Kindle Review – Kindle Fire Review, Kindle 4 Review

While the Kindle is now priced a lot less than its launch price of $399 we still always get the same question - Is Kindle worth $259? 

Well, let’s see if we can answer that question.

Hat tip to Kindle World for mentioning the Kindle Forum thread about this (link at the bottom of the post).

How many books a month do you read?

Before you explore whether the Kindle is worth $259, it’s worth looking at a few questions -

1. Do you read one or more books every month? If not, please consider something else.
2. Do you want something that ‘also happens to let you read books’ as opposed to a dedicated eBook reader? If yes, consider Kindle for PC or Kindle for iPhone.
3. Is $259 too expensive for you and you want a $100 price? If yes, wait 1-2 years.

This post does not cater to -

1. People who read less than a book a month.
2. People who cannot afford $259.
3. People who prefer multi-purpose devices over dedicated eReaders. 

Please skip this post if you fall into one of the above 3 categories.

What you actually pay for the Kindle

Thinking the price you pay is $259 is misleading.

What you really pay - Kindle Add-ons

Here are what your costs will be -

1. $259 for the Kindle.
2. $10-$15 Shipping.
3. $25 to $40 for a cover.
4. $20 for a reading light.
5. $5 -$10 for a screen protector.
6. For people in Washington (and perhaps NC and a couple more states) – Sales Taxes.

3. through 5. are optional although the cover is strongly recommended and the reading light is necessary for reading at night.

These additional costs (2. through 6.) are why my recommendation is - If you can’t afford $259 don’t think about getting the Kindle. 

Will you sell your Kindle?

If you plan on selling your Kindle at some point of time, perhaps when you get a new Kindle, it helps to look at what you’ll get for it -

1. Kindles hold their value very well. Used Kindle 2s are currently retailing for around $240 on Amazon.
2. Used Kindle 1s were retailing for around $150 (this was nearly 2 years after the release). 
3. New models keep coming out all the time, and at lower prices. That balances 1. somewhat.

That means you can look to get at least $125 and probably even $150 when you sell your Kindle 1 or 2 years down the line.

It’s up to you whether you deduct this from the $259 cost of the Kindle or not.

Conclusion – $259 is not the magic figure

Your price could be anywhere from $269 to $319 or more. 

[Optional] If you take out what you get for your Kindle when you sell it, say for $125, you end up with a cost between $144 and $194.

Your magic figure for the Kindle could be anywhere from $144 to $319.

Breaking down the value you get from the Kindle

Let’s look at all the value you get -

Free Books

Here are all the free books you get -

1. All the popular classics for free.  
2. 10-20 new free books from the Kindle Store. These are book offers. 
3. Lots of indie titles for free.
4. 1.8 million public domain titles from the Internet Archive. Keep in mind that most of these won’t really interest you.

That’s a ton of free books. This might easily be worth $5 or $10 a month to you – perhaps even more.

Note: You can’t get library books on your Kindle. At the moment it’s not an issue as most libraries don’t have much in the way of ebook selection. This might change down the line.  

Cheaper Books Vs Reading More

This is rather complicated so will list the pros and the cons.

The pros are -

1. Bestsellers and most books are $9.99. Much cheaper than hardcovers. 
2. Lots of indie titles are $1 and $2.  
3. There are discounts and buy one get one free offers.

The cons are -

1. You can’t get all books as ebooks.
2. You tend to read more and end up negating the lower prices.
3. 3 of the big 6 Publishers are trying to delay ebook release dates by 4 months.
4. You cannot share your books (except kindle sharing - discussed below).
5. You cannot sell your books.
6. Some paperbacks are as cheap or cheaper.
7. Some Kindle editions are not $9.99.

Where does that leave us?

Those against the Kindle will say you save nothing because you can’t sell used books.

However, there is a tangible benefit to getting bestsellers and new releases for $10 instead of $20. Plus cheap indie titles and the occasional deals.

This is another $5 to $10 per month benefit. However, you might very well negate this by buying more books and spending more.

Note: Some people think that by buying twice the number of books you’re saving twice the money. I don’t. If you do that’s fine.  

Free Internet, Free Wikipedia, Email

While the browser is slow, you get a lot of benefits -

1. You can check your email (use the mobile sites).
2. Use twitter.
3. Read the news.
4. Wikipedia for reference.
5. Check weather.

Yet another $5 to $10 per month value.

Convenience and Time

Things are so much easier –  

1. You no longer have to go to the store every time you want to get a book.
2. No more spending on gas or car wear and tear.
3. You don’t have to wait even 15 minutes - get books in a minute.
4. You can get newspapers and periodicals delivered automatically in the morning.

Hard to put a monetary value on your time – However, it gives you more time for reading and other things you like to do.  

No shipping and in most states no taxes

This might not apply to you.

1. If you buy online you pay shipping, and occasionally taxes.
2. If you buy in store you pay taxes.

No more of that except in certain states that levy taxes on eBooks and in Washington (as Amazon has physical presence there).

Storage Space and Portability – Kindle as Portable Bookshelf

You can do a lot of things with the Kindle -

1. Save space.
2. Save on cost of additional bookshelves.
3. Avoid clutter.
4. Save on moving costs when moving.
5. Stop losing books.
6. Take all your books everywhere with you.
7. No more time packing and unpacking or deciding what to take along.

What the value of this is to you will vary. However, it is a real benefit.

Audiobooks and Read To Me

Here’s what you get -

1. You can listen to Audible audiobooks and mp3 audiobooks (including lots of free audiobooks from LibriVox).
2. A decent percentage of Kindle Books have Read To Me enabled i.e. the Kindle reads to you while driving, while cooking, etc.
3. All your personal documents can be read.
4. All the free public domain books you get can be read to you.

The voice is very unpolished – it is not a human being speaking.

However, you get free text to speech instead of having to pay $20 for audiobooks.

This will only apply if you use the feature and are not picky about it not being humans doing the reading. However, if it applies, it’s easily $5 to $10 or more a month.

6 Kindles on 1 Account, Reading on 5 devices at 1 time

There are two aspects to this.

Read across your devices -

1. Your Kindle(s). 
2. On your PC via Kindle for PC.
3. On your iPhone or iPod Touch via Kindle for iPhone. 
4. Soon on your Mac and Blackberry.

You can read across all these devices and synchronize your bookmarks and location in the book.

Share books with your family -

1. This only applies if you have multiple kindles or have an iphone or will read on a PC.
2. You can share a book across multiple kindles or a kindle and several other devices (PC, iPhone, etc.).
3. That means multiple people can read the same book at the same time.

That’s something you can’t do with physical books.

People who don’t like the Kindle will say this has no value and instead talk about the lack of sharing.

If you think about it this feature does have some value – you and your husband and your daughter can all read the book at the same time.

Let’s say it’s $5 to $10 a month.

Putting it Together – The Value of the Kindle

Here was what the Kindle actually costs -

1. $269 to $319 for the Kindle 2.  
2. $144 to $194 if you think you’ll sell it for $125 in 2 years.

And here is our grand list of what the Kindle’s features and benefits are worth -

1. Free Books – $5 to $10 a month. 
2. Cheaper Books Vs Buying More Books – Either $5 to $10 a month or nothing.  
3. Free Internet, Email – $5 to $10 a month. 
4. Convenience and Time – Varies based on what your time is worth. 
5. No Shipping or Taxes (usually) – Varies.
6. Storage Space and Portability – Varies by person.
7. Audiobooks and Read To Me – Either $5 to $10 a month or nothing.
8. 6 Kindles on 1 Account, Reading across Multiple Devices – Either $5 to $10 a month or nothing.  

Which adds up to -

1. In the worst case – $10 a month plus time and convenience.
2. In the most probable case – $20 a month plus time and convenience.

If you fall into the bucket of people who benefit from half or more of the 8 benefits listed above, then your Kindle will be worth at least $20 a month.

The Short-Cut – Is Kindle worth $259 to you?

Simply put a monthly dollar figure for the 8 items above and add them up – that’s what the Kindle is worth to you every month.

Multiply that monthly value by the number of months you intend to keep your Kindle and then compare that to the cost price (either full price or price taking resale value into account).

You should have an answer.

This calculation should also help explain why the ‘ read at least 1 book a month’ criteria is a good one.

Did Kindle meet the bar for you?

Congrats – Whether it did or not, you found out whether it’s a good fit for you.

That’s the aim of this post – to help you figure out whether the Kindle is worth $259 to you. It should be a pretty clear-cut answer.

Read Kindle owners’ thoughts on Is Kindle worth $259 price? at the official Kindle forum.

Filed under: kindle Tagged: | kindle value for money, should i buy a kindle?