March Madness and Academic Discount

Let me begin by saying that I am grateful for the Logos Academic Discount while I am a student in seminary. I've already saved on a couple textbooks over their print prices, and I prefer them in Logos. So, I'm not complaining, I'm just suggesting and wondering.

Is there anyone else out there in my similar situation who wishes that you could combine the March Madness coupons with your Academic Discount? I would guess there is.

I would also guess that if this were a reality, more books would be purchased (making users happy) and more profits would be had (making Logos happy). At a very minimum, you would have one user (me) buying a few titles I wouldn't otherwise buy...

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Matthew C Jones

Is there anyone else out there in my similar situation who wishes that you could combine the March Madness coupons with your Academic Discount? I would guess there is.

Your guess is correct. This subject comes up every now and then. When I was on the academic program I noticed it was rare for the sale price to beat the academic price. It was comforting to know I was getting the best deal available. Of course, I would like to get all my books for free but that isn't going to happen. [:)]

Jack Caviness

more books would be purchased (making users happy) and more profits would be had

More purchases does not necessarily equal more profit. If a product is sold at below the dealer's cost, we have a different word to describe the transaction [:D]. When taking sales training, I remember the speaker saying, "I can show you a lot of bankrupt companies that tried to lower prices enough to make customers buy." There is a limit at which sales are economic suicide for companies. I trust that Bob & company are wise enough to avoid that trap.

Daniel Radke

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/576136#Comment_576136

More purchases does not necessarily equal more profit. If a product is sold at below the dealer's cost, we have a different word to describe the transaction .

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, but this makes me wonder about the nature of electronic books and sales. It seems to me that there is a difference between print books and electronic books. For print books, every copy costs something to print. For electronic books, there is virtually no cost for a buyer to download an electronic copy (not considering web hosting fees). Does that make sense? So, I wonder if for Logos when one of their ebooks sells they pay the publisher a flat fee per book (let's say $5), or if they pay the publisher a percentage of the sale price? If the latter, then Logos (& the publisher) would always make money. If the former, then I see how Logos could lose some money like you are talking about.

Matthew C Jones

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/576155#Comment_576155

Does that make sense?

It makes sense if you are only talking about generic e-books. Logos books not only have all that tagging stuff but they are perpetually updated/maintained. That is a real expense to Logos.

Mike Pettit

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/576166#Comment_576166

Does that make sense?

It makes sense if you are only talking about generic e-books. Logos books not only have all that tagging stuff but they are perpetually updated/maintained. That is a real expense to Logos.

But apart from bandwidth it costs no more to maintain a book that 10,000 own than one which 1,000 own.

The difference is I think:

You do make more money selling 1000 public domain works at £10 than 2000 volumes at £4
You have to maintain the perceived value, why would someone buy a new work at £100 if they suspect strongly it will be £20 in the near future
A book publisher would be mad to let Logos choose the price and only take a percentage, not only would that undercut their other retail channels it would allow Logos to almost give away their property for their own, not the authors benefit.

Ted Weis

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/576184#Comment_576184

My experience: sometimes, the March Madness sale price is cheaper than Academic Discount and sometimes, the AD is cheaper than the MM sale.

Jack Caviness

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/576155#Comment_576155

It seems to me that there is a difference between print books and electronic books. For print books, every copy costs something to print. For electronic books, there is virtually no cost for a buyer to download an electronic copy (not considering web hosting fees).

That would be true for an ebook seller who does not maintain an extensive customer-service network. Logos provides lifetime—and beyond—customer service on every resource they sell. Every telephone call and every email has a const associated with it, and sales must carry that cost as well as the cost of production and distribution. I am not privy to Logos' costs, but as a businessman I understand the ongoing cost associate with customer support. There is a limit as to how low you can set prices and remain a viable business.

David Sloan

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/576250#Comment_576250

And perhaps the bigger problem is that Logos has to get prices approved by the publishers, which is challenging. What publisher wants Logos selling electronic copies of their books dirt cheap when they are still trying to sell hard copies? I don't think combining the discounts would work out for Logos. I am surprised they are able to get the okay for publishers to put is many books in this sale as they do with the risk that any (conceivably) could end up going for 75% off! This particular year I have been surprised by some of what's in here (NICOT Proverbs! Too bad it only made it to 30% off [:(]).