Thanks to Greta, I have an interesting link to share. It’s not 100% effective from my testing but it’s definitely a step in the right direction for ebook price shoppers – or for people who are still undecided between a Kindle or a Sony or another ebook reading device.
EbookPrice.info will show you the purchasing options for an ebook or books by file type, vendor, and price. Pretty savvy idea – and definitely one I appreciate.
Sadly, it’s not 100% effective. Consider my test. This weekend I spent about three hours in epic battle with Fictionwise, then with Mobi DRM, so that I could read Julia Spencer-Fleming’s I Shall Not Want on the Sony 700 instead of the Kindle. So far, the entirety of her series is only available in Kindle form, so I was using Kindle I, Baron von Fusspot. But I knew that the last book was in more that one format, so I bought it at Fictionwise simply because I wanted to read on the 700, which I much prefer to Baron v’Fusspot.
So ultimately I’d have saved myself a good amount of time by shopping with Amazon, and the price difference wasn’t significant. On Amazon: for the Kindle, it’s $14.82. (To which I say, HOLY CRAPPING THUNDERSHORTS that is RIDICULOUS). On Fictionwise: $16.00 but I had more than enough micropay dollars in my bank, so I didn’t actually spend anything.
If I’d known about this site, I could have checked out the other books in the series at other vendors – though the difference in price for the first one – $6.99 at Amazon vs. $21.99 at Powells? That’s insanity! – would definitely have driven me to Amazon anyway.
I’m hoping that whoever is behind the wheel of the ebook comparison machine will link in more stores, like Fictionwise and Books on Board, and that the searching will include books that I KNOW are on the individual vendor’s sites despite not appearing in the EBookPrice.info results.
Thanks for the link. I’m bookmarking that one!
I just finished I Shall Not Want in hardcover yesterday. Overall, I thought it was good, and some of the loose ends from earlier books have been tied up satisfactorily while leaving some new ones dangling for the next book; which is pretty much what I want from a good mystery series that has a little romance thrown in. But I must say I really, really hate the prologue. It gives away a major scene with huge emotional impact that doesn’t occur until half-way through the book.
After I read about a life changing event for a main character on page 5, the very last thing I want to see at the top of page 6 is “Six months earlier…” followed by 180 pages describing those intervening months.
He’s a Baron now? Does the promotion mean you like him better?
I do find the prices better for the Kindle than others, but not by much, and not enough to determine what device someone buys, especially is he or she is opposed to the Kindle for other reasons.
Thank you for the link.
I will be sure to check this out when I get home!! Thanks!!
For those who like to purchase used (paper) books, AddAll.com is a similar site that searches through several dozen sellers (Abe, Amazon, and Alibris are the big’uns) and list them in order of price pre- and post-shipping. I swear by it when I shop online.
I’m the woman behind ebookprice.info – thanks for the mention!
If people use the site and find problems, please let me know via the comment form on the site. A specific example of a book that can’t be found, or which is showing the wrong price is a *great* help when trying to pin down problems.
Any other ideas for suggestions will also be gratefully received – I’m getting a lot of useful feedback from people, and I’m implementing a lot of suggestions I receive.
By the way, I’m just in the middle of adding a1books.com, then I’ll be looking at adding FictionWise and BooksOnBoard.
Rachel
I checked the prices for Jasmine Hayne’s Fortune Hunter, and now I’m thoroughly confused. Kindle format is $9.99. All of it. Is this like mp3 pricing on iTunes? If that’s the case….
WHY CAN’T WE FROM THE THIRD WORLD BUY THE KINDLE?? WHY AMAZON WHY
/rant
Last week I was trying to find a copy of A Lion Called Christian, which none of my local stores had. So I figured an ebook would be a little cheaper than the hardcover price. $16 for the ebook thru fictionwise and $18 thru Sony or $14 on B&N.com in print….duh. WTF people? WTF.
Just following up on this, the site now has Books on Board, FictionWise, CyberRead and a couple of UK sites as well.
I should have the Sony Store included soon.
If anyone notices any anomalies, please let me know! Can’t fix it if I don’t know about it…
Regards
Rachel