[CS]

I'm sure this thread is completely unnecessary, but I'm posting it anyway because I want to vent.

I've been waiting a while for The Film Club by David Gilmour to drop from $9.99. Instead, it has increased to $13.19 - even though the paperback is now available at a cheaper price.

Other irritating wishlist price increases:

I Hate Your Guts: $9.99 => $14.82
The Law of Second Chances: $9.99 => $14.97
The Complete Short Stories Of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition: $9.99 => $13.20
Three Plumbs in One: $9.99 => $15.40
The Mysterious Benedict Society: $ All over the place
Fevre Dream: $ All over the place
Various King and Koontz books: Prices have gone Up, Up, Up!

I don't think I've seen a price decrease in any of my wishlist books - only annoying, frustrating increases.

I realize there's most likely NO correlation between these price increases and the books being on my wishlist, so the thread title is a bit facetious, but I'm still miffed nonetheless.

 

[Leslie]

That's interesting. I bought The Film Club almost a year ago (when it first came out) and I know I paid $9.99. In fact, I think it was one of the first books I bought at that price. I read a review of it in the New York Times and it sounded good, so I did the magic "turn WN on, buy the book" type thing. Now with the price increase, I'm glad I got it when I did.

I wish I could lend it to you, CS. Or even it sell it to you. Oh well.

L

 

[drenee]

I have also experienced this situation.  In the beginning I made a paper list of books I wanted to purchase.  I was trying not to overload my K with too many DTRs.  When I noticed the prices jumping up instead of down I was also disheartened.  I now have a long list of DTRs, but at a price I can live with. 
deb

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

I haven't had any coffee this morning yet--DTR?

I have had notice of several books on my wishlist going down in price--I use PriceDrop, and it pops up every now and then, they haven't dropped enough to meet my price point yet.

Betsy

 

[pidgeon92]

That stinks.

Yesterday I went back and looked at some of the 80+ books on my Not Yet Kindled wishlist... Not a one, yet. 

 

[drenee]

Re: DTR
Sorry, I don't know what I was thinking.  Obviously I wasn't.  Grandson talks incessently and I was trying to pay attention to him and post.  I was meaning to be read.  I know, it's not even early in the morning or late at night or any other good reason to explain what I was talking about. 
Again, sorry.  Deb

 

[BrassMan]

O bitter plight! I weep for thee!

Mayhap as you pine you should also search--for bargain books.

I know of many, three especially, that are a steal!

 

[Ann in Arlington]

Gee, Al.  That's really subtle for a shameless plug.  Good Job! 

(for the record, Distant Cousin is next on my list!)

Ann

 

[BrassMan]

Well, OK, but I too am put off by Amazon's "new Kindle titles" emails. Every blasted item I've seen listed has been $9.99 or higher. I mean, it's obvious why they do that, but there's SO much stuff out there that's great and way cheaper. Fortunately, we KindleBoarders help each other find it, and hooray for us!

 

[meljackson]

Mine keep going up too but I do have plenty to read while I hope for the prices to drop.

I finished Distant Cousin but haven't started the next one yet.

Melissa

 

[Anju]

Gee, Al. That's really subtle for a shameless plug. Good Job!

(for the record, Distant Cousin is next on my list!)

Ann

Ann - as you read it you will rue the day it was "next" - now should be the word!

I thought DTR was for dead tree replacements - oh well -

 

[Andra]

I've had pretty good luck with sending feedback on items where the Kindle price doesn't reflect that a book has moved from hardback to paperback.  It takes a day or two, but the price will usually at least match the paperback price.

 

[mwvickers]

I wish I could lend it to you, CS. Or even it sell it to you. Oh well.

Indeed, this is one of the big downsides of having books on Kindle, in my opinion. You cannot lend, trade, or sell them should you so choose. Combine this with the ever fluctuating prices of e-books (which is not an issue with regular books) and the fact that in some cases books are cheaper in DTB form than in e-book form, and I'm just not sure that I will ever be able to fully embrace e-books.

Don't get me wrong, I have a Kindle and I love it. It was given to me as a Christmas present, and I use it all the time. The thing that kills me, though, is that if my Kindle ever breaks for some reason, my entire Kindle library is gone (or at least useless) unless I shell out more cash for another Kindle. Wouldn't be too bad, other than the fact that any books I really liked on the Kindle would have to be re-purchased in DTB form if I don't want to buy another Kindle.

Again, don't get me wrong, I love the Kindle I have. I just fear for the day it stops working.

Sorry to get off topic.

Back on topic, I wonder why the e-book prices fluctuate so much. It is insane. You don't see regular books doing that (not nearly as much and to the extent that e-books do). Granted, I can watch used book prices fluctuate on Amazon, but e-books cannot be purchased "used."

Add to this the fact that no one has ever (to my knowledge) figured out who controls e-book prices. Some say publishers, but the sheer fact that you can compare e-books on Amazon to e-books from other sites and find such variation among prices seems to do away with that theory.

It would seem to me that Amazon is the one that really controls prices. So I wonder what their reason is for the fluctuation and, in some cases, ridiculous price of e-books versus their DTB versions?

It would be nice if we could get to the bottom of it, but my understanding is that any time someone has asked Amazon, they have claimed that publishers control the prices.

Oh, well.

Sorry to add to the rant. LOL

 

[akpak]

I think what happens is that publishers set the "retail price" of both their DTB and electronic versions. Then Amazon purchases books at some unknown vendor price. I think what's going on is that Amazon takes a loss on the Kindle versions in order to drive the sales of the eBooks and Kindle device. It's quite possible that with Kindle gaining more traction, they're trying to make up some of that initial loss by creeping prices back up.

So to answer your question... It's both. I think publishers are pricing electronic versions too high (ie equal to DTBs), and Amazon is trying to balance the prices to hit a sweet spot where we'll shell out for Kindle versions (so usually must be cheaper than DTB), but they still can make a little profit on it.

I don't envy Amazon's merchandising department right now.

 

[MarthaT]

It stinks, but luckily ive had it go the other way too, so it may even out eventually

 

[mwvickers]

I think what happens is that publishers set the "retail price" of both their DTB and electronic versions. Then Amazon purchases books at some unknown vendor price. I think what's going on is that Amazon takes a loss on the Kindle versions in order to drive the sales of the eBooks and Kindle device. It's quite possible that with Kindle gaining more traction, they're trying to make up some of that initial loss by creeping prices back up.

So to answer your question... It's both. I think publishers are pricing electronic versions too high (ie equal to DTBs), and Amazon is trying to balance the prices to hit a sweet spot where we'll shell out for Kindle versions (so usually must be cheaper than DTB), but they still can make a little profit on it.

I don't envy Amazon's merchandising department right now.

I would agree to a degree.

But from what I understand, the prices aren't just steadily rising in one direction or another, and it's not just for certain books. It seems as if the prices go up and down almost as much as the stock market. LOL

 

[pomlover2586]

I've noticed this with a few of my books as well, but fortunately the majority have been cheaper than store prices. Sorry for your troubles though

 

[Chad Winters]

I agree the trend seems to be for upward pricing much more than downward

 

[BrassMan]

Based on my own admittedly limited experience, I don't think Amazon monkeys with prices other than automatically discounting (by 20%) whatever price the "publisher" sets them at. The really gi-normous publishers may have special arrangements, but for small fry like me, I set mine at $5, Amazon changed it to $4, and they've not fiddled with it since. Now, I'm grateful that they made the Distant Cousin books even more of a bargain than they were.

As for Amazon taking a loss on a Kindle book, I don't see how that's possible. It's all digital. A book is the tiniest stack of bytes, taking up a negligible amount of space on their world-class servers. I daresay any money they make off that pile of electrons is to the good--their good. My guess is that it's the literary-industrial complex playing with price in order to ascertain the maximum amount people can be milked for what they read.

It really is a shame that Kindle books can't be shared. As a "publisher" of three of them, I would personally have no objection to mine being shared. In music, sharing has been a boon to most all musicians, and has not resulted in a loss of sales, according to a recent NPR piece on the matter. Instead, it's a way to spread the good news.

How long will it be before some clever hacker comes out with a way to share Kindle editions? It happened to music and movies...I wonder if something like that will pop up on the fringes of the net as the Kindle 800 pound gorilla gains another 200-300 pounds.

 

[CS]

O bitter plight! I weep for thee!

Mayhap as you pine you should also search--for bargain books.

I know of many, three especially, that are a steal!

LMAO, Al. Best plug ever.

Seriously though, being such a bargain hunter is WHY I'm in this mess in the first place. I devour the bargain and freebie threads, and rarely buy anything at $9.99 unless I really, really, REALLY want it. Now I wish I had gotten Film Club (among others).

Leslie, I wish you could sell/trade it to me too. Would be awesome to have a feature like that, but I perfectly understand why it will never happen.