Why Nook ebooks are more expensive than Amazon Kindle?

[afalcao]

I would like to know why some (Actually a lot) Nook eBook are more expensive than Kindle, here are some examples.

Paulo Coelho's Veronika Decides to Die

Nook price - $ 9.99

Kindle price - $ 1.99

Paulo Coelho's Warrior of the Light

Nook price - $ 9.99

Kindle price - $ 2.99

Michael Lewis The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine

Nook price - $ 14.53

Kindle price - $ 7.17  

[sirwillard]

The first two are Agency Model books, sold by Harper Collins. As an Agency Model book, Amazon and B&N have no control over the prices... but the prices should be the same. I assume B&N is just slow in updating the prices and would expect to see the price drop in the near future... though that's just a guess. In any event, a call to customer service might correct the problem?

The other book isn't an Agency Model book. In that case I'd assume that Amazon is running it as a loss leader, though that's also just a guess. A price comparison site shows the B&N price to be in the same range, so I assume B&N raised the price just recently. In any event, there's alternative places you can buy this book for your NOOK that have comparable prices to Amazon's.

These pricing questions get raised all the time, and they are pointless. Sometimes Amazon is cheaper, and sometimes B&N is cheaper. More importantly, sometimes someone else is cheaper, and with the NOOK you have the option to buy the alternatives, so the reality is that it's rare that Amazon truly has a better price than what you can find for an ePub that will work on your NOOK. In fact, I can match, or nearly so, every price for every book on your list here.

[beeyebickiebuy]

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sirwillard wrote:

...

These pricing questions get raised all the time, and they are pointless.

...

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The answer to the every pricing question like this is always the same as the answer to another question - Why does a dog lick ...

[afalcao]

Hi sirwillard, thanks for your reply, I'm new to this forum, so I never browsed thru it. But I think pointless will be for BN if they don't wake up to their price policy. Besides Amazon prices are equal or better their readers are cheaper. plus Kindle Fire will be $199.00.

[Nerdgirljenn]

Funny thing, those first 2 books were at the cheeper price last week...(I remember being tempted)...so may be just when you look at it...not sure of the last one...again, I think it depends on when you look...

[sirwillard]

Like I said, their prices are NOT cheaper. Most of the books people know about are sold through the Agency Model, which means the prices are the same everywhere. Discrepencies in such books are occasionally observed, and are caused by the process in which prices are changed by each of the agents. Some processes are slower than others, so there's a period of time in which you'll see price differences. Dumb and unfortunate, but that's just the way it is. For the non-Agency books, the normal competition occurs. Some will be cheaper at Amazon, some cheaper at B&N and some cheaper at yet another seller. The benefit to NOOK owners is that we can purchase the ePub books from other sellers and use them on our devices. So there's not much to really talk about here.

As for the Kindle Fire... Amazon has had to lower prices in response to what B&N has done more than once. The fact that we might be looking at the converse this time doesn't suddenly mean that Amazon is somehow a bigger threat now (something that's hard to say with a straight face since Amazon has always had the larger market share).

There's really nothing to see here.

[afalcao]

Good to know, BN announced today, BTW I really like my Nook Color.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9221388/New_Nook_Color_could_beat_Kindle_Fire_s_sub_200_price

"Computerworld - Barnes & Noble has invited the news media to a New York event on Monday, sparking speculation that the bookseller will announce a lower-cost Nook Color tablet computer that matches or beats the $199 price of the upcoming Amazon Kindle Fire.

Three analysts agreed that Barnes & Noble won't want to be beaten by Amazon.com on price, since it already sells a 7-in. Nook Color for $249 that was first announced Nov. 19, 2010, and was updated to Android 2.2 in April. The 7-in. Kindle Fire tablet, announced Sept. 28, will be available Nov. 15, eight days after the Barnes & Noble event.

In addition to potentially lowering its Nook Color price,  Barnes & Noble could announce a sub-$100 black and white e-reader to compete with low-cost Kindle e-readers from Amazon, analysts said."

[keriflur]

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afalcao wrote:

Hi sirwillard, thanks for your reply, I'm new to this forum, so I never browsed thru it. But I think pointless will be for BN if they don't wake up to their price policy. Besides Amazon prices are equal or better their readers are cheaper. plus Kindle Fire will be $199.00.

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You probably should browse through it, as there are infinite discussions and explanations about pricing and the agency model.  A search could help you understand the issue a bit more.

[APerson]

I just saved nearly SIXTY DOLLARS by buying a hard copy of a book from Amazon because Barnes and Noble is selling the SAME BOOK for the Nook for $85! Guess Barnes and Noble is working overtime to go out of business - I bought the book from Amazon after spending more than a half an hour with Barnes and Noble's useless chat where the most "productive" thing they could come up with is that pricing for eBooks is different than hard copies.

[AlanNJ Inspired Bibliophile]

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APerson wrote:

I just saved nearly SIXTY DOLLARS by buying a hard copy of a book from Amazon because Barnes and Noble is selling the SAME BOOK for the Nook for $85! Guess Barnes and Noble is working overtime to go out of business - I bought the book from Amazon after spending more than a half an hour with Barnes and Noble's useless chat where the most "productive" thing they could come up with is that pricing for eBooks is different than hard copies.

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E-Book pricing IS different than for hard copies.  Do some research before you blame.

[APerson]

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AlanJ wrote:

E-Book pricing IS different than for hard copies.  Do some research before you blame.

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I did some research - I saved a LOT of money by buying from Amazon. 

[DCLOVELL]

What is the book...?  I'm curious.

[Unaffiliated]

Here's a different example. "Sugar Nation" by Jeff O'Connell. $15.99 for the Nook Book $9.50 for the Kindle Edition Prices as of 3:42 pm on 4/21/2012.

[NookGardener]

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Unaffiliated wrote:
Here's a different example. "Sugar Nation" by Jeff O'Connell. $15.99 for the Nook Book $9.50 for the Kindle Edition Prices as of 3:42 pm on 4/21/2012.

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It's a non-agency book (Hyperion). 

 As of 4/21/2012 3:30pm CST, Sony is selling this book for $9.99

Yet, Kobo is selling it for $15.49.

[PeterDe]

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afalcao wrote:

I would like to know why some (Actually a lot) Nook eBook are more expensive than Kindle, here are some examples.

Paulo Coelho's Veronika Decides to Die

Nook price - $ 9.99

Kindle price - $ 1.99

Paulo Coelho's Warrior of the Light

Nook price - $ 9.99

Kindle price - $ 2.99

Michael Lewis The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine

Nook price - $ 14.53

Kindle price - $ 7.17  

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The answer is no one really knows why. It's amazing that some people will defend price gouging and over charging. For example I was looking at "My week with Marylin" because I just rented the movie and wanted to read about it. Amazon had it for 8.80, Apple had it for 9.99 and Barnes and Noble has it for 10.99. Since I own an iPad (I can hear the puckering now) I can purchase from whom ever I choose. Guess who is NOT getting the sale? Unfortunately this is the case most of the time. It does pay to do your home work.

[bklvr896]

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PeterDe wrote:

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afalcao wrote:

I would like to know why some (Actually a lot) Nook eBook are more expensive than Kindle, here are some examples.

Paulo Coelho's Veronika Decides to Die

Nook price - $ 9.99

Kindle price - $ 1.99

Paulo Coelho's Warrior of the Light

Nook price - $ 9.99

Kindle price - $ 2.99

Michael Lewis The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine

Nook price - $ 14.53

Kindle price - $ 7.17  

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The answer is no one really knows why. It's amazing that some people will defend price gouging and over charging. For example I was looking at "My week with Marylin" because I just rented the movie and wanted to read about it. Amazon had it for 8.80, Apple had it for 9.99 and Barnes and Noble has it for 10.99. Since I own an iPad (I can hear the puckering now) I can purchase from whom ever I choose. Guess who is NOT getting the sale? Unfortunately this is the case most of the time. It does pay to do your home work.

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It could be Amazon had those on special or B&N wasn't willing to take the loss Amazon was ok with.  Warrior of light is $9.99 as of today, so it was probably a one day special.  If you look at both sites for The Big Short, it says Digital List price $27.95.  So Amazon is willing to take a loss on the book.  B&N will never be able to keep up with Amazon as long as Amazon is willing continually to sell books at a loss.  They don't have the deep pockets absorb a continual loss.

Regardless, it may be over charging as far as you're concerned, but it's not price gouging because you can't price gouge on a luxury item, such as an eBook.  Price gouging is when the store charges $20 for a bottle of water after a natural disaster.

[Doug_Pardee Distinguished Bibliophile]

The Coelho titles are currently 99 cents.

[MDM7]

My life isn't tracking down ebooks. Maybe I could match the price by searching then converting file formats and , and, and! The Nook was supposed to make it quick, easy and affordable. The result is poor selection and higher prices. Say what you want even I know $14 is more than $7. You should feel lucky that B&N even had the titles you wanted.

[patgolfneb]

MDM7, I am not sure why you ressurected this thread? I missed the constitutional right to lowest price evey time clause. This issue has spawned multiple threads in the past. Those who have made carefull comparisons have found instances where different sellers, not just BN or Amazon have the lowest price or availabilty. BN occasionally is much more. I feel expectations are unreasonable on this issue. Is there any other product or retail channel where a seller has the best price every time? If you live in a place with multiple grocery chains are their prices identical? I expect generally competitive pricing, I feel BN meets this test. Just like grocery stores there are booksellers with coupons or price match policies if that is your priority. Of course just like ads, googleing, or comparison trips you are paying with your time, your choice though.