Kindle book costs

[cafenoirbiscuit]

Morning folks - I've been roving around Amazon to look for nice Christmas reads. I've noticed that some of the kindle costs are higher than buying the hardback books - can ANYONE explain why? If I buy a book then I appreciate someone has physically produced it and sent it to the shop or the warehouse, but a kindle version doesn't need anything apart from a download, surely - or am I wrong here?
I'd love anyone's view......

[fatowl]

IME Kindle new releases at about the same price as paperbacks.

If you wait many end up about £1.99-£2.99. often as low as 99p.

Do you not think the author has "produced" anything
My sister is an author btw. Makes a living-just

[waycat]

I would also add to this by saying don't forget that Kindle books have VAT applied where printed books don't.

[OohhThatsMe]

It's because it matches the hardback price until the paperback is out, then the price reduces. I've noticed it with people like Marian Keyes, where the hardback comes out first and is expensive, and the Kindle version comes out at the same time and is about £10 - when the paperback's out, it reduces.

[cafenoirbiscuit]

Sorry fatowl - of course your sister should make a good living - my point is that apart from the author, and the initial cost to set the book up, surely it can't cost anything much to download it (unless I've missed something). The Nutcracker in Penguin Christmas Classics, for example, costs £7.57 for the hardback edition on Amazon, but £9.34 for the kindle version.

[LordEmsworth]

You are making the mistake of correlating price with the cost of production, which is not how most pricing strategies work.

For example, a typical hardback book does not cost much more than a paperback to produce, but typically retails for 2-3 times as much. It reflects saleability, demand, marketing etc. Price often reflects demand rather than cost of production.

FWIW I agree with you, why pay more for a digital version rather than "the real thing" (and I love my Kindle!)

[StripyHorse]

You also pay VAT on ebooks but not printed books.

[BarbaraofSeville]

Kindle books are often on offer for 99p. I've had dozens of books for that price including new and popular ones, so my kindle has effectively paid for itself as I've had all these books for the same price it costs to reserve at the library without having to leave my chair. Just copy the webpage into ereaderiq.