Pay-what-you-want ebooks ‘bundle’ sells $1.1 million in two weeks

[JackLuis]

Pay-what-you-want ebooks ‘bundle’ sells $1.1 million in two weeks

An experiment from major authors including Neil Gaiman and Cory Doctorow, which allows readers to pay the price of their choice for a collection of ebooks, has shattered all expectations, racking up sales of more than $1.1m (£700,000) in under two weeks.

Letting the Customer set the Price? Whats up with that?

 

[PennLady]

Pay-what-you-want ebooks ‘bundle’ sells $1.1 million in two weeks



Letting the Customer set the Price? Whats up with that?

It's an interesting experiment. Didn't Radiohead do something like this with an album a few years ago?

 

[3113]

The problem I see with this is that the authors seem to be known authors. People are willing to pay a dollar or more for books by authors they know and love, especially their favorites or new ones. I'd certainly pay a dollar or more for certain books by authors I love that are not available as e-books yet from Amazon or iBooks.

Offer up a bunch of books by authors no one knows and I wonder if there'd be the same success or just a bunch of books snatched up for free--or not at all.

 

[MatthewVett]

Pay-what-you-want ebooks ‘bundle’ sells $1.1 million in two weeks



Letting the Customer set the Price? Whats up with that?

Some musicians do it, too. The general idea is there's a low minimum, which gets more people buying the minimum who wouldn't if the price is higher, while those willing to pay, say, $20, might still do so out of gratification and appreciation.

If the author has other works out, as well, you can think of this initial purchase as a loss leader.

 

[MatthewVett]

It CAN backfire, though... http://www.lazygamer.net/pc-gaming/pirate-douchebags-pirate-indie-charity-games/

 

[Exquisition]

It's an interesting experiment. Didn't Radiohead do something like this with an album a few years ago?

Yes, they did and I think quite a few other pop artists have done the same thing...

 

[nicecthulhu]

Another author here (CatBrown) sent me to an author's website (don't recall her name - she wrote romance and teen romance if I remember). This woman did an experiment by selling her ebooks at various prices to figure out the optimum price to make money. She included a setting where the reader set their own price. I was skeptical, but she claimed she made an average of a dollar or two per ebook when the reader could chose what they payed...
Trouble is, I know I'd 'buy' my stuff if it was free.