Finnish book publishers say that one reason for the apparent lack of interest in e-books is that consumers often pay higher prices for them compared to print editions. This despite the fact that e-publications aren’t weighed down by printing and distribution costs.
According to data from Finland’s Book Publishers Association, printing, storage and distribution account for nearly one-third of the price of a paper book. E-book prices on the other hand, include other overheads such as server space costs and higher taxation. The value added tax applied to digital books is 24 percent, compared to 10 percent for paper editions.
Fredrik Rahka, chief of digital pushing at publishing house Otava, said that bringing e-books to market has not proven to be cheaper for publishers than distributing paper copies.
“Printing costs account for a relatively small part of a book’s price. Whether the book is a hard copy or in digital format doesn’t make a major difference to the price,” he noted.
However Rahka said he believes that e-book prices will fall in the future, driven by sales campaigns.
“Even at this moment older books are being sold at noticeably lower prices in digital format than as print copies. I can’t say anything about a fall in basic price levels but I'm sure that in the future we will see more discount campaigns and seasonal sales than at present,” he added.
E-book sales almost completely stalled
According to the book publishers’ figures e-book sales grew by 1.7 percent last year, compared to up to 29 percent in previous years.
Essi Manner is responsible for the e-bookshop provided by teleoperator Elisa as part of its consumer entertainment package. She agreed that high prices are one reason for the slowdown in digital book sales.
“E-book prices are still to settle at their optimal level, however this is somewhat new to Finland. Hopefully we’ll soon see what that price level is, but it’s likely that prices for new issues will continue to vary, just like they do for paper books,” she concluded.