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What do you think of the prices of new books?

L

linlin

New Member
Are they deserved? When I browse other forums and see some guy said that he pretty much never buy a book until it is in paperback. He would rather get it from the library.
These days I was reading a book which was borrowed from library and happened to notice the price on it. This is a smaller book, and only 249 pages long. It was written by Fern Michaels, so I would say she is a popular author. The price was $27.95.

I know that most places and some online bookstore automatically reduce that by at least 25-40% to get you to buy the book but someone think it is still too much for them! How about you?
 
I cannot afford new books. US and European books are imported here so naturally expensive, but even in US I would not buy new hardcover books. If there is some new book I really want I will buy it, but as I read many books I do not make a habit of it.
 
I only buy hardcovers if I am collecting a series and that's the type of edition that the first book I purchased, or if I really want to read a book and I can't get it through ILL or wait for a paperback release. I've been disappointed too many times so I try before I buy and if I really like the book I will shell out the extra money for a hardcover if I can afford the expense.

But even some paperbacks are ridiculously priced. And a total waste of your time and money.
 
Usually new releases are priced at discount at most big bookstores. At least they're on sale for the first couple of weeks. This usually doesn't entice me to buy new releases because I don't like spending $16 for a hardcover novel. When they’re not on sale a hardcover can cost up to $30. I'm sorry times are tough financially for me so I won’t pay that kind of money for a book unless I really, really have got to have it.
It’s the same philosophy that I have for seeing movies. I would rather wait until the movie comes out on DVD rather than spend $10 plus to go see it in the theater.
 
I'd rather pay $10 or $15 for a hardback book than the same price for an eBook.

But I still buy CDs too.
 
I usually don't buy books unless I intend to read it again and again like looks such Lord of the Rings.

It's like movies and music, if you plan on buying it you better grab it the first week because that's usually the big promotion to get while it's on sale before it goes up to regular price.
 
~Anne~ said:
I'd rather pay $10 or $15 for a hardback book than the same price for an eBook.
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Good point. I agree, although I rarely buy a "brand new" hardcover. I have and do occasionally, but usually wait till I can get it on sale, sometimes through the marketplace on Amazon or ABE books.

We shop Library Sales a lot, and second hand book stores. It's amazing what you can find there.

As to whether the prices are deserved or not, I do think they are too high, but everything is, so maybe it's a just price. When you think of all the machinery and manpower it takes to launch a book it boggles the mind.
 
I think it's pretty crappy. I've noticed that they have a new type of "hardcover" book now. Instead of it being a real hardcover though, it's just an enlarged paper back version of the book that costs the same as hardcovers used to cost.

I think paper backs should be 5-7 dollars, hardcovers should be 10-12 dollars, and e-books should be free to 4 dollars, but my opinion doesn't matter very much.
 
Amazon's competitiveness seems to be bringing prices down in Europe for paperbacks but on the whole new books are far too pricey.
 
If I don't want to spend $27 for a new hardcover, I'll wait until it is out on paperback and my backlog thanks me for that. My library consists of a mixture of bindings.


~Anne~ said:
But I still buy CDs too.
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Me too. Together we will save CDs!
 
linlin said:
These days I was reading a book which was borrowed from library and happened to notice the price on it. This is a smaller book, and only 249 pages long. It was written by Fern Michaels, so I would say she is a popular author. The price was $27.95.
Click to expand...

One of Laurell K. Hamilton's recent books lasted 171 pages. Mind you, this included introductory material and an afterword where she explained how she got her ideas for the book. The hardcover came with a price tag of $23.95. That was definitely a "get at library" book for me. If a hardcover's going to cost twenty-something dollars, it better be longer than 100-something pages.
 
Now that new release books are going for $15 in paperback or ebook, I browse older titles and indie books. The price of books is getting out of hand.
 
I really think it's ridiculous. I have to wait a huge amount of time for new books to come into the library. The last time i checked out a book from the library that is fairly new, I had to wait 2 months.

Most of the new books are way too high. Just about 40 bucks for hardcovers.
 
Prices in the $20 - $30 range for a new hard back are definitely high to outrageous, but I stilll buy the relatively few books that I want badly enough.

Most of my purchases, though, are older books in like-new or excellent condition, bought through library sales or Amazon Marketplace. They are real bargains in general. ($1 - $5, more or less).
 
sparkchaser said:
Me too. Together we will save CDs!
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If only we could!

And I always try to get the best deal on anything I buy, and that includes books. But if I love an author, and I collect his books, I don't feel bad paying $15 for a hardback copy.

My personal library is a hodge podge of hardbacks and paperbacks that I've paid a hodge podge of prices for as well.

I have tried to curtail my library by visiting the local city library, but the selection is so limited that my patience wears thin, and I'm back on-line shopping at Amazon in no time.
 
I'm a huge library fan just because books are so expensive. I suppose that's sort of stupid seeing as I'd like to sell books... but yes, waaaayyyy too expensive.

Library, library, library!
 
~Anne~ said:
If only we could!

And I always try to get the best deal on anything I buy, and that includes books. But if I love an author, and I collect his books, I don't feel bad paying $15 for a hardback copy.

My personal library is a hodge podge of hardbacks and paperbacks that I've paid a hodge podge of prices for as well.

I have tried to curtail my library by visiting the local city library, but the selection is so limited that my patience wears thin, and I'm back on-line shopping at Amazon in no time.
Click to expand...

It's like looking into my own mind.
 
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