Ebook Best-Seller Prices Plummet to Below $8.00 as Retailers Get Set to Start Discounting Macmillan Titles
The average price of an ebook best-seller has dropped to a new all-time low as less expensive big-six titles crowded the list, joining self-published works in the lowest price bracket. The downward pricing shift could continue as retailers prepare for discounting Macmillan ebook titles following the publishers’ settlement with the U.S. government over the matter of alleged ebook price-fixing.
The average price of an ebook best-seller is now $7.56, driven mostly by deep discounting of the best-selling Beautiful Creatures series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (Hachette). Four of the top-25 best-selling ebooks from last week are titles from the series priced at $2.99. As recently as last week, Beautiful Creatures, the first book in the series, was selling for $5.80. The previous low was $7.66 the week of Jan. 19.
The shift in pricing for the series means that eight of the top-25 books from last week are priced below $3.00. It’s the highest number of titles that price band has ever had on this list. Further, there are only seven titles on the list priced $10 and above — a pricing category that until a few months ago dominated this best-seller list.
Eight is a key number this week, as it’s how many titles Hachette has on the list. For the first time since we started tracking ebook best-sellers, the publisher has the most titles in our top-25, supplanting long-time leader Random House, which has seven this week. However, if Penguin, soon to be merged with Random House, were combined with Random House, the uber-publisher would have ten titles on the list, the most among publishers and a full 40% of best-selling ebooks.
“Beautiful” is a key word this week, as five the top-25 best-selling ebooks either have “beautiful” or “beauty” in their titles. Four are, of course, part of the Hachette series. The other is Beauty From Pain, a self-published ebook by Georgia Cates, clocking in at No. 9 this week.
See the rest of the the best-seller lists for the week ending Feb. 17:
– Digital Book World Best-Selling Ebooks Priced $10.00 and Above
– Digital Book World Best-Selling Ebooks Priced $8.00 – $9.99
– Digital Book World Best-Selling Ebooks Priced $3.00 – $7.99
– Digital Book World Best-Selling Ebooks Priced $0.00 – $2.99
Read and comment on our methodology.
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| Rank* | Title | Author | Publisher | Price** | Change |
| 1 (1) | Safe Haven | Nicholas Sparks | Hachette | $ 6.28 | – |
| 2 (6) | Beautiful Creatures (Beautiful Creatures Series #1) | Kami Garcia; Margaret Stohl | Hachette | $ 2.99 | +4 |
| 3 (2) | Wait For Me | Elisabeth Naughton | Self-published | $ 0.99 | -1 |
| 4 (4) | Gone Girl: A Novel | Gillian Flynn | Random House | $ 12.99 | – |
| 5 (5) | Rush (The Breathless Trilogy) | Maya Banks | Penguin | $ 7.99 | – |
| 6 (7) | Touch and Go | Lisa Gardner | Penguin | $ 12.99 | +1 |
| 7 (10) | Lost to You | A.L. Jackson | Sapphire Star Publishing | $ 0.99 | +3 |
| 8 (19) | Beautiful Darkness (Beautiful Creatures) | Kami Garcia; Margaret Stohl | Hachette | $ 2.99 | +11 |
| 9 (n/a) | Beauty From Pain | Georgia Cates | Self-published | $ 3.99 | New |
| 10 (9) | Private Berlin | James Patterson; Mark Sullivan | Hachette | $ 10.90 | -1 |
| 11 (n/a) | Beautiful Redemption (Beautiful Creatures) | Kami Garcia; Margaret Stohl | Hachette | $ 2.99 | New |
| 12 (n/a) | Guilt: An Alex Delaware Novel | Jonathan Kellerman | Random House | $ 13.99 | New |
| 13 (11) | The Silver Linings Playbook: A Novel | Matthew Quick | Macmillan | $ 9.99 | -2 |
| 14 (3) | American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History | Chris Kyle; Scott McEwen; Jim DeFelice | HarperCollins | $ 8.07 | -11 |
| 15 (14) | Fifty Shades Freed: Book Three of the Fifty Shades Trilogy | E. L. James | Random House | $ 9.99 | -1 |
| 16 (12) | Fifty Shades Of Grey: Book One Of The Fifty Shades Trilogy | E. L. James | Random House | $ 9.99 | -4 |
| 17 (25) | Beautiful Chaos (Beautiful Creatures) | Kami Garcia; Margaret Stohl | Hachette | $ 2.99 | +8 |
| 18 (16) | Fifty Shades Darker: Book Two Of The Fifty Shades Trilogy | E. L. James | Random House | $ 9.99 | -2 |
| 19 (15) | The Forgotten | David Baldacci | Hachette | $ 9.99 | -4 |
| 20 (13) | Heartsong: A Novel | Debbie Macomber | Random House | $ 2.99 | -7 |
| 21 (20) | Alex Cross, Run | James Patterson | Hachette | $ 11.99 | -1 |
| 22 (8) | Crazy Little Thing | Tracy Brogan | Amazon | $ 3.99 | -14 |
| 23 (18) | Suspect | Robert Crais | Penguin | $ 12.99 | -5 |
| 24 (n/a) | Only The Innocent | Rachel Abbott | Amazon | $ 2.99 | New |
| 25 (n/a) | A Week in Winter | Maeve Binchy | Random House | $ 12.99 | New |
* Previous week’s list rank in parentheses.
** Price reflects minimum price across all retailers throughout the week. Price may vary between retailers and may change throughout the week. Contact Iobyte Solutions for more information on e-book pricing.
Methodology available here.
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