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[–] 1 point 1 year ago
21 comments in c/buyeuropean@feddit.uk view that post
[–] 55 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Now watch the price not drop

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  • [+] 25 points 1 year ago (6 children)
  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (4 children)

    For publishers ebooks pay 25% royalties compared to the 50% of print books at bookstores. Sustaining a company on selling items for 25% of $20 is unrealistic. So, I would say you are not the one getting the worse deal.

    Books are not massively profitable.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    25% of $20 when the cost to the hoster is almost zero...

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    Why do you think that hosting is the only cost?

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I don't, but the other costs, like management, promotion, formatting, etc., are shared by traditional print books.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Typesetting, ISBN registration, image editing (if any), royalty processing, platform specific promotion, and more are not shared.

    I'm not saying they should be greedy. I'm saying we shouldn't underestimate the effort of producing and selling an ebook. Most publishers are barely profitable due to how the industry works.

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    [–] 14 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    Is VAT the reason why people don't read in Denmark??? Seems odds, TBH.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Eh, dunno about denmark, but Norwegian books are like 3x the price of the same book in German. That's mostly because it's a small market that still needs translation, though. Doubt fiddling with the VAT will make much difference.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    But if price was a concern, aren't libraries an option? Buying new books isn't very common, at least not in North America, where our bookstores have all but disappeared.

    I'd be surprised if there was a strong or growing market anywhere in the EU.

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  • [–] [S] 9 points 1 year ago (8 children)

    Any european author recommendations? 😳

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  • 9 comments in c/world@lemmy.world view that post
    [–] 23 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Meanwhile this was a stupid proposal over here in Slovakia: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/20/slovakia-targets-wealthy-book-buyers-with-steep-vat-rise

    Announcing the new VAT rate this week, Slovakia’s finance minister, Ladislav Kamenický, claimed studies had shown that books were “primarily purchased by wealthier segments of the population” and could therefore be taxed at the new basic rate of 23% rather than the current rate of 10%.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago*

    studies had shown that books were “primarily purchased by wealthier segments of the population”

    This is basically universally true, the better educated read way more books on average.
    The best way to give people with little money better access to books is free libraries of good standard.
    If you are poor it doesn't matter much that the price drops from 10 Euro to 8 Euro. ( at 25% VAT. )

    The price of books in Denmark is generally not a problem at all, only for the poorest it may be, for them better libraries is better.
    Such a decrease in VAT will by far benefit the better off more.

    What we need is to remove VAT on basic and healthy foods. We still have 25% VAT on all food. And vegetables are pretty expensive here in Denmark, AFAIK we are the most expensive country to buy food in EU.

    I'm OK with removing VAT on books, but not before basic foods!

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    On books but not on food! 🤢 🤮
    A debate we have had repeatedly, and the argument by the government to not do it on food is that it would be too much administration to cut VAT on healthy/basic foods.
    But it's absolutely possible on books. !?!?!
    The double standard is astounding.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago

    Norway doesn't have VAT on books. Even if you buy from outside the borders in different languages there is no VAT. Can't speak for others but for me it sure make me buy more books.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Cynic that I am, I expect the book sellers to leave the prices unchanged whilst they pocket the VAT savings.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    Well. Problem with small nations with a distinct language (I am Norwegian, and written Norwegian and Danish is basically dialects of the same language. Personally I hate reading danish and enjoy swedish. Think I am a massive outlier) is that you never get any volume. In all the Scandinavian countries large part of the population is pretty much fluent in English (guess the reading population skew even higher) so you have the added competition of English language books as well.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    How about funding/create a reading community?

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