98% of the top 100 bestselling Kindle books are under $10

98% of the top 100 bestselling Kindle books are under $10

This is really amazing, when you look at it!

I was looking at the

Top 100 USA Kindle store paid
at AmazonSmile: benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*

Those are the bestselling e-books which aren’t free.

What struck me right off is that the prices are low…even though there are traditionally published books in this group.

The most expensive book in the top twenty is only $7.50. That’s a group that includes a John Grisham, a Tom Clancy, and a Stephanie Plum (by Janet Evanovich).

Here’s a quick run down of those top 20:

1. $4.99
2. $3.99
3. $4.99
4. $6.99
5. $4.99
6. $6.99
7. $6.99
8. $7.50
9. $6.49
10. $4.99
11. $5.99
12. $4.99
13. $3.99
14. $1.99
15. $6.99
16. $6.49
17. $3.99
18. $6.06
19. $2.99
20. $3.99

The average? $5.32.

That’s extraordinary…if we looked at bestsellers in p-book (paperbook), before the advent of e-books, that would be remarkably low…even without adjusting for inflation.

You might be thinking, “Well, mass market paperbacks were lower priced than that.”

Sure, but most of these brand name ones aren’t in paperback at this point…and mass market paperbacks aren’t as cheap as they were decades ago.

Let’s say you wanted to buy paper…what would they cost from Amazon?

• The Janet Evanovich? $14.00
• The Tom Clancy? $16.90
• The John Grisham? $9.99…as a mass market paperback!

It’s getting to be pretty simple…a paperbook is becoming a luxury item (as it was in the past).

If you just buy ten of these books, you could easily save enough money with e-books over p-books to buy a Kindle.

Of course, you don’t even need a Kindle to read Kindle books…you can use a free Kindle reader app (and many of my readers do that).

Yes, I think bookstores will stick around, and yes, I think people will continue to buy p-books.

However, when we are looking at unit sales (not gross), even with a slowing of e-book growth last year, I think we are looking at e-books really being the mainstream in the very near future…with p-books being the niche product.

What do you think? Will bookstores selling paperbooks survive the next few years? Will p-book prices go up (as I think they are likely to do)? Is the feel of a physical object so strong that it will continue to keep p-books on top? Have e-book sales plateaued? Will e-book prices rise when p-books lose marketshare? Feel free to tell me and my readers what you think by commenting on this post.

Enjoy the low prices! 😉

* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get.  Shop ’til you help!  

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy  Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

Advertisement