AssociatePrograms.com

Guest · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 10:20 pm Post subject: eBooks and eBay

There is a big difference right now in the pricing of information products generally. We have books selling on eBay for $4.70, on Clickbank for $47 and professionally edited and published traditional books with often alot more pages being sold for $7 for example.

Is $47, $67, $97 and more sustainable for self-published books of a coule of hundred pages in electronic format?

Will people start to search for info products on eBay instead of Clickbank or the search engines?

Will the cost of information products converge in all locations as market forces exert their influence, with all books, electronic and traditional to a price range of say $5 to $15.

All insight and view most welcome!

thepoolroom · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2004 12:36 pm Post subject:

I've never paid more than US$10 for an ebook. I can buy real printed books for US$10-$50, so I can't see why I'd pay so much for an ebook.

For a typical printed book, the author receives maybe $1-$2 per book sold (and sometimes even less!). The rest goes to the retailer, the distributor, the publisher, the editor, promotion, etc.

So I figure an ebook should sell for around $5-$15. Some of that will go in affiliate commissions, and some to the ebook vendor (e.g. ClickBank). That still leaves the author with maybe $3-$12 per book sold, which is much better than traditional publishing.

An exception to this would be an ebook that contained information that was very valuable to me and that I couldn't get anywhere else. I'd pay more for that.

But all those ebooks about interior design, making curtains, pest control, etc need to stay under $10 or so for me to even consider them.
_________________
http://www.OneStopUnder.com - serious reading for serious photographers.

Debs · **Joined**: 16 Aug 2003 **Posts**: 4296 **Location**: NY

I am willing to pay more for ebooks because they are easily updated so the information has a tendency to be up to date and relevant (if from a good author who stays on top of his niche). If the ebook is out of date, it goes back. That's one benefit of buying from the site direct as opposed to eBay.

Buying from eBay you have to wonder if they have the right to sell the eBook and if very soon down the road it will become useless, if it hasn't already. On eBay I would pay considerably less for an ebook, if I were to purchase it at all.

You don't get quick updates, newsletters, etc. from print authors, depending on the author, this can be a real plus of ebooks as well. Almost like having your encyclopedia updated regularly but without the additional cost. For this reason, I feel ebooks are worth the extra cost when compared with print books.

Debs
_________________
Learn how to turn keyphrases into quality, well-targeted articles your visitors and SE's will love with Gary Antosh's new ebook "Web Content Made Easy!"

AllanGardyne · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2004 11:20 pm Post subject: Re: eBooks and eBay

mdr02125 · **Joined**: 13 Jan 2004 **Posts**: 146

One often overlooked benefit of ebooks is greater accessibility.

1. It can be reformatted by the author (or purchaser in some cases) so those with disabilities can read them. This may be someone with low visioin who needs large print. It could be someone who is blind and has a computer that reads text to him. It could be a person with paralysis who has difficulty turning pages in a traditional book, but might be able to handle a mouse/keyboard and/or printed pages.

2. ebooks can also be more accessble to persons without disabilities. People ride carpools, trains and buses to work each day. Many people travel an hour or more each way and it is their only chance to read. For large books, often it is difficult to bring along. Same for travel away from home. But one can bring the pages you'll need for today, or this week along quite easily.

Authors with specialized niche knowledge have good reason to consider an ebook. It can cost several $1,000s USD to print a paperback, meaning it is prohibitive unless 1,000 copies or more will be sold. Traditional bookstores are reluctant to sell a paper book if it was self-published, hence the many stories of authors with a dining room full of books that went out of date before being able to sell all the 2,000 minimum printing before the material went out of date a year or so later. Many times these stories end with the sad words that the author still owed money for printing the first edition and could not afford a new printing.

Even with advances in technology, printing a traditional book involves delays often of several months. For niche topics, which change quickly as technology does, the book can often be out of date before the first copy is sold. For those wishing to sell paper books, ebooks can also help to refine content with first editions, get feedback, establish credibility and sell some--that can help getting a publisher or getting money to self-publish and market offline.

I have way too many bookshelves and love books, don't get me wrong. Cool