Publishers want to charge more for ebooks.  Some people think $14.99 is still worth paying for a book that can't be re-sold, or traded.  I personally feel that $9.99 for an ebook is fair under the right circumstances, considering that this ebook 'purchase,' becomes more like paying for a movie.

I compare spending money on an ebook the same as going out to see a movie.  An ebook is similar to a movie in financial terms.  In a cerebral sense, a book or ebook is not like a movie, but i'm talking ebook prices here, please see the title of this entry.  Just as one sits in a movie theatre and pays for an intangible entertainment experience that can't be re-sold, traded.  An ebook can't be sold once it's been purchased, nor loaned to anyone, or traded for anything.  They have no value to anyone other than the purchaser, who may read the book most likely, just once.  Possibly more, but most likely just once.

Ultimately everyone will decide for themselves , whether it's worth paying $14.99 for an ebook.
I usually weigh the purchase of an ebook against the following: How soon do I want this ebook, and is the convenience of acquiring and reading it right now over wifi worth it's price knowing the cost is non recoup-able.

If I purchase a real book, I can probably re-sell that book and lower my actual cost.  I can even trade that book, for another book which I can then trade again, greatly increasing the value of the money I spent on the first book by allowing the physical object I receive from my purchase to acquire more.  I could even donate that physical book to my library.

Would I buy more ebooks if the price were $9.99 or less, versus $14.99?  Yep.

What would even be better is if someday, libraries loan out ebooks.  I would love to have epub format books transmitted to my reader from an online library. The library would be able to transmit a set amount of copies to the public, which then must be renewed by the user after two weeks or whatever time is allowed for borrowing the ebook, else they expire from the person's reader until they borrow it again. If a library feels that it will miss out on late fees, perhaps even charging something minimal, like .05 to .10 cents per period, will work for everyone. The libraries could go by resident's zip code, to determine which branch of library the copy of the book is being borrowed from. Something like that, which is just a general idea.

Kelley, Wednesday Feb 17 2010