Looking for George R. R. Martin’s ‘A Dance With Dragons’ ebook? Forget Comparison Shopping!

Looking for George R. R. Martin's 'A Dance With Dragons' ebook? Forget Comparison Shopping!

It seems like ages ago I wrote about the lunacy of ebook pricing … but things haven’t gotten much better! Today is the release of the fifth book in the critically acclaimed ‘Game of Thrones’ series that has been 15 years in the making, and the first book in six years! I have only recently started reading the mammoth series so I find myself in the position of not needing to rush out and buy the latest book.

But that didn’t stop me from looking! And what I found was that although the ebook is at least ~$4 LESS than the discounted hardcover depending on retailer, it is uniformly priced at $14.99 EVERYWHERE!

Here are the links to the book listing:

Barnes & Noble

Amazon.com

Borders

Sony eBoorStore

Google Books

Apple iBooks

While I am sure some are happy to see uniform pricing, and others happy that the ebook is significantly cheaper than the hardcover, and still others saying that there is no need to discount a book like this yet (they are right), I still can’t help but feel the pinch of the publisher at work – for the hardcover I found more than a 20% difference between retailers, yet EVERY SINGLE ebook is identical?!? Welcome to the magic of “Agency Pricing”, where there’s no guesswork, because there’s no competition!

What do you think – does this pricing make sense to you? Personally I can’t help but think of that slogan ‘when banks compete, you win’ … but now it is ‘when publishers don’t have to compete … you lose’!

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About the Author

Michael Anderson
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!