Kindle Pricing Confusion

Toggle sidebar
EarDemon

EarDemon

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Dec 5, 2014
1,607
743
USA
Never been much of a reader, but there are some books I’d like to check out and was thinking about getting the new second gen Kindle Oasis for some paranormal reading and Route 66 travel guide type stuff mainly. I’d also like the ability to listen to audio books. Amazon is heavily promoting subscription services, $10/month for their Kindle service, and $15/month for Audible. Neither is worth it to me, as I assume once you stop paying and cancel your subscriptions you lose access to the stuff you downloaded?

Basically I just want to download maybe 20-30 books on MK Ultra, Philadelphia Experiment, Montauk Project, Area 51 and some US 66 history and travel guides and keep them forever with the option to download the audio book version if available. I’m not opposed to paying per book/audio book, I just don’t want more monthly subscriptions, that I won’t fully take advantage of. I also find Whispersync confusing. I understand what it is, and think it’s cool to be able to jockey between reading and listening, but the pricing is confusing.
 
why not just use any tablet with the kindle app
or get the new 10" fire tablet, it does more than a kindle
 
The subscription services like Kindle Unlimited are for renting the books. With KU you can have 10 books out at a time but you can read as many as you want. Upside is only for those that read a lot, but many of the books in the program are new authors or 1st in a series types of books in fiction. IMO not a great selection in non-fiction from what I've seen.

While the Oasis is bigger and brighter, it is also very expensive. The Voyage is the classic 6" e-reader with lighting for reading in darker places. The upside of the e-readers is the use of e-ink. Much easier on the eyes than the screens on other tablets.
 
Another downside of tablets for reading, for me anyway, is the potential distractions of email and other notifications. Also glare if you read outside.

I ordered the new Oasis, I read a lot and can justify the cost to myself. I usually buy the latest Kindle when it comes out. Haven't done any of the optional subscriptions so far but with audible built in to the new Oasis I may give it a try. Always buy my books so as long as Amazon is around my library is there.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tampa8
Something new to me: Amazon will now let you trade in your old Kindle for Amazon credits. I'm getting $35 back for an old first generation Paperwhite.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tampa8
lparsons21 said:
The subscription services like Kindle Unlimited are for renting the books. With KU you can have 10 books out at a time but you can read as many as you want. Upside is only for those that read a lot, but many of the books in the program are new authors or 1st in a series types of books in fiction. IMO not a great selection in non-fiction from what I've seen.

While the Oasis is bigger and brighter, it is also very expensive. The Voyage is the classic 6" e-reader with lighting for reading in darker places. The upside of the e-readers is the use of e-ink. Much easier on the eyes than the screens on other tablets.
Click to expand...

That's true for the Kindle Unlimited subscription but it's not true for an Audible subscription. For $15 per month you get 1 token per month that can be used to purchase any book in the Audible store. Any audio book you purchase with these tokens is yours to keep after you cancel. The only caveat is that if you cancel without spending your tokens you lose them. This just means that you need to be sure to spend any tokens that you have saved up before you cancel. This $15 per month is much cheaper than most audio books cost without the subscription so there is no reason not to sign up for a month if you want to buy an audio book.

The Whispersync stuff works great. If you own the same book on Kindle and Audible it seamlessly keeps your place so you can switch back and forth between them. I do this all the time. I read books from Kindle almost every night before bed. I also listen to books through Audible while I'm working pretty often. Sometimes they have heavily discounted versions of the Audible version if you own the Kindle version and I will end up buying both for longer books. I love being able to switch back and forth between the Audible app on my phone and the Kindle app on my iPad without even having to think about it.

As a heavy user of both Kindle and Audible I would say that a Kindle Unlimited subscription is not worth it but an Audible subscription definitely is.
 
king3pj said:
That's true for the Kindle Unlimited subscription but it's not true for an Audible subscription. For $15 per month you get 1 token per month that can be used to purchase any book in the Audible store. Any audio book you purchase with these tokens is yours to keep after you cancel. The only caveat is that if you cancel without spending your tokens you lose them. This just means that you need to be sure to spend any tokens that you have saved up before you cancel. This $15 per month is much cheaper than most audio books cost without the subscription so there is no reason not to sign up for a month if you want to buy an audio book.

The Whispersync stuff works great. If you own the same book on Kindle and Audible it seamlessly keeps your place so you can switch back and forth between them. I do this all the time. I read books from Kindle almost every night before bed. I also listen to books through Audible while I'm working pretty often. Sometimes they have heavily discounted versions of the Audible version if you own the Kindle version and I will end up buying both for longer books. I love being able to switch back and forth between the Audible app on my phone and the Kindle app on my iPad without even having to think about it.

As a heavy user of both Kindle and Audible I would say that a Kindle Unlimited subscription is not worth it but an Audible subscription definitely is.
Click to expand...
Umm I think you can trade in books now..i don't know all the details
 
I don’t need nor want more than an e-reader. While I enjoy high gloss screens inside, under non-fluorescent light, I can’t imagine trying to use one to read with all that glare. Plus, I’m not a big fan of using on screen keyboards and all the other nonsense of tablets. Tablets are jack of all trades, master of none and sometimes less is more. If I get one, I plan on keeping it for many, many years, so price isn’t an issue. I’d rather buy the best use it ‘til it dies. Also, e-ink is easier on the eyes and the biggest thing, the battery. I don’t need yet another thing to bother with to plug in on a regular basis. A Kindle can last weeks or longer on a charge.

A new 8GB Oasis with the leather cover and power adaptor is $310, which is fine with me. Could careless about the power adaptor since I have a ton on micro USB chargers around and a few Anker USB power banks. I can’t believe they didn’t go with USB C. That was one of the reasons why I wanted to wait for the second generation. I’m also disappointed in the lack of the charging cover. A friend of mine has the Oasis and I thought the leather charging cover was an awesome idea. The Bluetooth is nice though. I only wear cargo pants, and the original Oasis fits nicely in the side pocket, I’m hoping the new one fits as well.
 
Juan said:
Umm I think you can trade in books now..i don't know all the details
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you mean or how this relates to my post. My post was just a response to the post saying that you lose the books from the subscription services when you cancel your subscription. I wanted to point out that this wasn't true for an Audible subscription because EarDemon specifically asked about that in his original post. lparsons21 was correct about how it works with Kindle Unlimited though.
 
king3pj said:
I'm not sure what you mean or how it relates to my post. My post was just a response to the post saying that you lose the books from the subscription services when you cancel your subscription. I wanted to point out that this wasn't true for an Audible subscription because EarDemon specifically asked about that in his original post. lparsons21 was correct about how it works with Kindle Unlimited though.
Click to expand...
New service from audible....you buy a book then you can trade it in when done..doesnt count against credits...i don't know if it requires a subscription...its almost like an electronic library now...i was adding just a little additional info to your otherwise excellent post
 
The books my wife has from Audible are hers forever, as posted, even if she drops the subscription. I'm sure they'll be usable even as technology changes, until we're both dead.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KE4EST
Juan said:
New service from audible....you buy a book then you can trade it in when done..doesnt count against credits...i don't know if it requires a subscription...its almost like an electronic library now...i was adding just a little additional info to your otherwise excellent post
Click to expand...

Hmm... I hadn't heard of this before. I did some google searching and I can't find anything about this online though. All the results are about Audible's guaranteed return policy. You can return a book you don't like before you finish it to get your credit back. This policy has been around for a long time though. I can't find anything about a new program that lets you trade in Audible books when you are done with them.

There might be some kind of new subscription option that works more like a library but that definitely isn't the way my subscription works. I just get a token every month for $15. Some months I don't use my token because I haven't finished whatever I'm currently listening to and other months I use multiple tokens because I'm burning through the books. This works for me but all of the books I buy with tokens just stay in my collection. It's not a borrow system for me. If there is another subscription type I haven't seen it advertised.
 
king3pj said:
Hmm... I hadn't heard of this before. I did some google searching and I can't find anything about this online though. All the results are about Audible's guaranteed return policy. You can return a book you don't like before you finish it to get your credit back. This policy has been around for a long time though. I can't find anything about a new program that lets you trade in Audible books when you are done with them.

There might be some kind of new subscription option that works more like a library but that definitely isn't the way my subscription works. I just get a token every month for $15. Some months I don't use my token because I haven't finished whatever I'm currently listening to and other months I use multiple tokens because I'm burning through the books. This works for me but all of the books I buy with tokens just stay in my collection. It's not a borrow system for me. If there is another subscription type I haven't seen it advertised.
Click to expand...
It's sneaky

How to rent books with Audible - Yaplex - .NET Software Developer
 
Juan said:
It's sneaky

How to rent books with Audible - Yaplex - .NET Software Developer
Click to expand...

That isn't an official service from Audible. It's just someone telling people how to abuse the guaranteed return policy I was talking about. This is also at the top of that article.

Update: After about 5-6 returns using my account, that option was disabled and I have to do it over the phone, which is not so convenient as over the internet. As a result, I just canceled my account.
Click to expand...

You could cheat the system to get a few free books but it's not a long term option and it's definitely not a new rental service from Audible.
 
king3pj said:
That isn't an official service from Audible. It's just someone telling people how to abuse the guaranteed return policy I was talking about. This is also at the top of that article.



You could cheat the system to get a few free books but it's not a long term option and it's definitely not a new rental service from Audible.
Click to expand...
It was a Amazon prime benefit..not exactly a trade in

Amazon.com: Audible Channels
 

Similar threads

C
Pricing confusion and connections?
Replies
1
Views
1K
DISH Network Support Forum
gdarwin
gdarwin

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 0, Members: 0, Guests: 0)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)

Share this page

Share this page
Top