One of the hardest decisions a print (or “physical”) publisher has to make is how to price the digital equivalent of their product—typically a book, magazine or CD.
I suspect this stems from the fact that they a) don’t want to cannibalize the sales of their physical products and b) adhere to their current frame of reference or how they’ve arrived at pricing decisions for their physical products in the past.
So far at least, some notable experts are having trouble getting it right.
Harvard Business Review decided to carve books up into “Short Cuts” and sell them for $3.95 turning a 10 chapter book into a $40 purchase (while full paper version costs about $15).
There is a mere 10% savings when you buy the Kindle version of the Secrets of the Great Golf Course Architects. That seems like a decision made with a spreadsheet.
Understanding that there are a number of factors that go into pricing anything, here are a few less considered points from the perspective of the digital media consumer:
Longevity. When I buy a physical product I know I’ll be able to use it essentially forever. I don’t need a special device to use it. You don’t need to have a lot of technology skills to “manage your library”; you just have to remember the location of your shelf or box.
Sharing. Points off digital products for ease of sharing. From a publisher’s perspective this means they sell more units because people won’t be passing copies around. (If they don’t it isn’t the consumer’s problem.)
Functionality. If the media is simply a read it is difficult to justify a small differential in price (with all due respect to authors and publishers). But what if the publisher added value that goes beyond the basics found in the physical equivalent?
I’d argue that’s a different product. And that I believe is the key.
How did you arrive at the price you’re charging? As a consumer, do you think the value is the same?
Pricing Digital Media Part 1
One of the hardest decisions a print (or “physical”) publisher has to make is how to price the digital equivalent of their product—typically a book, magazine or CD.
I suspect this stems from the fact that they a) don’t want to cannibalize the sales of their physical products and b) adhere to their current frame of reference or how they’ve arrived at pricing decisions for their physical products in the past.
So far at least, some notable experts are having trouble getting it right.
Harvard Business Review decided to carve books up into “Short Cuts” and sell them for $3.95 turning a 10 chapter book into a $40 purchase (while full paper version costs about $15).
There is a mere 10% savings when you buy the Kindle version of the Secrets of the Great Golf Course Architects. That seems like a decision made with a spreadsheet.
Even the prolific Stephen King stumbled recently when he priced his baseball novella at the high end of digital-only books (see Pricing to Fail: Case Studies in Dumb Pricing).
Understanding that there are a number of factors that go into pricing anything, here are a few less considered points from the perspective of the digital media consumer:
Longevity. When I buy a physical product I know I’ll be able to use it essentially forever. I don’t need a special device to use it. You don’t need to have a lot of technology skills to “manage your library”; you just have to remember the location of your shelf or box.
Sharing. Points off digital products for ease of sharing. From a publisher’s perspective this means they sell more units because people won’t be passing copies around. (If they don’t it isn’t the consumer’s problem.)
Functionality. If the media is simply a read it is difficult to justify a small differential in price (with all due respect to authors and publishers). But what if the publisher added value that goes beyond the basics found in the physical equivalent?
I’d argue that’s a different product. And that I believe is the key.
How did you arrive at the price you’re charging? As a consumer, do you think the value is the same?