Ebooks are still generally
cheaper than hardcovers, Michael Connelly notwithstanding.
Never mind that e-books are
cheaper than hardcovers by a lot to an enormous amount.
In general, textbooks in eBook format is
cheaper than its hardcover or paperback editions, so you may save some money if you get them in digital format.
The result: E-books are still
cheaper than hardcovers, but publishers have more control.
Not exact matches
Then often the ebook price is just 2 - 3 Euros lower then
than the price for the
hardcover book, later when you can buy the paperback it is usually
cheaper than the ebook, because that was priced after the
hardcover and since book prices are fixed, it usually can not be changed easily.
I like printing a few
hardcover versions through Lulu (because it's easier and
cheaper to set up
than Lightning Source) and taking some media kit shots of me in a bookstore (doesn't have to be an official «book signing» — you can even put a few on the bestseller shelf and take pictures of them there).
You can now buy a month old
hardcover cheaper than an e-book.
They were half the cost of a
hardcover and
cheaper than a paperback.
In some cases discounts on
hardcover editions are 40 % off, giving customers the ability to buy them
cheaper than Amazon.
In many cases the
hardcover is actually
cheaper than the digital version and this is primarily due to predatory pricing.
But routinely, I find that audiobooks through audible are
cheaper than the kindle or
hardcover editions when I am purchasing them.
The article notes that sometimes the
hardcover books are even
cheaper than their Kindle editions, and one bookstore owner complained this was «an open declaration of war against the industry.»
My argument is that when eBooks are done right they so much
cheaper than physical books (40 - 50 %
cheaper) that if they were reasonably priced they'd turn
hardcovers into high - end items.
This would be much
cheaper than purchasing the Kindle hardware, and would enable me to enjoy the economy of purchasing the Kindle version of a book instead of its
hardcover or even the trade press soft cover edition!
Even bestsellers usually sell for $ 9.99 — $ 12.99, which is
cheaper than the average
hardcover.
While the introduction of competing platforms, and an uprising among publishers has led to more variable, and slightly higher pricing of e-books, in general they are still
cheaper than the printed equivalent — whether
hardcover or paperback.
While we were on the line I even experimentally purchased the book to see what price I was charged as their representative said they would refund the price if I was charged USD45 — which I was, so they refunded me the money and cancelled the sale (the
hardcover was much
cheaper than USD45!).
While e-book sales have been leveling off as they absorbed the replacement audience for mass market paperbacks — because e-book prices are
cheap in mass market territory — the sector of e-books that have been selling the best are the first - run new bestsellers — the ones with the highest e-book prices initially (although those prices come down over time, just like a paperback edition and the e-book prices are lower
than hardcover and trade paper usually.)
That's part of the «decline» scenario, because honestly who would not buy a
hardcover print book if it was
cheaper than a digital book.
You can actually buy
hardcover books
cheaper than the books at times because I just bought a slew of
hardcover books for like 2.99 or 3.99 that I didn't have already.