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EpicTubofGoo t1_j1dimeq wrote

Reply to comment by Zikoris in Have books gotten more expensive? by syncomatic_columbia

Publishers set the prices of ebooks, not retailers, my sense is this is done deliberately by publishers to keep ebooks from cannibalizing hardcover sales.

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Zikoris t1_j1dv7ri wrote

I'm used to new releases being a little on the higher end, like $16 or $17 sometimes, but JFC $30+ is steep for a digital file.

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whisky_in_your_water t1_j1e9ktt wrote

$10 should be standard for ebooks, maybe a little more for top authors.

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Zikoris t1_j1eb8vn wrote

Agreed. It's blatant gouging.

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whisky_in_your_water t1_j1ebvq7 wrote

Yup. I can't easily (legally) give away or lend out my ebooks, whereas I absolutely can do that with physical copies. Ebooks should absolutely be cheaper than any physical format.

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dissidentpen t1_j1f0wi2 wrote

That’s not true. Ebooks are almost always cheaper than print, and the margins on all this stuff are minuscule. Regardless of your “sense” the overhead remains the same regardless of format. You save on printing and storage but then there are unique costs to digital which make up the difference.

$30 is probably an academic press. I wish people would stop using cherry-picked anomalies as “proof” of their feelings.

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