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Best converting prices on Kindle?

by erichammer
15 replies
Thought I'd ask here. I'm experimenting with putting eBooks on the Kindle (how to type stuff) and have been wondering -- what price points work best? I've been thinking that maybe I should try the marketing price points (i.e. $7, or for a shorter piece, maybe $4.70 or something like that). Any thoughts on that? Any comments appreciated.

Thanks,

Eric
#converting #kindle #prices
  • Profile picture of the author Ron Douglas
    It really depends on the topic and a bunch of other things.

    See their Kindle best sellers list:
    Amazon.com Bestsellers: The most popular items in the Kindle Store
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  • Profile picture of the author erichammer
    The best seller list is not really helpful for this because it's all professional content from big publishing houses and is usually not in the how to and tips niche that I'm working on. Thanks for the suggestion though. Is there anyone doing Kindle sales that has some thoughts on this?

    I'm definitely all about following the Lulu marketing strategy (i.e. 10 copies sold of 5,000 books instead of 50,000 copies of a single book) meaning that I'm trying to figure out what makes people decide to pick up a book from an author/publisher they don't recognize as opposed to one from someone they do recognize and have confidence in already.

    I'm pretty good at writing optimized content so I'm not too concerned about writing good descriptions or coming up with good titles. I'm also able to put together good quality book covers for this project on my own, so my biggest question is really on the price points that convert best...
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  • Profile picture of the author AllanCollins
    Go for $0.99. That way more people will buy because they don't see 99 cents as being a big risk.
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    Test out your books starting at the .99 price point. List the book at that price and leave it up for at least a month to do how it does. Then raise the price to 2.99 and see what happens, then 3.99 etc...

    The higher volume of sales, the higher you will be listed in your category, thus more eyeballs on your book.

    Sometimes a lower price will bring you more profit because you will sell more books. I know when I am looking for books on my kindle if I see something that looks interesting fro 99 cents it's pretty much a no brainer to buy it.

    Check out the kindleboards if you haven't already - plenty of good info over there:
    Kindle Boards - Index

    Lee
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  • Profile picture of the author erichammer
    I was thinking that myself. The only problem with 99 cents is that you then get only 35% royalty. Kindle gives 70% royalty if you price at 2.99 or above. Still, 20 copies which earn 34 cents each is still better than one copy which earns $2.10. . .I suppose I'll just have to do some testing with different books and see what works best.

    Thanks for the suggestion.

    Eric
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    • Profile picture of the author cashcow
      Originally Posted by erichammer View Post

      I was thinking that myself. The only problem with 99 cents is that you then get only 35% royalty. Kindle gives 70% royalty if you price at 2.99 or above. Still, 20 copies which earn 34 cents each is still better than one copy which earns $2.10. . .I suppose I'll just have to do some testing with different books and see what works best.

      Thanks for the suggestion.

      Eric
      I know, it pains me to put something in there for 99 cents - lol. But in the end I want to get as much money as possible and if having it at 99 cents makes it sell more copies so that I get more than I would at 2.99 then so be it.

      I had a book on dog training that I published on there last year. I had it priced at 9.99 and it sold about 4 copies a month on average. I experimented lowering the price to 99 cents last month and it sold about 15 copies, then about a week ago I raised the price to 2.99 and it has sold 1 copy a day so far (so it's actually selling better at the 2.99 price but it's only been a week so that could be a fluke I guess).

      Of course, depending on what kinds of books you have and why you are writing them you might be more interested in getting more people to read them so that you can line up customers for future books.

      Lee
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  • Profile picture of the author ZassarDotCom
    depend on your ebooks quality..if you think the price is worth for the future readers, just make it..if not, consider to upgrade the ebook with better quality & explanation (how to)..
    i didn't know the quality of the ebooks you'll put on amazon kindle..
    but i really meant my word..QUALITY.. :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author AllanCollins
    Here's a $2 Million success story: How a failed author made $2 million from e-books - thestar.com
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  • Profile picture of the author erichammer
    Thanks for all the suggestions folks. Now I'm off to do split testing with several different books and see what converts best.
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    • Profile picture of the author RichRecluse
      Originally Posted by erichammer View Post

      Thanks for all the suggestions folks. Now I'm off to do split testing with several different books and see what converts best.
      Question: How do you split-test on Kindle?

      Thanks!

      Michael Carey
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  • Profile picture of the author THK
    Seems like you already working on it. I wanted to say that if you really want to play around with the price, don't offer $0.99 at first. Set an outrageous price. Check the price tag on the most expensive kindle book and try to beat that.

    Keep it at that for a month or as long as you can handle it without a sale(I doubt you will sell any high ticket copies without reputation etc., but you never know). Then drop the price to something silly like a buck or two.

    If nothing else, out of curiosity some people will buy it and if your content is good you might get some loyal readers.

    Try it if you feel adventurous.

    Tanvir
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    • Profile picture of the author rnjonjo
      Eric (or anybody who knows),

      what is the "lulu marketing strategy"?

      is there anywhere I can get more info on it?

      would really appreciate it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Gram
    Kindle pricing should depend on your strategy, number of books you have in the pipeline, and other factors. I have seen lots of success with 99cents, $2.99 and $9.99 but it really does depend on many different factors.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kecia
    I have read that prices that end with .88 are a good idea. I know a few marketers who use this strategy, so I have done the same with the first 10 books I have put on Kindle. Mine are $3.88 or $4.88.
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  • Profile picture of the author celente
    I think it depends on what you have and your competitors prices.

    There are some very good books there for cheap.

    But cheap doesnt always mean good.
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