shops.

    I think if I read books a lot more quickly than I do I'd definitely switch to borrowing them from the local library. For me, the number of books I buy doesn't make it an expensive hobby - but it's time rather than cash that's in short supply!
  • I don't generally get emotionally attached to a copy of a book unless it's because it was a gift or it's a signed copy. Even if I love the story, I usually don't feel the need to hold onto the book.

    I rarely by second hand books, but I do borrow a lot from the library.
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