Not to be outdone by Apple's iPad, Amazon today launched the UK Kindle bookstore from which books for its own e-reader, recently reduced in price, can be bought. It claims to offer more than 400,000 books at the lowest prices of any e-bookstore in the UK.
We tested this claim against Apple's iBooks store, two online bookstores – Amazon and Play – and high street retailer Waterstones.
Here is what we found, in price order from high to low.
Twilight
Waterstone's £7.99
Apple iBooks £6.99
Amazon £3.49*
Play £3.49
Kindle £3.14
One Day
Waterstone's £7.99
Apple iBooks £6.49
Amazon £3.99*
Play £3.99
Kindle £2.79
The Hobbit
Waterstone's £6.99
Apple iBooks £6.49
Kindle £4.03
Amazon £3.99*
Play £3.99
The Third Man
Waterstone's £25
Apple iBooks £15.99
Amazon £12.50
Play £12.49
Kindle £11.25
The Passage
Waterstone's £15
Apple iBooks £12.99
Amazon £9.99
Play £9.99
Kindle £8.99
Freakonomics
Waterstone's £9.99
Apple iBooks £7.99
Play £5.99
Amazon £5.45
Kindle £5.18
Lovely Bones
Waterstone's £7.99
Apple iBooks £7.99
Play £3.99
Amazon £3.98
Kindle £3.58
It is clear the Kindle offers the best value on all titles and is markedly cheaper than the high street – at the Kindle store Peter Mandelson's The Third Man is less than half the price as at Waterstone's.
Amazon compares well with Play unless you want first-class delivery, in which case you pay a £2.75 postage premium on a single book. The big surprise is Apple's iBooks store which is beaten on price in all cases by Kindle, Amazon and Play and, in the case of The Hobbit, is only 50p less than the high street price.
* This includes free 3-5 day delivery. You can get the books quicker by ordering first class but you have to pay an additional £2.75 in each case. You can also get cheaper deals in some cases using Amazon Marketplace. Waterstone's is currently running a three for two deal on paperback fiction, which is not taken into account.
