Audible - am I missing the point?

[JingleSmell]

So I pay a monthly fee to access the mediocre stuff? Then get 1 credit per month for the decent stuff?

Long car journey coming up and I wanted to listen to some comedy things. So I could download one comedy show with my 1 credit, right?

Then I have to pay more on top of the monthly fee if I want to listen to more??

It feels a lot tbh.

Guess it depends what you like. I try new authors and I've found things I like, new authors that I wouldn't necessarily have picked up in a bookshop.

Theres lots of free books and podcasts on there too. Plus you can sometimes send a book back and get your credit back to use again.

I guess I don’t understand why there’s the subscription fee if you’ve got to pay for individual books anyway?

Apart from the premium titles you'd use your monthly credit to buy, there's a lot of free content available, including comedy. Well worth the monthly subscription IMHO.

I feel the same. I signed up on boxing day as a treat to myself for the year. But haven't found anything worth my while in the library so may cancel after my 1 month trial. The library isn't very search friendly.

I think I'll just buy the books and add audio to the ones I wish to listen too, that way at least I get to keep the book.

You can join the library app Libby for free and listen to hundreds of audiobooks for free.

The ‘subscription’ is basically 1x discounted book per month - most audiobooks are a lot more than £7.99. So you’re paying for 1x book a month plus all the extra free content (of which there’s a lot!)

They run regular sales and extra discounted credits, so I can see if you’re just starting out you might not have lots to listen to but I find it really good value for money.

I'm completely confused by Audible, I have two free choices in a trial, then I have to pay for books via Amazon?
Only just downloaded it.

I've had a couple of free trial periods on Audible. I like the way it works but I don't think the subscriptions are good value. I can easily go through an audio book a week so one credit per month is no use.

There are other places you can get audio books from. Not that I'd encourage you to break the law of course.

Sign up with your local library, please everyone (they are at risk, use it or lose it) and then you can access either Borrowbox or Libby for audiobooks and ebooks for free.

useful past thread here www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4544435-please-explain-audible-to-me

The new free plus catalogue is a great perk......400 comedy listens, lots of crime and thrillers including all the Ruth Rendell back catalogue, original dramas.

Overall, better value than buying print books, and certainly versus buying audiobooks as one-offs.

However, if you just want a distraction for a journey, why not download back material from BBC Sounds for free, or join your local library to get access to BorrowBox, the free audio lending library? (although unlikely to have comedy shows).

I would, but the books I want are always on loan with a waiting list of months, or the app decides not to work, the search function is poor and there's quite a lag on the new stuff being on there. My physical local library is only open 3 days a week from 10-2, has no free parking, is wildly inaccessible and doesn't have a toilet.

They are doing a £3.99 a month offer atm. I think if you do a lot of walking like I do it is worth it (walking is so boring imo!) but not sure I would bother otherwise.

To get the best from Audible plus catalogue log in through a web browser to search its way better than on the app

Keep and eye on the website daily deal £2.99 in case it is of interest

Keep an eye out for £1.99 and £2.99 sales

Return a book you don’t get on with and use your credit for something else

I have had my audible account for quite a while now so I have amassed a library of around 200 books. To start with it is the extra content which makes it worthwhile.

I am quite careful about which books I choose to spend my credits on. I like a lot of bang for my buck so a 2 hour recording doesn't meet my personal standard. On the other hand the 50 hour recording of the Sherlock Holmes stories were excellent value.

£7.99 a month gets you all the free library of audiobooks, all the podcasts and one 'premium' book. If you don't like the book you 'buy' you can return it and get the credit back. Remember to use all your credits before you cancel as you keep the books forever but lose any remaining credits if you cancel.

you can also buy a two credit monthly subscription but the most cost effective way of buying books is the annual subscription which costs £70 for 12 credits or, I think £120 for 24 credits. And the various special offers that happen throughout the year,

This. In spades. It's free, so why wouldn't you?

I love it but I am happy with one book I pay for each month then loads of free books. I listen to a lot of crime novels and there are loads of them free. Some are crap but some have been great.

I like it, the functionality is better than Borrowbox (which I agree you have to wait months for some books on) and a much wider choice for books than BBC Sounds. I use a mixture of all 3. I certainly wouldn't pay for Borrowbox though, I am willing to put up with it being a bit crap as it's free.

The French and Saunders podcast is worth the fee alone.

I've used it for years
Generally find one decent book bought via credit , one or two sale or daily deal books and a few podcast or free books will last a month. Occasionally I buy three extra credits if I'm desperate for a new premium book .
So £10 to £15 per month on average including subscription, for something I use for at least an hour, usually several , a day seems quite reasonable.
I did have an email recently that you can't return books anymore if you don't like them, can't remember if it was bought books or books bought via credits .

But if you don't think the subscription is worth it, just cancel it and pay individually for any books you do want? I do this because I don't listen to very many so it works out much cheaper.

I live abroad so maybe some content is restricted. So the local library thing doesn’t apply. And also we do check out BBC Sounds a fair amount.

Maybe I’m thinking about it more as podcasts rather than books?

But for example when I browse the categories, there’s only about 20 comedy things on there, and none are included in the subscription fee. And Audible plus is really unfriendly to browse through and there deffo isn’t 400+ when I look.

I absolutely love audible. I’ve had the annual 24 credits subscription for years but I’ve usually used them up within 5 months, after that each credit costs £4. But, I’m dyslexic and read a lot of work related stuff each day so prefer to consume fiction by audio book. If you find a book series you love it’s easy to use up subscriptions especially if the book has a great narrator. If you’re looking for a series that is funny try the Dublin trilogy by Caimh McDonnell, the narrator is brilliant.