Can Cheaper Ebook Prices Mean Less Sales?

Note: I started writing this post back in the middle of May, before moving to a new house. The article source I’m use is a little dated but the main thrust of my post remains relevant.

I’ve advocated for a long time here that for ebook prices, cheaper is usually the way to go. At the very least, consumers should not be paying the same price for an ebook that they pay for the print version.

One of the reasons why cheaper is the general rule of thumb is because it produces more sales. But is this always the case? Common sense says yes. However, there are always exceptions to these rules.

Take the case of author Diane Duane. According to this article on Mediabistro, when she put one of her back list titles on sale as an ebook for $1.99, she was disappointed with the sluggish sales:

She’d put the eBook, A Wind from the South, on Amazon for a low $1.99, and sales were lackluster. Instead of dropping the price (like most would do), she raised the price of that eBook to $4.99.

And suddenly sales have jumped.

Could it be that, when you’re an author who’s been established in print for a while, that it’s not smart to price your book too low? Is it possible that people look at it and say, “Oh, this thing must be cheap because it’s no good”, and pass by on the other side? Or is this just some seasonal effect, or some other kind of coincidence?

The article points out that this is just anecdotal evidence. If you’re an author selling ebooks on Amazon, I’d hold off on raising your prices because it would probably have the opposite effect.

I’m not sure if the reason for the spike in her ebook sales is due to the price increase. If you look at another successful author, Joe Konrath, he’s been raking in the money by selling his back titles as cheap ebooks.

This is just another example of ebook pricing still being in a state of flux right now. Where is the “sweet spot” for ebook pricing? Obviously, emerging authors need to be more conservative with their prices than established, well-known authors.

How much do you think ebooks should cost?

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