Let’s start by reviewing a WH Smith’s 50% off eBook sale in the UK. We’ll review how ebook prices at 50% off compare with Kindle Store prices.
Here are the prices for the Fiction Top 20:
Note: UK Kindle Store prices are just listed as US price + $2 - These have not been checked from the UK.
| Book | WHSmith 50% Sale | Kindle Store US | Kindle Store UK |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twilight | £4 ($6.46) | $4.25 | $6.25 |
| New Moon | £4 ($6.46) | $4.25 | $6.25 |
| Whistleblower | £3.50 ($5.65) | $7.88 | $9.88 |
| The Lost Symbol | £9.70 ($15.66) | $9.60 | $11.60 |
| The Scarpetta Factor | £9.49 ($15.32) | $9.99 | $11.99 |
| Presumed Guilty | £2.62 ($4.23) | $5.76 | $7.76 |
| Eclipse | £4 ($6.46) | $5 | $7 |
| Wolf Hall | £8.92 ($14.40) | $8.80 | $10.80 |
| Swimsuit | £9.70 ($15.66) | $9.99 | $11.99 |
| In Their Footsteps | £2.62 ($4.23) | $5.76 | $7.76 |
| Breaking Dawn | £7.50 ($12.11) | $9.45 | $11.45 |
| Scarpetta | £4 ($6.46) | $7.99 | $9.99 |
| Magic Study | £3.27 ($5.28) | $7.20 | $9.20 |
| The 39 Steps | £1.45 ($2.34) | $0 | $2 |
| World Without End | £4.59 ($7.41) | $9.99 | $11.99 |
| A Prisoner of Birth | £3.57 ($5.76) | $7.99 | $9.99 |
| The Almost Moon | £4.08 ($6.59) | $9.99 | $11.99 |
| The Alchemist’s Secret | £3.57 ($5.76) | NA | NA |
| Cleanskin | £1.40 ($2.26) | NA | ? |
| This Year It Will Be D. | £4 ($6.46) | $6.39 | $8.39 |
What results and conclusions do we have (for available titles)?
- 10 times the Kindle Store (US) regular price was lower than H. M. Smith’s 50% off sale.
- 8 times the H. M. Smith 50% off sale price was lower – Usually 20-30% cheaper.
In the UK, assuming Kindle UK prices are $2 higher, we get -
- 7 times the Kindle Store (UK) regular price was lower than H. M. Smith’s 50% off sale price.
- 11 times the H. M. Smith 50% off sale price was lower.
How is this a 50% off sale?
In fact, this isn’t even a sale. It’s unfortunate that W. H. Smith has to cut prices by 50% just to be competitive with Kindle Store prices.
Contrasting Prices in the US
Let’s look at prices for the same eBooks in the US.
We’ll look at the Kindle Store, B&N eBooks for Nook, Reader Store (Sony’s eBook store), and Kobo Books.
| Book | B&N Nook | Kindle Store | Reader Store | Kobo Books |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twilight | $4.25 | $4.25 | $9.89 | $6.34 |
| New Moon | $4.25 | $4.25 | $9.89 | $6.34 |
| Whistleblower | $7.88 | $7.88 | $9.36 | $9.39 |
| Lost Symbol | $9.60 | $9.60 | $9.99 | $9.99 |
| Scarpetta Factor | $9.99 | $9.99 | $9.99 | $9.99 |
| Presumed Guilty | $5.76 | $5.76 | $6.48 | NA |
| Eclipse | $5 | $5 | $9.99 | $7.99 |
| Wolf Hall | $8.80 | $8.80 | $9.99 | $9.99 |
| Swimsuit | $9.99 | $9.99 | $9.99 | $16.79 |
| In Their Footsteps | $5.76 | $5.76 | $6.48 | NA |
| Breaking Dawn | $9.45 | $9.45 | $9.99 | $9.99 |
| Scarpetta | $7.99 | $7.99 | $8.99 | $9.99 |
| Magic Study | $7.20 | $7.20 | $8.55 | NA |
| The 39 Steps | $0 | $0 | Hard to get $0 | NA |
| World W/o End | $9.99 | $9.99 | $9.99 | NA |
| Prisoner of Birth | $7.99 | $7.99 | NA | NA |
| Almost Moon | $9.99 | $9.99 | $13.49 | $9.49 |
| Alchemist’s Secret | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Cleanskin | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| This Year It … | $6.39 | $6.39 | $7.19 | NA |
The key takeaways -
- B&N are doing an excellent job of matching Kindle Store prices – in fact the prices are identical.
- Sony’s Reader Store is terrible. The prices are higher across the board.
- Kobo Books has higher prices and lower range. It did match Kindle Store prices in several instances and in one instance beat it. They also have periodic $2 off and $1.50 off coupons.
At some point B&N will probably make their eBooks usable on Sony’s Readers and begin to steal Sony’s customers.
Basically, every eReader that uses Adobe DRM and then allows eBooks using Adobe DRM is susceptible to whichever eBook store starts cutting prices the most.
If you own a Kindle or a Nook your eBook prices look pretty good for this set of books.
Filed under: books | Tagged: book prices, ebook price comparison
Why are we paying an extra $2 in the UK? I’ve also found that a lot of the books which are free in the US, are actually more than $2 in the UK. Also, many of the books are not available for UK customers. Can anyone explain why the discrepancies
Perhaps it’s the VAT. Perhaps it’s the wireless bandwidth costs being higher. Perhaps it’s territorial rights being more.
As you can see W. H. Smith’s 50% off sale is still in the same price range so perhaps UK book prices are just higher.
One point about B&N’s prices is that where I am (Indiana) I have to pay sales tax on them and I don’t on Amazon’s. I know different states run this differently, but when I see a B&N price, I have to mentally add another 7%. It’s not their fault and yes they can still truthfully say they’re matching Amazon on price. But when it comes to checkout time, they still cost more for me.
Check out inkmesh.com for a great web page that compares e-book prices at various outlets.
I tried posting earlier about a UK-based ebook search engine which helps UK residents find good prices for their ebooks; not sure why it got rejected but the inkmesh link was allowed through?
Check out ebookprice.info for a great web page that compares e-book prices at various outlets including UK sites.
In general links to sites that do ebook deals etc. are not let through.
Here are a few more things that trigger comment rejections – sites that end in .info and non .com domain endings, sites that are promoted multiple times, sites that are promoted by the founder.
Are you adding value to the blog in any way? Or are you just trying to route traffic to your own site without adding value?
Inkmesh did a study of prices and that’s adding value to the ecosystem. Add some value and will be glad to link to your site/blog.
I tried ebookprice.info and it kept showing “Free” rebate price for many books on Fictionwise. Not sure what that meant, but the website was not nearly as useful as inkmesh (at least for US prices)
This is interesting and useful, thanks. However, it would be great to compare against the prices of actual paper books, at say amazon (UK and US,), tesco (a large UK supermarket) and WH Smith. I suspect we would find that despite costs of paper and priniting, transport and storage etc the prices would be competitive. Sadly, I think that until ebooks are substantially cheaper than the real things they will remain a niche.