Have you noticed the prices of iBooks increasing? It’s not a mystery that publishers now view electronic versions of their hardcover editions as a way to save money. Turns out publishers are adopting Apple’s “agency pricing” model, a move making cheap iBooks on your iPad or iPhone as rare as dime store novels.
Six publishers have agreed to the new pricing, according to the Wall Street Journal. “If e-book prices land at 99 cents in the future we’re not going to be in good shape,” an unidentified New York City publisher told the newspaper. The chief benefit is that publishers control the price of ebooks, receiving 70 percent of each sale. For Amazon, which now sells more ebooks that their print cousins, the tactic of creating buzz by selling new titles for $9.99 is practically gone. In fact, Stephen King’s “11/22/63” that has a $35 hardcover price, sells for $16.99 as an ebook.
Publishers also love the new pricing model because iBooks eliminate costs associated with print. For example, iBooks don’t require physical shipping, warehousing or production. Eliminating these steps means publishers can gross $5.92 per $12.99 iBook, rather than $5.85 for traditional volumes, according to the report.
In another move in the iBook front, online bookseller is talking with publishers about a “Netflix Inc.-like service for digital books,” the Journal reported Monday. The service would provide a library of books to customers paying an annual fee. However, “several” publishers told the newspaper the idea could decrease the value of books, also stressing retail relationships.
To entice publishers, Amazon has said it would not offer new titles, plus offer companies a “substantial fee for participating,” according to the Journal.
The Amazon proposal highlights the thinking by retailers that media consumption is rapidly going digital, with consumers reading and viewing content on tablets, such as the iPad and e-readers like the Kindle.
Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.
35 responses to “Publishers Hike iBook Prices to Prop Up Dying Print”
That’s cool if the price for iBooks rise a little but still come in a good bit cheaper than print copies. Not only can you make iBooks interactive and provide other valuable features like across device syncing, its far more portable/lighter to carry an iPad loaded with iBooks/Ebooks than to haul a book bag full of textbooks. I hope the textbook industry gets in on this.
That’s cool if the price for iBooks rise a little but still come in a good bit cheaper than print copies. Not only can you make iBooks interactive and provide other valuable features like across device syncing, its far more portable/lighter to carry an
I just got a $829.99 iPad2 for only $103.37 and my mom got a $1499.99 HDTV for only $251.92, they are both coming with USPS tomorrow. I would be an idiot to ever pay full retail prices at places like Walmart or Bestbuy. I sold a 37″ HDTV to my boss for $600 that I only paid $78.24 for. I use http://bit.ly/grab2026
That’s cool if the price for iBooks rise a little but still come in a good bit cheaper than print copies. Not only can you make iBooks interactive and provide other valuable features like across device syncing, its far more portable/lighter to carry an iPad loaded with iBooks/Ebooks
I just got a $829.99 iPad2 for only $103.37 and my mom got a $1499.99 HDTV for only $251.92, they are both coming with USPS tomorrow. I would be an idiot to ever pay full retail prices at places like Walmart or Bestbuy. I sold a 37″ HDTV to my boss for $600 that I only paid $78.24 for. I use http://bit.ly/grab2027
I call B.S. Do they really expect us to believe that producing eBooks only offers them a 7¢ more profit than a print book? They’re just trying to keep the prices up, pure and simple.
Funny, that the were cheaper was one of the biggest draws for me. Â I still have a decision to make every time I buy a book — would I rather have the book in my hands? Â Often it’s the price that has swayed me.Â
Six publishers agreed on price increases? Â Isn’t that akin to collusion?
I’ll stick to first edition hard backs, at least I have something that is both beautiful and has some sort of value.
those books are made in mass-production, it’s like a few hundred books a minute…that’s not expensive per book
We go to the library every week. There are plenty of books there.Â
those books are made in mass-production, it’s like a few hundred books a minute…that’s not expensive per book
I just got a $829.99 iPad2 for only $103.37 and my mom got a $1499.99 HDTV for only $251.92, they are both coming with USPS tomorrow. I would be an idiot to ever pay full retail prices at places like Walmart or Bestbuy. I sold a 37″ HDTV to my boss for $600 that I only paid $78.24 for.
I use BIDFiRsT. COM
this is a scam worse then the oil industry. No shipping, printing, storage and shipping again and they are charging MORE? When Amazon was charging a reasonable 9.99 for a kindle book, i was buying them right up. Now that they cost more then softcover editions, forget it. Greedy bastards.
I’m all for the advancement of technology, but I’m still appalled at the loss of physical bookstores in my area. Barnes and Noble…gone. Waldenbooks…gone. Borders…gone. There was just a certain visceral pleasure in browsing through the printed bookstores that you don’t get online.Â
And as far as ebook prices, why not let the public decide. Lower prices might mean lower profit margins, but it could also mean more impulse buys, so it all evens out.
I noticed and buy less books accordingly. If necessary, I’ll go back to the library if necessary. With print and publishing savings, I won’t pay more than 12.99.
And it’s Apple’s 30% as well as publishers’ greed driving the price hikes.
Lower prices drive volume, and with the volume combined with costs savings the publishers and writers win
But is is greed, pure and simple. High corporate net profits by Apple’s refusal to cut gross margins has led the publishers can achieve the same.
I own a Kindle. I can’t afford an iPad. I also can’t afford most eBooks. My Kindle now sits on a shelf while I read paperbacks from the used book store. I’m afraid the current pricing of books and ebooks is going to lead to a decline in reading entirely.
I don’t mind paying trade paper prices for good content. Or even trade hard for av enhanced content. But if you want me to pay $35 for a novel that would be $12 in trade, i’ll just get it on free rental from the library
i actually read an article a few months ago about this,,, there is no reason for book publishers to hike up ibook prices,, ,this makes no sense what so ever,,, if there is an industry shift to digital books compared to paperbacks,, it should go the other way,, more for paperback,, and less for digital,,, the cost to produce digital books is much much less, less labor, less middle men,,, someone needs to pull there head from the sand and take a good look around,,,Â
on a side note,, i think that ibook prices should be less simply because the industry wants you to buy digital,,,, they make more!,, bottom line,,, hum,, could this be corporate greed at it again?Â
You know what my beef with iBooks is…that they still don’t have “Inside Steve’s Brain” or Harry Potter. Like, what the eff.Â
You can NEVER compare physical production to digital. Produce all the damn books in a minute you want you cant touch the cost per unit of a digital copy. To even suggest such is absurd. To produce a book n get it to the end user has many many steps that include things such as storage and GAS!!!! The break even points are not where in the same ball park!
The industry is making a slow transition. I’m not sure that I agree that 30% is out of line. I’m involved in a micro commerce enterprise that sells exclusively online. We’ve been trying to get our commission below 30% for some time. By the time we’ve paid the banks, invested in secure infrastructure and responsive marketing, we’re challenged to turn a profit at 30%.Â
Currently, I think ebooks are priced according to their paper counterparts, something akin to comparing cars to airplanes (they both get you from A-B). Publishers no longer pay for printing, shipping and conventional physical retail, but it’s evident those costs are still included in digital versions. I know that it isn’t increased royalties to authors that’s driving up prices. I buy my books according to how I’ll use them. if I need a portable reference, it goes on the iPad – if it’s a pleasure read, it comes from the library.