The idea that charging high prices is somehow "unethical" is completely ridiculous. If you don't like the product, don't buy it. Value based pricing rules the world, guys. Nothing, repeat, nothing, you buy in daily life is priced completely on its material costs. Giving an Ebook author flak about it is just silly.
Agreed, and this book is "only" $29!! Buyers should just consider what kind of economic benefit the book will bring them, and make a decision to buy or pass.
By the way, the most expensive ebook I've seen was a $1999 ebook by one of the best high stakes online poker players in the world. Some people complained about the price, but it sold like hotcakes. (and this was back in 2009 iirc!)
If it was the book by Tri that's selling for about 60$ now and he has basically been outed as someone who vastly oversold his own skills.
But yeah there are some examples of guys I'd consider more reputable selling audio/e-books for 500$-2k (I have payed these amounts and didn't regret it). I think that's easier to pull off in poker where the link between information and the value of said information is pretty direct. Additionally those books sold at a time where many players had a base philosophy of "poker money is not real money" because after all it's just stuff to keep track of the score. Paying directly from your poker account probably doesn't sting as much as paying from the same allotment of money that you have set aside to pay other bills (speculation on my part)
The "poker coaching industry" is an interesting area of research in asymetric information though.
As I posted in the other thread, the key difference between the old ebook sales page and the new one (for both Sacha and Nathan) is the fact they no longer focused on selling an ebook. They are basically selling a "course" with videos,
resources, etc in addition to the book.
This combined package and the new sales pitch basically results in a new product. One that provides a much better value-justification to the user for the high price.
This is about product repositioning as much as it is about changing pricing.
I bought Sacha's new book, and it's magnificent! Based on how I value my time, I spent more money reading the first chapter or two, and given that I'm going to be starting a Meteor project soon, the quick ramp-up I got from his book is easily worth thousands of dollars. Not to mention the opportunity cost benefit of using Meteor vs something slower to develop with.
$39 is expensive if your time is cheap and your results aren't worth much. It's also expensive if you expect a lousy book, but Discover Meteor is outstanding so far.
I agree that there is nothing "unfair" about charging exorbitant sums. People fail to acknowledge that price is not a representation of innate value (such a thing does not exist), but is rather a manifestation of what the market is willing to tolerate. If everyone is willing to pay $100,000 for the book, it is worth $100,000. There is nothing that makes a product intrinsically "worth it."
That said, I think that "reasonable" prices are probably those that offer lucrative revenue while still permitting a large portion of prospective users to buy the book. This is where the $39 model ceases to be optimal. Although it might increase revenues, it will ultimately preclude many purchases, and limit the ability of the book to proliferate. This is because most people, despite their interest in the book, simply cannot afford such an inordinate expenditure. This is certainly what occurred with me. Despite the fact that I was quite excited about the book and am optimistic about Meteor as a framework, there is simply no way I can front the money for such an expensive product.
I suppose that if revenues are the only thing that one desires, this is probably the preferable model (and there is certainly nothing unethical about it), but more accessible pricing is better if you want to reach a large audience.
For many technologists, $39 is a very small amount of money relative to many things they could compare it to. (For example, the implicit cost of learning the new JavaScript hotness.) The audience of professional developers who can spend $39 is quite large. For example, if you're ever at a developer event, look for the folks with the hardware with the fruit on it; they're universally capable of paying $39. The fruit company does not appear to be hurting for market share.
Boy, that fruit reference really threw me off but now I am laughing my ass off. If you were not in to software, you could have definitely made a career in stand ups.
