Kindle cost effective

[RJP01]

Hi. I love reading and the feel of a book. I currently try to buy a lot of my books second hand from online or shops. I was wondering though do others who use kindles think they are more cost effective than buying books. I know you have the initial outlay of buying one but after that I'm wondering if more cost effective. Any thoughts please?

Yes I find it very cost effective. You could buy a very cheap kindle from backmarket or CEX first to see if you get into it?

it did take me a minute to get used to reading on it instead of holding a book but I find it so convenient now, and I love only having the books I really love on my shelves rather than constantly drowning in paperbacks!

You don't have to buy one, download the app to your phone.

If you subscribe to kindle unlimited then you can borrow up to 20 books at a time. Books are varied in price, if you want a 'classic' many are free. One part of KU I like is it encourages me to try new authors and read books I wouldn't otherwise try.

Other readers are available, ask your local library if they lend e-books and if so what reader they use.

Is it worth it, depends how much you use it. I read a lot and don't begrudge the cost.

Thank you. I might try that get second hand at first.

I love my kindle purely for practical reasons but I found that kindle books are not necessarily cheap when they come out.

It's worth if you are a person who reads a large variety of authors, the kindle deals are really good, often £1 per book on a series for example.

You may want to look into a Kobe as well, their ereader can be linked to library ebooks, something a Kindle can't. Both have the same screen type so no glare like when you read from a phone or ipad.

You can obviously also just download the library app and read on a phone or tablet. But I found these devices just either too small or too big and heavy and I hate the glare from the screen.

Thanks all. Yes I need a larger screen my phone too small

They can pay for themselves because you can get loads of books for 99 p, popular good books, not just self published rubbish by unknown authors.

But if you're unsure you can get a second hand one from ebay for not very much. The ones with a light are best so you can read in bed.

But a phone or tablet is not a substitute as it's still a back lit,not book-like screen.

Thank you

If you search online for Anna's Archive, you can get lots of books free. There's a download queue, but once you've got it downloaded you use 'send to kindle' in your Amazon account and it appears in your library.

H has a kindle and I just can't get along with it.

Books are physical things for me and if we don't buy any new books how are authors going to make a living?

I don't want books to be written by AI but if we all want free stuff that is what is going to happen. Like music, Spotify is great so musicians only make money playing live now.

So I buy books, from shops but the decreasing number of people who do will not keep the industry alive.

Don't stop buying books, or going to the library. Unless you want the new releases to be diminished and dreadful.

I find it really cost effective and love my Kindle dearly. I now only buy copies of physical books that I've loved to keep on my bookshelves.

If you subscribe to emails from BookBub you can enter the genres you like to read and they'll send you a daily email with suggested Kindle books that are usually free or 99p. I also use CamelCamelclCamel to flag books I want to read and the price I'll pay for them so I get alerts when they drop in price.

If you have Amazon Prime you can download 10 books at a time from Prime Reading.

You realise that the authors are paid for every kindle download just as they would be if you bought a physical book right?

You do know that an ebook is just a different format? Authors still get paid. And don't think that the paperback you buy for £12 at Waterstone means the author gets the full amount.

The same with music streaming, everytime you download a song, the composer, singer and writer still get their royalties.

Why would reading a book electronically mean that the author doesn't get paid?

Before getting a kindle I only bought second hand books when they definitely wouldn't have seen a penny but surely they get paid for downloads

And dont forget the free book each month to keep from Prime

Be very careful - these "libraries" are very often linked to books being stolen and offert on pirate sites. It's a huge issue, especially for indie authors.

If you want free books, subscribe to Amazon deals, subsribe to author's SM or publisher's newsletters.

I read very fast, so will rarely pay more than 99p - Amazon regularly sends me a selection from well known authors. I can easily get through an average PB in 2 days.

I do buy books too, but mostly from charity shops. I love my Kindle - so handy for reading in bed. Also, it makes long books so much lighter to hold - there are several lengthy classics (and others) I’d never have read if not for the compact Kindle version.

I always thought I’d be a ‘bookie’ but love my kindle. One advantage is that it’s back-lit, so you can read it in ged without the bedroom light on.

I think it’s cost effective. Either join ‘kindle unlimited’ or download books. Sites such as ‘bookbub’ inform you about the 99p books.

I live for the 99p deals!

It depends how much you read. I have other hobbies which take up lots of time so only read a couple books a month. My last kindle only lasted 2-3 years before dying, so it didn’t end up being very cost effective. I bought a new one because I had lots of books on there left to read (and I can’t read books on a tablet/ phone).

They are very convenient, but I don’t own one to save money. I can’t pass books on to family like I used to, either.

You get lots of free/ cheap books, but half the time they aren’t ones I really want to read. I used to get the free prime book every month because it was free, but I don’t any longer, unless one of them really appeals.

I wanted to buy my favourite books on kindle as I didn’t have the space to keep my copies any longer, but they’ve never been reduced; it’s been cheaper to buy them in physical format for all the years I’ve had them on my wish list.

Thank you everyone. Food for thought

I got my current kindle for about £20 on eBay years ago.
Amazon have lots of free books and often books are cheaper in kindle format.
If you have prime there’s prime reading- similar to kindle unlimited but 10 at a time.

@RJP01 If you use a Kobo, other than the initial buying you can download from your public library without any cost.

I never thought I would like a kindle or kobo - purchased one during lockdown and now wonder why it took me so long to buy one.

I have purchased about 5 books in 4 years, the rest I access from my local library and there are some websites which offer free books.

Thank you

Forgot to say I have a Kobo Libra.

I have a Kindle and have given my sister my old one. I am a total bookworm and held off from getting a kindle for years, but it has saved me so much money as I read a lot. My sister also wasn't really interested at first, but is a convert now too.

I subscribe to Kindle Unlimited which a lot of people think is rubbish, but I really enjoy the vast majority of books I download from there. I will also buy ebooks if there is something I particularly want to read. I still buy books if it's something I love and want to keep. I can't imagine a house without full bookshelves! I also will buy a hard copy if I read an ebook that I want to pass on, so sometimes the author is getting royalties from two purchases by me.