It appears many new users are a bit confused by the Fictionwise system (I was too when I first found it) so I thought I would start a thread that explains the system. This was a post in our Feb. 1 forum but I thought manybe others could use it so I'm reposting it here:
cheermom10 wrote:I am very new to all of this, the Nook is my first ereader. I have read a little about fictionwise and rebates. Can someone please explain that to me? Thanks so much.
First off they have their Buywise Club it's $29.95 a year and you get $10 off one ebook with that membership and 15% off all books. I let my BN membership lapse since they don't discount ebooks and purchased the Fictionwise one.
Next up we have rebates, they rebate a lot of their books including the NYT best sellers, so it's like getting free books. It works like this: I decide to purchase Under the Dome and it's listed at $17 for club members, I pay the $17 with my credit card and as soon as I do, not only do I have the book I have a credit in my Fictionwise account for $17.
If you purchase $100+ on your credit card, you get another 10% rebate and at $200+ it becomes a 15% rebate and this is on top of everything else.
Yesterday I purchased all nine Sookie books, Under the Dome and True Blue my total was $105.32. All of the books were at the 100% rebate level and since the order was over $100 I received the 10% bonus so I immediatly received a credit to my Fictionwise account of $115.85, THEY paid ME to make my purchase.
ETA: You need to make sure at all times to use a credit card or Paypal for purchases with the large rebates. You only get the rebates when using CC or PP, then use the rebate money to buy books that don't have rebates or have really small ones. (Thanks deemure)
This is a wonderful program if you purchase a lot of books (I do!) you are putting the cash out there up front but it's a better investment that just about anything else right now. 
At this point I have 27 books through them (not all 100% rebated), I have laid out ~ $225 (including the club membership) and I have $199 in credits yet to spend. All in all it comes out less than $1 book for those 27 and many of them are books that are current on the NYT list and only available in hardcover in the pulp book form. Fictionwise Big Bargains
I hope this made sense!
FrogAlum wrote:It appears many new users are a bit confused by the Fictionwise system (I was too when I first found it) so I thought I would start a thread that explains the system. This was a post in our Feb. 1 forum but I thought manybe others could use it so I'm reposting it here:
cheermom10 wrote:I am very new to all of this, the Nook is my first ereader. I have read a little about fictionwise and rebates. Can someone please explain that to me? Thanks so much.
First off they have their Buywise Club it's $29.95 a year and you get $10 off one ebook with that membership and 15% off all books. I let my BN membership lapse since they don't discount ebooks and purchased the Fictionwise one.
Net is the rebates, they rebate a lot of their books including the NYT best sellers, so it's like getting free books. It works like this: I decide to purchase Under the Dome and it's listed at $17 for club members, I pay the $17 with my credit card and as soon as I do, not only do I have the book I have a credit in my Fictionwise account for $17.
If you purchase $100+ on your credit card, you get another 10% rebate and at $200+ it becomes a 15% rebate and this is on top of everything else.
Yesterday I purchased all nine Sookie books, Under the Dome and True Blue my total was $105.32. All of the books were at the 100% rebate level and since the order was over $100 I received the 10% bonus so I immediatly received a credit to my Fictionwise account of $115.85, THEY paid ME to make my purchase.
This is a wonderful program if you purchase a lot of books (I do!) you are putting the cash out there up front but it's a better investment that just about anything else right now.
At this point I have 27 books through them (not all 100% rebated), I have laid out ~ $225 (including the club membership) and I have $199 in credits yet to spend. All in all it comes out less than $1 book for those 27 and many of them are books that are current on the NYT list and only available in hardcover in the pulp book form. Fictionwise Big Bargains
I hope this made sense!
The problem with fictionwise is their costs can often be so much higher than other sources that you still aren't saving much if any money. For example, the first 8 Sookie books are $28.80 at Amazon and the other 3 you listed are $9.99. For me, I can buy those books on my Kindle for $58.77 and that is it. No membership costs, extra money paid in advance, etc. I believe the costs at B&N should be similar but would have tax added. If the books you use your credits on are equally expensive then you really aren't saving anything. You truly have to be willing to wait for good deals to have an advantage by using Fictionwise.
Robocheme wrote:It seems odd that Fictionwise is a B&N company, but they don't mention the nook nor do they advise what format to use for the nook.
I will try to find it, but they actually do recommend the ereader format for the nook. Just kind of buried. I was under the impression that B&N only purchased FW fairly recently.
Alley415-I think as Frogsaid you just have to look out for the good things on Fictionwise. They have 100% rebates all the time on books that initially cost more. You don't have to get the membership. The 100% rebates were on books that cost a lot more. But, that's why you buy the ones with the bigger rebates first with your cc and use the rebates for others. If I buy Under the Dome for $20 and get $20 to use, I can buy 4 other books (and I've found good ones) that are say, $5 apiece. So, I've paid $20 for 5 books. I think that's a good deal. I used this to get whole series of books. I've gotten books for $2.54 that were #2 or 3 in a series of 6.
deemure wrote:
Alley415-I think as Frog
That's what I've done also, with so many of new to the eReader thing we have certain series we just "have to have" on the nook and that can get expensive, at a net of $19.95 ($29.95-$10) for the membership it has been worth for me but that is a personal preference.
The "In Death" series is like that, 30+ books and the prices start from $2, most of course are about $6.
One more thing I forgot to add, you still earn rebates on books (if available for that title of course) even if you are paying with your microrebate account. it's kind of like compound interest. 
I have a question for the Fictionwise savvy among us. Do I purchase the secure Adobe ePub format for my Nook - or the unsecured formats. Which is better and why. There are a number of books I found on their site that actually aren't available on B&N. Therefore I am planning to get a Fictionwise account for purchases like that. I am completely new to purchasing ebooks other than through B&N - started that in October - and am already a pro Thanks for the info.
Clsywnch wrote:I have a question for the Fictionwise savvy among us. Do I purchase the secure Adobe ePub format for my Nook - or the unsecured formats. Which is better and why. There are a number of books I found on their site that actually aren't available on B&N. Therefore I am planning to get a Fictionwise account for purchases like that. I am completely new to purchasing ebooks other than through B&N - started that in October - and am already a pro
I'll be looking at this answer as well. I'm not sure whether to download PDB or ePub format or if it makes any difference. I'd like to go with the easiest option if there is any difference in sideloading between the two.
