Various promotions, coupons, and other services are available for e-books. In total, e-books are often cheaper than paper books, but there are reasons why you may find e-books “expensive”.
Here are five reasons why the original price of e-books is expensive.
Five reasons why e-books are so expensive
It costs more to convert data into an e-book
At first glance, many people may think that data, rather than paper, can be offered at a lower price because there is no actual “thing” to be used. Many people think that this is a good idea. However, it is said that it is difficult to lower the price because it originally costs a lot to convert paper books into data.
Costs are high for commissions and labor.
To sell e-books, you need to pay a sales commission to the store. In addition, labor costs are also incurred because of the various tasks required to turn an e-book into an e-book.
Due to sales commissions and labor costs, it is difficult to offer e-books at low prices like used ones.
E-books are not widely available.
Selling e-books involves various costs, including “fixed costs such as commissions” and “commissions when books are sold. The penetration rate of e-books is still low, and the fixed costs and sales commissions take away from the cost of e-books, causing e-books to not be available at low prices.
Development and maintenance costs are high.
Even if you develop your own e-books without selling them through a major e-book vendor, you will still have to pay development and maintenance costs. Even if there is no commission, the development and maintenance costs will make it impossible to offer e-books at a low price.
The price is set in consideration with bookstores.
If e-books could be offered at a much lower price, the number of people who purchase e-books at bookstores would decrease considerably. It is said that the pricing is set in consideration of bookstores so as not to drive them out of business.
Psychology of e-books being expensive
There are various reasons why e-books are considered “expensive,” but in reality, e-books are not generally considered “expensive” because they offer a variety of services such as “combined campaigns,” “try-before-you-buy,” and “free reading of several stories.
Many people wonder why e-books are expensive!
In this section, we will explain the psychology behind why people feel that e-books are expensive.
Because I don’t feel like I’m buying a book.
Unlike paper books, e-books are not delivered to you when you purchase them. Of course, the data itself is stored on the device, but because you cannot touch it, many people feel that it is difficult to feel that they have made a purchase.
Also, the fact that payment can be completed in an instant is convenient, but it also makes it difficult to feel that the purchase has been made.
For example, with paper books, there is a time lag before you can actually start reading the book, as you have to go to the bookstore and wait for it to arrive at your home after paying online. This “time” leads to the excitement of reading the book.
Many people feel that the price is high because they do not have the book as a “thing” in their hands.
As a result, they feel that e-books are expensive because they do not feel that they have paid for the book, even though they do not feel that they have purchased it.
E-books are priced the same as paper e-books, which have the right of ownership.
With e-books, the only thing you can purchase is the data, i.e., the right to read. However, with a paper book, you’ll not only have the right to read the book, but you can also have the right to keep the book in your possession.
If the price is the same, which do you think is of better value? If it comes down to value alone, many people would choose ownership.
Of course, in the case of e-books, there is more than just the right to read.
However, it is difficult to understand the value of something that you cannot see, so you may think that an e-book with only the right to read is the same price as a paper book with ownership. It is hard to understand the value of something that is not visible.
Because they compare it with used paper books.
There is no concept of used in e-books. Once purchased, the data itself does not deteriorate and remains in your account. No matter how many times you read it or how many years you have it, it will not deteriorate, so it will never be cheaper as a used price, even if it can be cheaper in a sale or campaign.
Paper books, on the other hand, are used. It is not uncommon for a new, expensive book to cost less than $1.00, but a used book that has deteriorated can be purchased for less than $1.00.
If you can buy a used paper book for less than $1.00, but you can only buy an e-book for the price of a new one, don’t you feel that e-books are expensive?
There is another way to look at it: let’s say you have a book called A.
The same new book A costs $12 for a paper book, but $10 for an e-book. At first glance, the e-book seems cheaper, but if you sell it on a flea market app after you finished reading it for $5, the paper book is cheaper in total.
Thus, one is not always cheaper or more expensive than the other. Sometimes the paper book is cheaper, and sometimes the e-book is cheaper.
In other words, the feeling that e-books are more expensive is both wrong and right.
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