OK this is a little bit strange. I was happy to find Nicholson Baker’s “Human Smoke” on Shortcovers. I was unhappy to find it costs $20.99 which is more than I’m willing to pay for an ebook (especially one that I more or less rent from Shortcovers).
Luckily, I noticed I could buy a hardcover version, or trade paperback from Indigo.ca, Canada’s leading book retailer & parent to Shortcovers.
But here’s a run-down on the kooky pricing:
- ebook: $20.99
- trade paperback: $15.69
- hardcover: $9.99
This may well just be a glitch of some kind; and it might be growing pains as we work out what a vibrant and legit ebook market will look like. Or maybe someone can tell me about the quirks or reasons behind the dark art of book retail that might explain such funny pricing:
UPDATE: Jordan reports below that this was indeed a glitch (see comments for more details); and that the ebook price is now corrected at $12.23. That’s better… But here is the image anyway:
Link to Human Smoke on Shortcovers.
But as a consumer, regardless of the various reasons and explanations, I feel like someone is trying to pull a fast one on me when I see such arbitrary and opposite-looking pricing.
It certainly doesn’t help the cause of publishers who claim the price of ebooks have to be high so they don’t cannibalize hardcover sales. Something is broken if hardcovers are priced in order to cannibalize ebook sales.
10 Comments
Thanks for calling us on this – I totally agree that our pricing isn’t perfect. We’re working on improving it, and if you compare our pricing from even a few weeks ago to how it is now, you’ll find some big improvements.
The specific thing you’re seeing (Why is the hardcover so cheap?) is that Indigo has found a supplier that wants to sell their stock off quickly or cheaply. In the business, this is known as a ‘Bargain’ book, and you can see that in detail on Indigo.ca as they highlight it. There are usually available in small quantities, so only a few people will be able to buy the book at that price.
The difference between the trade paperback price and the ebook price is purely a pricing error on our side, and we will be addressing it in our next price update (tomorrow).
Finding the right price for ebooks is definitely a black art and something we’re improving. Hopefully we’ll be able to meet your expectations as we get better at it.
Jordan Christensen
Product Manager, Shortcovers.com
Thanks for the explanation Jordan … from my end prices hovering around $10 seem about right. $20 definitely out of my interest zone.
jordan said:
> Finding the right price for ebooks is definitely a black art
> and something we’re improving.
translation: we still haven’t found out how much we can get
you suckers to pay, but we’ll keep experimenting until we do.
(no, i’m not picking on shortcovers in particular. all of the
publishers and retailers are basically doing the same thing.)
-bowerbird
@bowerbird – that’s much too simplistic. When a publisher can sell a hardcover for $40, and there is a real market for it, how should the ebook be priced?
Should the publisher be willing to take a smaller share, and generally reduce their earnings due to substitution? Should ebook retailers operate at a loss? Should the book not be available digitally until the paperback hits the stores?
These are real issues the publishing world is dealing with right now.
Jordan Christensen
Product Manager, Shortcovers.com
Hugh — I noticed this the other day. Jordan didn’t explain what the error is exactly, so let me take a stab and he can correct me if I am off base…
The ebook prices seems to be calculated at around 34% off the physical book as it is sold at Indigo.ca. Indigo typical discounts their books at about 34% off the in-store price.
Got that? 34% off, 34%off.
This turns out to be an OK deal when you think about…even if it is convoluted.
The problem comes up when the price instore changes (hc –> trade). The price of the physical book automatically recalculates on the website but the ebook price on shortcovers remains pegged to the original hardcover. i.e, if they didn’t list the trade or massmarket price on shortcovers it would still seem like a good deal.
@Mark – sorry, I can’t divulge our entire pricing strategy here, but I can tell you that definitely isn’t how things work. We don’t base our prices on indigo.ca prices, and we do update our prices on Shortcovers as publishers change their ebook list prices.
jordan said:
> These are real issues the publishing world is dealing with right now.
i hope you realize how lucky you are that these are your “issues” now.
because things are going to get a whole lot stickier, and very quickly,
as the dinosaur publishers who turned to you to prop up their failing
business models come to experience ever more difficult situations…
you do know what corporations do to their subsidiaries which fail to
make money over a certain number of quarters, don’t you?
-bowerbird
Just thought I’d come back to close the loop on this. The book is now $12.23 CAD on Shortcovers, and similarly priced in USD.
Any chance you could update the post? :)
done.
Damn.
Well the $9.99 is great news.
http://blog.shortcovers.com/2009/08/06/shortcovers-features-content-from-top-six-publishers-and-offers-best-sellers-at-999/