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View Full Version : ebooks from Fictionwise: format comparison etc

terrypin
11-05-2003, 10:03 AM
More in a spirit of experiment than needing extra reading material (my library books are currently on their second renewal) I bought a short SF ebook yesterday from http://www.fictionwise.com/

I was able to successively download it in 3 formats. For interest, here are their respective sizes:

MobiPocket (MBP): 203 KB on PC, 202 KB on PPC; 403 pages on PC, 759 on PPC

MS Reader (LIT): 201 KB on PC, 200 KB on PPC, 245 pages on PC, 1016 on PPC

Adobe (PDF): 200 KB on PC, 1.5 MB on PPC; 253 pages on PC, (every page has to be scrolled vertically)

All were immediately readable on PC and PPC.

Note how the MS reader format balances lighter density (which some regard as making for more comfortable reading) with about a third more page-turning.

For PDF there's no fair comparison re pages, as every one has to be scrolled vertically. Also, PDF expands file size by attempting to add 'full flow tags'. Basically, given a choice, I wouldn't personally load a PDF file on my PPC.

I can also open the PRC with uBook, which displays 798 pages on the PPC.

I was a bit annoyed to be charged at the end of the check out procedure an extra 50c (10% in this case) "for credit card purchases". I've emailed Fictionwise, as I think their page is misleading. The price was clearly marked: "You Pay: Regular = $4.99 Club = $4.24"
and as far as I could see there was no mention of extra for credit cards.

BTW, anyone here know if the 17.5% VAT value added tax applies to *all* USA-to-Europe transactions? I had a vague idea it only cut in at some level like 10 or 20 USD. But it was applied to this transaction. So total was 6.45 USD, about 30% higher than the marked price. About the cost of a paperback here.

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK
Using iPAQ 2210 with WM2003.[/list]
cyclist
11-05-2003, 02:15 PM
I was a bit annoyed to be charged at the end of the check out procedure an extra 50c (10% in this case) "for credit card purchases". I've emailed Fictionwise, as I think their page is misleading. The price was clearly marked: "You Pay: Regular = $4.99 Club = $4.24"
and as far as I could see there was no mention of extra for credit cards.
This charge is clearly shown on the shopping cart page. The charge is applied for making a credit card purchase of under $5. You could have avoided the charge by adding a short story to your purchase to bring the total over $5. Or you could have purchased $5 worth of credit at Fictionwise with your credit card, called something like Micropay dollars, and left the balance to purchase something else from Fictionwise later.


BTW, anyone here know if the 17.5% VAT value added tax applies to *all* USA-to-Europe transactions? I had a vague idea it only cut in at some level like 10 or 20 USD. But it was applied to this transaction. So total was 6.45 USD, about 30% higher than the marked price. About the cost of a paperback here.

VAT at the rate in the purchaser's EU country applies to all electronic purchases from outside EU. The minimum level you are thinking about applies to physical purchases, where there is an exemption for small purchases, 35 GBP in UK I think. I imagine that the logic behind no exemption for electronic purchases is that it would be so easy to split up an electronic purchase into parts each under the minimum level that having an exemption would translate into no charges. The charge is new this year, from about 1 July.
terrypin
11-05-2003, 02:26 PM
Thanks, cyclist.

Re credit card issue: OK, I accept that it's on check out screen, but IMO it should also be made clear before you add the item to your cart. And pricing the item 4.99, knowing that in reality that mean 5.49, is sharp practice in my view.

I'll think about that MicroPay scheme next time.

Re VAT: thanks, that seems plausible.

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK
Using iPAQ 2210 with WM2003.
Steven Cedrone
11-05-2003, 03:06 PM
Thread moved to the "Ebooks" forum...

Steven Cedrone
Community Moderator
PetiteFlower
11-05-2003, 07:04 PM
You couldn't have that charge be noted before you put the item in your cart because it's only assessed if your TOTAL cart value is under $5 when you check out. Because they don't know that until you get to the check out screen, they couldn't list the charge until then. It's probably listed under the site's policies, but I think it's a bit unreasonable to ask them to list a notation about that charge next to EVERY item that's under $5. Once you saw the charge marked down, you could have easily backed out of the checkout screen and picked up another item to avoid the charge. The policy seems reasonable to me.
terrypin
11-05-2003, 08:09 PM
You couldn't have that charge be noted before you put the item in your cart because it's only assessed if your TOTAL cart value is under $5 when you check out. [snip] The policy seems reasonable to me.

Good point - fair enough.

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK
Using iPAQ 2210 with WM2003.
xendula
11-05-2003, 10:14 PM
Forcing overseas companies to charge European customers VAT is insane, especially since non-EU citizens don't have to pay VAT when they purchase goods in the EU! What, is Fictionwise gonna send so-and-so many cents to the British government?!? :devilboy:
cyclist
11-06-2003, 12:48 AM
Forcing overseas companies to charge European customers VAT is insane, especially since non-EU citizens don't have to pay VAT when they purchase goods in the EU! What, is Fictionwise gonna send so-and-so many cents to the British government?!? :devilboy:
Yes. And what's even worse from Fictionwise's point of view, they also have to make separate payments to each EU government of a country where they have customers.
The EU has done this so that people who live in the EU can't avoid paying VAT on electronic purchases. Otherwise EU vendors would be more expensive and get less business.
davidspalding
11-06-2003, 04:55 PM
terrypin, you are ultimately responsible for reading the details of e-commerce sites' checkout pages. i've made some purchases there, and find that keeping < US$10 in my micropay account makes things work nicely. as i recall, the CC surcharge warning is right there, clear and bold, near the product list table. hard to miss.

regarding your format comparison, consider that you can adjust the font size considerably in Mobipocket, resulting in changes to the "density." I find Mobipocket is so much faster, that your comparison should include time to open an eBook to the last page read in each format. if you're like me, you'll find MS Reader is a shopping cart with a broken wheel, compared with other programs' Porsche-grade performance.