The Crook in the Nook: Barnes & Noble ebooks are overpriced compared to Amazon

By Joe Wilcox | Betanews

Yesterday, I excitedly preordered Barnes & Noble’s “nook” ebook reader. Today, I cancelled the order — and I’m none to happy about it. Why can’t Barnes & Noble learn from its past mistakes? The bookseller’s digital titles are way overpriced — at least compared to Amazon (Sony charges even more than both booksellers for many titles).

Quick examples — and more will come later in this post: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer: $6.59 from Amazon; $8.79 from B&N. Philip K Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep?: $8.38 from Amazon; $11.20 from B&N. (Sony charges $9.89 for the first and $9 for the second.)

Barnes & Noble has been down this sordid path before. Ten years ago, B&N was an early ebook pioneer, opening a store using Microsoft Reader technology. But the bookseller had the pricing all wrong, asking the same price for digital — for which there was no printing or distribution costs — as hardcover books. That’s right, and the ebooks came with onerous DRM that made sharing titles nearly impossible.For years, I criticized B&N and other ebook sellers for overpricing that stalled adoption… (read more)

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