This is a guest post by Ameer Abbas; a blogger and most viewed writer on Quora. Ameer specializes in Internet Privacy, Cyber Security, VPN, and Torrents. He is also working as a privacy advocate with BestVPNProvider.com. If you’re on the lookout for the best solution for your VPN needs, check out his site. You can also check out VPNmentor, which includes all VPNs out there (more than 230).
When Ameer contacted me to share a startling discovery he’d made, I decided to share it with you. I’d love to hear what you think about this in your comments below!
Fantastic eBook Prices And Where To Find them
Like everything else, the internet and smart devices have changed the way we read books. That fascinating experience of turning crispy leaves and aroma of ageing paper has been replaced by glimmering screens and swiping gestures.
In a 2014 survey PEW Research unveiled a gradual increase in the number of people in the USAadopting e-books as their reading medium. The same research also unveiled that an estimated 50% of US adults now own a tablet computer or an e-reader.
As more people get acquainted with e-Readers and tablets the transition towards eBooks is becoming smoother. While the stimulating feeling of turning pages and holding a book close will remain supreme, eBooks will soon prevail in a market cluttered with millennials.
Amazon’s author earnings report February 2016 identified that daily eBook sales ranged around 1,064,000 (that’s 33 million eBooks per month), while eBook earnings stood at $5.25 billion in 2015.
The Amazon eBook store is now a reader’s paradise, with Kindle readers and Kindle apps encouraging readers to make the transition not just on Amazon tablets & Kindle readers but also over smartphones. Today, the Amazon Kindle store stands at a gargantuan library featuring over 800,000 eBooks.
Reader Paradise
While reading enthusiasts have not yet abandoned their love for books, there is still a growing number of users with smart devices who now enjoy carrying a library of books on their tablet PCs. A recent article on Fortune (in response to a New York Times article) highlights the growth of eBooks.
As a response to this perceived threat, several publishers keep eBook prices ridiculously high, in order to encourage the sales of hardcover copies.
The Bargain
Austin Phelps once said, “Wear the old coat but buy the new book.” Well, I would, Mr. Phelps, but publishers are making it awfully hard to do so. To keep their print sales up, publishers maintain higher prices for eBooks than their print counterparts. In 2014, Which.co.uk went on to compare the top 5 eBook stores, analyzing the prices of 10 bestselling books at the time:
While Amazon Kindle took the cake in 2014, come 2016 and the game has changed phenomenally. I went on to cross check the prices for 3 New York Times best-sellers over the 5 famed eBook stores and here is what I found:
| Insidious by Catherine Coulter |
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins |
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead |
|
| Amazon Kindle | $15.00 | $9.99 | $13.99 |
| Barnes & Noble NOOK | $12.99 | $11.99 | $13.99 |
| Kobo | $15.00 | $9.99 | $13.99 |
| Google Books | $12.99 | $9.99 | $13.99 |
| iBook | $12.99 | $11.99 | Not unavailable to buy |
The new trend seems to be that prices are more or less identical. After stiff competition for over a decade, Amazon had finally lost its grip over the eBook market, with all stores more or less offering the same rates for digital literature. However, during these cross checks, I also noticed a brilliant bargain while visiting different Kindle stores using my VPN.
A discovery: location switching
Call it a cheap trick if you will. For me, it was an eye-opening discovery. Did you know that the price shifts dramatically depending on your location? This is determined automatically, but you can also declare the location you want your computer to show when visiting a website.
There is something that the tech world terms “location switching.” Location switching is a trick where you can change your location virtually. This means that, no matter where you are in the world, your online location can be displayed as, say, Canada or the United Kingdom. This feat is usually accomplished using a VPN or Virtual Private Network, although there are also plenty of applications that allow you to switch your location (usually for privacy reasons).
For my tests, I used PureVPN. This allowed me access to a server based in India. My location was changed to Mumbai, and I could now access the Amazon Kindle store for India. While connected to the Indian Amazon Kindle store, I noticed a certain anomaly: eBooks, including New York bestsellers, were now 90% cheaper to buy on the Indian Kindle store!
I checked prices for the Kindle version of both ‘The Girl on the Train’ and ‘The Underground Railroad’, and noticed that they were both a 10th of their quoted price in both the US & UK Amazon stores. The Girl on the Train, for instance, costs $9.99 on the US Kindle Store, while it costs a very attractive $2.46 on the Indian Kindle Store.
Prices of selected eBooks on the US Amazon Kindle Store
Prices of selected book on the Indian Amazon Kindle Store
In a Nutshell
Undoubtedly, it is a great bargain to find your favorite eBooks at the most attractive prices (10% of the original price!)
However, the question is, is it ethical to do so? On one hand, it feels wrong to trick vendors by lying about your location. On the other hand, should we be paying high prices for eBooks just because publishers wish to push the print editions, even though there is nothing tangible to justify that cost?
As this blog is addressed to both authors and readers, I’d love to hear what you think: is lavish pricing the correct strategy for eBooks? If not, should we use tricks like location switching to find the best bargain? And what does that mean for authors?
Please let us know in the comments below!
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I never thought of using a VPN in this way, Nick, but I don’t think I ever will – like yourself, the ethics issue is too weighty for me. That’s not to say price doesn’t matter. I can’t ever bring myself to buy an e-book priced over the EUR 7.00 mark, because I know the publisher has no outlay and royalties aren’t even likely to be going to the author who created it. It’s different when I’m buying a hard copy of it from a bookshop which has legitimate expenses. No matter how much I want to read it, if it’s overpriced in this way, I’ll just wait for it to go on sale. At least a sales spike benefits the right person – the author – in a realistic way.
That’s a good point, and a great idea. Thanks 🙂
My motto in dealing with Amazon is “follow the money.” Amazon decisions are always based on money. I doubt I would switch my location to get a cheaper book – call me lazy? – but Ali is right: no matter where an author’s book is available, their profit is as small as the company can make it!
Amazon has been great in that regards to that – especially compared to the pitiful 8% offered by most publishers (not to mention the fact that you retain all rights to your work). It’s one of the reasons why I stick with it 🙂
I suspect whether you buy in India or US, the author’s royalty remains tbe same…low. The majority of the profits are going into the publishers pockets, not the authors. The inflated US prices, however, are probably what keeps the Indian prices down. At least as an Indie we can try to make ethical decisions over our pricing strategy. With fewer overheads, there is no excuse for the cost of an ebook to be so high. Ever. Its purely motivated by greed.
It’s not easy being a publisher. Of course, it’s even harder being an author 🙂
thanks for sharing
A pleasure! Thank you for the visit 🙂
Completely agree with you on the prices Catherine … its ridiculous I have to pay $100 – $150 for a tablet or reader and then buy books at ridiculous prices. There is a book that Amazon quoted $35, there was no choice but to buy a used hardcover copy for $12 from a flea market.
Thanks for yet, another eye-opener. 🙂
Lol – thank you, Debbie 🙂
That’s interesting, Nicholas. I don’t think I’d go through the trouble to change a location to get the cheapest book. I haven’t purchased an ebook for $15.00, but I’m glad that ebooks are increasing in sales and can demand those prices. It would be good for all of us if the prices go up, and books would still be great values at a higher price. An interesting business!
It sure is! I guess it all depends on your income. For some, $5 for a book may be too high a price to pay.
I have a friend who’s a traditionally published author. I would love to buy her ebooks but they are close to the price of paper books and I can’t afford either, not if I want to keep reading as much as I do. And sadly, the authors of those high-priced ebooks get very little of the bounty. 🙁
That last bit is the truly sad one.
It’s because of the prices that I have an Amazon wish list (well, not quite true, I shop for books like one shops for groceries and tend to bulk buy, therefore I overstock the wish list) For some of us, $5 for an ebook makes it a luxury item. I am on Amazon.ca I like that they notify when a wish list book is on sale, When the author puts their book on sale I have caved once or twice and spent $3. $3 doesn’t seem quite so scary. It’s all relative, depending on income. Free is good too but I like to see an author get paid something for their work.
Now if Amazon.ca and .co.uk would share reviews with all Amazon sites there would be some happy authors….
How true! I get no notification for .co.uk reviews, and as a result usually miss them 🙁
I wasn’t aware that Kindle prices were so high other places. I am located in India and I usually only check the prices here. I do wonder if that loophole will soon be closed so shoppers can’t falsify their location before too long. Many book shoppers will do it as long as they can. —- Suzanne
I’m sure they will think 5 times before they do that but still in their power to do something like that. I was really amazed by the soaring prices on the UK, US and Canadian stores.
Even if they close the tweak on the Indian stores, there are always other online ebook stores we can use.
I guess it depends on how wide-spread location-switching gets: should everyone start using it, that loophole will close faster than you can say VPN 🙂
I found this very informative, but not really surprising. Given the average income in a country like India, they could surely not afford to pay the same prices as the buyers in countries with much higher salaries.
It does highlight the obvious, that companies can still make a profit, selling e-books 90% cheaper. However, if everyone starts using a VPN to buy in India, they will soon catch on, and hike the costs up accordingly. Then it will be the readers in those poorer countries who will suffer in the long run.
Best wishes, Pete.
That’s a good point, and one of several ethical caveats I have with this technique. Thank you, Pete 🙂
What annoys me the most as a reader are e-books that are priced at more than $10.00 a book. You just have to go on the sci-fi preorders on Amazon to find e-books that are up to $28.00 in some cases (unbelievable). I refuse to buy exorbitantly high e-books on principle and I probably wouldn’t even consider buying the print version either (I heartly dislike publishers, corporates and their ilk trying to make big bucks at the expense of consumers). Publishers that print need to realise the market has changed considerably with the advent of the e-book and start been a little more accommadating with regards to pricing. E-books are here to stay and more often than not your average indie e-book author is just as good if not better than some authors who excusively use the print medium. Don’t get me wrong, I love my print books – there’s nothing nicer than smelling the pages of a new book – but an e-book just has no business been more than $10.00. A $28.00 print book is understandable but in an e-book?? So for me, I purchase e-books that are between .99c and $10.00. In addition, I check the sample to see what the writing, formatting and grammar, if it has any reviews and whether the story is drawing me in enough for me to buy. In my opinion, publishers need to wise up and make sure the price of e-books is less than the print version – at the end of the day there will be people who still prefer the print version of the book over an e-book version.
Great post – very informative 🙂
Thank you for the likes guys, hopefully something better headed your way next time … Yours Truly
I love a passionate reader! Thank you Catherine for the great comment 🙂