Sold for less than 'price of a cup of tea' - eBooks devalued?

(04 Aug 2012 02:02 PM)davidwailing Wrote:  This is always a popular topic! Like all authors, I think my work is worth more purely because of the time, effort and money I put into it. But it's the value that readers place upon it that matters, and this is influenced by lots of things, including the average cost of ebooks generally.

If an average ebook is £1.99 for example, and I cost mine at £6.99 because I worked like a dog on it for years, should I be surprised when it doesn't sell? No, sadly I have to play ball and cost more realistically. That's the market - nobody is bigger than the market.

As Lou says, there is no quality control with ebooks, so readers are taking much more of a gamble when they buy one, especially if the author is relatively unknown. With a cup of tea, you know what you're getting - it's a safe bet. With an unknown author, there are no guarantees. That's why free ebooks are so popular!

Also, remember that cost is just one factor. Readers will also consider the amount of positive reviews a book has, how much the author has produced, whether the book has been recommended by someone they know, if it's similar to what they usually read, the cover, the title, how many vowels in an author's name, whether the wind is blowing from the south, if there are any biscuits left...

(04 Aug 2012 02:46 PM)Stu Ayris Wrote:  I price my books at £1.99 because when I was younger my pocket money was a pound a week. That £1.99 toy in the toyshop or that airfix model or that Subbuteo team were always worth saving that extra weeks money for. So, perhaps in a very unbusiness-like way, the price point of my books is purely nostalgic. Hence why I am, and shall probably ever remain, optimitsically on the edge.

(04 Aug 2012 02:54 PM)ElaineG Wrote:  

(04 Aug 2012 02:46 PM)Stu Ayris Wrote:  I price my books at £1.99 because when I was younger my pocket money was a pound a week. That £1.99 toy in the toyshop or that airfix model or that Subbuteo team were always worth saving that extra weeks money for. So, perhaps in a very unbusiness-like way, the price point of my books is purely nostalgic. Hence why I am, and shall probably ever remain, optimitsically on the edge.

LOL in my youth I had a boyfrield who owned a model kit shop. My little brother was absolutely GUTTED when he dumped me

(04 Aug 2012 02:46 PM)Stu Ayris Wrote:  That airfix model or that Subbuteo team were always worth saving that extra weeks money for.

(04 Aug 2012 02:01 PM)cecilia_writer Wrote:  I started to wonder if I should set the prices separately for each of the Amazons - does anyone else have any experience of doing that? At the moment I just set the US price and then let the system work it out.

(04 Aug 2012 06:30 PM)Katherine Roberts Wrote:  I also like to work out the VAT so that the price shows up as something sensible on amazon.co.uk but that's probably just me being nerdy.