Most you will pay for the average ebook?

[ficbot]

Just curious, in light of the new price-gouging agency model (decade-old paperback $1 cheaper than print! They're all heart) if anyone has bought any books yet under the new pricing and what your thoughts are on how high they can take you for. I have still been adding books to my wishlist (mostly at Kobo since Fictionwise doesn't have anything good anymore) and some books I would have impulse-bought in the past (e.g. books to replace a paper version taking up shelf space in my tiny home) I am wishlisting and not buying. With the exception of maybe 1 author where I really would be willing to pay to have it right away, I just can't see myself paying more than $12 for an ebook---$10 is my limit but Canadian books seem to be $2 higher so I have bumped it a little. But more than that, I'll wishlist it and wait.

So, do you have a ceiling? What is it?

[JSWolf]

My limit is $10 for an eBook that the paper copy is out in hardcover.

[CyGuy]

Half the price of the least expensive paper copy of the book.

[kceb10]

I will not be buying any new releases and if the price on the older books dosnt come down i'll be going back to Pbooks. the whole reason i have been using a ereader was because of the discouted price of books. I have noticed alot of the older books are no longer discounted now also, so if i have to pay 7.99 for an older ebook i'm just going to go and purchase the Pbook and then sell it at a later date to make some of my money back.

[DawnFalcon]

"It depends".

I've happily paid $15 for eARC's before, but I won't pay more than $6-7 for an ebook version of something which was published over a year ago...

Also, I think you need to make it plain you're talking about novels, I once spent £80 on a reference ebook, and I still use it to this day - it was a great purchase from my POV.

[TGS]

It depends - I just paid £35 pounds for a second hand copy of a book published 37 years ago, and would have paid that amount for an ebook version if I could have got one. On the other hand, if I'm buying contemporary fiction I'm not willing to pay more than the cheapest paperback price.

[JoeD]

Voted $5 or less as $10 is too high for most books although I will pay $6-7 for the odd book that I know I'll like. $5 or under though and I'll impulse buy (as my growing "to be read at some point if I ever get the time" pile can attest.)

Just to clarify: When we had $2 to the pound, I'd have paid $10 for books I knew I'd like, but with the exchange rate changes, ~$7 is more inline with my max price (£5)

[columbus]

I voted not more than $10 - BUT - it should be less, (including tax), than the cheapest print version available at that time.

[mr ploppy]

Ebooks are just reading copies, they have no collectable or resale value, so the most I would pay is how much a real reading copy would cost. It would vary from book to boook depending how much I wanted it and how easy it would be to buy a real copy. All the ones I have bought so far have been less than £3. At that price I wouldn't bother looking for a free copy to download.

[Lemurion]

It depends on the book - I'll pay $15 for a Baen e-Arc and for the eBook of a new release hardcover that I've been really looking forward to reading. I've paid more than that for RPG rulebooks in PDF.

Having said that, my general ceiling for most e-novels is about $6-8, the price of a mass market paperback or a little less.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by ficbot

So, do you have a ceiling? What is it?

I don't have a fixed price limit, at least, not one under $20. If it was a book I really wanted, and wanted NOW, I could see myself paying more than $20 for it.

But mostly, I don't. Indeed, mostly I pay well under $5.

My average cost for ebooks read this year so far (52) is just $2.99. And these are mostly big-publisher ebooks, not cheap ones from tiny start-ups. And I did actually buy all but three (two out of copyright and one promotional freebie).

My long-term average for all the ebooks I've bought is well under $4.

[Angst]

I've paid as high as $16 for an ebook I really wanted that was out in hardcover ($25). Mostly, I won't pay more than $6-7 for something that's out in paperback.

It depends. Generally after a newly released book has been through its hardcover run, and the market has settled on a paperback price, I would be willing to pay that; the paperback price for the e-book version if it is a title I wanted. This presupposes that I am getting a quality e-book version.

The story changes for older releases. Right now I wish I could find an e-book version of Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes. If it was out there, in quality EPUB format, I would be willing to even pay a little bit more than the current price for a new paperback; $6.00 at Amazon.

[dsvick]

It depends on the book. For most books I'm willing to wait to read so would generally prefer to not pay anymore than the current paperback price for them. For some however, like the latest David Weber, I'd pay more, thank goodness for Webscriptions!!

[GA Russell]

$7.99. So I voted for $10.