ok where's the logic in this? Kindle books *more* expensive?

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

I was about to buy a book at the local Borders: The Saint and the Sultan when I noticed inside the book that it was also available as an ebook.

 

So I go to Amazon, and the ebook is 14$, while the HARDCOVER is 10$ ???? Amazon does not list a paperback, which is what Borders has in store.

 

I'm baffled. Why would the ebook be more expensive??? It makes no sense!

[nukeswife]

I think it's because although it is new, it's not in pristine condition. If you look closely it says the hardcover is a "Bargain Book" and has a little description below it that says.

This is a bargain book and quantities are limited. Bargain books are new but could include a small mark from the publisher and an Amazon.com price sticker identifying them as such.

Then if you click on details for that description it says

Bargain books are top-quality publishers overstocks and out-of-print titles that we purchase in bulk quantities and offer to our customers at deeply discounted prices. Bargain books include best-selling fiction and nonfiction, children’s books, classics, and fine illustrated books on a wide variety of subjects, including cooking, home and gardening, the arts, and more. Occasionally we also offer import editions of popular titles at great savings.

 

The slight mark or stamp that may be present on the edges of a bargain book's pages is an industry's identification that it is an overstocked book and is not to be sold at the full price. Bargain books are not used, previously-read, defective, or inferior in any way.

 

So I think it's kind of like finding it in the discount section at the front of Barnes and Noble.

[nmoira]

 

I'm baffled. Why would the ebook be more expensive??? It makes no sense!

The ebook price is fixed by agreement with the publisher. The $10 price is on a limited number of bargain copies; the "regular" Amazon hardcover price for the book is $18.20. I see no listing of a paperback version at Amazon.com, Borders.com, or BN.com. It's curious that you saw one at a brick and mortar borders. Maybe it's forthcoming and was shipped early or accidentally?

[Hannah C.]

Look at the actual *list price* for the print book. Usually, for a hardback, that can be $25 or $30, while the e-book is usually $15 or less, more likely $10.

 

The reason the e-book is more expensive is that, thanks to the Agency Model, retailers (e.g. Amazon, B&N) can discount the print book, but not the e-book. The e-book price is fixed by the publisher. On Amazon, there will be a note if the e-book price was set by the publisher.

 

Not all e-books are like this, but most of the ones published by big-name publishers are. It's annoying.