Discussion Qidian/Webnovel SS pricing comparison

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by Ged Merrilin, Apr 23, 2019.

?

Do you read stuff on Qidian/webnovel.com

  1. I read several things there and buy ss

    7 vote(s)
    5.3%
  2. I read several things there and don't buy ss

    35 vote(s)
    26.3%
  3. I read a couple things there and buy ss

    1 vote(s)
    0.8%
  4. I read a couple things there and don't buy ss

    43 vote(s)
    32.3%
  5. I don't read anything there

    22 vote(s)
    16.5%
  6. I hate Qidian and would never read there

    25 vote(s)
    18.8%
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  1. TheHoblit

    TheHoblit Peak Dual-Cultivator

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    why bother giving qidian money when you can sail the seven seas and read for free
     
  2. rhianirory

    rhianirory Well-Known Member

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    I've read series up until the lock and then stop. i was reading one series using my daily stones but i got bored and drifted away. I've read a couple Korean novels up until the locked pages recently because i was curious but most of the time i don't use the site much. too troublesome.
     
  3. Jigoku Shounen

    Jigoku Shounen An Envoy From Hell

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    :blobpeek::blobpopcorn:
    Another thread for this?:blobneutral:
     
  4. LtBeefy

    LtBeefy Well-Known Member

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    Books you chose were initially in English. Better if you did books that were translated. Lightnovels maybe
     
  5. xTachibana

    xTachibana Wincest King

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    QI novels are the only novels I refuse to support, I read them elsewhere :whistle:

    @LtBeefy Overlord Volume 1 has 77,000 words and costs....10 dollars? So, 77 words per cent?
    SAO 1 is 67,000 words and costs 8 dollars, or 83 words per cent

    Goblin Slayer 1 is 63,000 words and costs 8 dollars, or 78.75 words per dollar.

    Mind you, official ebook/pdf versions of light novels are grossly overpriced. I could buy the light novel straight from japan for barely anymore. J-novel club has fairly good pricing but it's a completely different model. Like, you can pay 5 dollars a month and read ANY novel they have licensed iirc, and if you want you could pay 10 a month for other perks like being able to download a free ebook of your choice every month and some other stuff I think. So kinda like an old school, pre streaming netflix?
     
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2019
  6. kryuzei

    kryuzei Well-Known Member

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    I have like 90-95 ss just by doing stuffs for 3-4 days, so I think I'm good if I just want to pay for 1 book.

    Then again I'll probably go back to pirate it for bunch of chapters and just unlock some of the newest chapter in webnovel just to 'support' the writer.
     
  7. prongsjiisan

    prongsjiisan Apostle of Violence

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    Never buy SS because I have tons of it.
     
  8. Kaminomikan

    Kaminomikan 神のみ感

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    now post it in their forum to see how long it takes to be "moderated"
     
  9. J-Mitch

    J-Mitch ⚖ Tipping the Scales of the World

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    I don't see it as "that" expensive. At least for the novels I've read. Sometimes I feel the pinch, but it's fine.
    Basically, you're paying $15 per book by your word count.

    If the novel is "good" and there are a couple on Web Novel that I've found as "GOOD". Then I don't mind paying $10-15. I've done it for some e-books. Which are like top author good.

    And the novels like "Kingdom Bloodline" and "Lord of Mysteries" are good enough for me to payout such money.

    Now, with that said, there are novels I can do without. Like, "Summoning the Holy Sword".. where I found the editing in terms of level dropped like a cliff after you paid. I was so mad and disgusted that I paid money on it. The chapters grew so bad, I couldn't read. And so, dropped the novel. And I gave the novel a few chapters worth just in case I thought it was a mistake.

    Now, the prices may not need to be so high. Web Novel barely has any ads, so their ad revenue probably covers staff expenses alone (given their size ~ $1.5-1.8M a year?) Harder to estimate since they don't have that many ads.

    I did calculations months ago, but forgot.. but let's do some assumptions. Even given that they had a 3% (~5.6-8.6M readers) turnover (free readers to paying spirit stones), their costs amount to about maybe 30-60 % of their revenue which includes cost of translation/editing; and licensing/publishing agreements (author..etc) ... ( plus whatever corporate takes...*lenny face* we know they are taking something).

    Anyway, so what happens to that 40%? Well, it's reinvested in Growth. And Web Novel plans to grow a lot. I mean, look at the cost structure of comics. Are these comics already done and it's just translations? Or are they actually producing them? I'm not sure. I haven't looked so much into them recently. Not looking to.

    But if I were in Web Novel's position, I can think of several plans moving forward which would require a certain amount of funding to build.

    But, first, growing half as big as webtoons is possible in terms of their comics if they really invested. And they could start issuing about 12 new Anime series a year, for example.
     
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2019
  10. Causal Reader

    Causal Reader Well-Known Member

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    Multiple accounts I presume?
     
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  11. Dr.Flash

    Dr.Flash Well-Known Member

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    It's too high a cost to sustain my high appetite for reading. Also they have zero credibility so I don't know how I can justify putting my money on them when they can change their terms and conditions so easily.
     
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  12. xTachibana

    xTachibana Wincest King

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    I think the problem is that the standard of quality on QI is kind of....ass? There's a handful of good ones, and then there's the rest. Then there's the ones that are above avg at best that fall off a cliff because they're over 1000 chapters long and author is just dragging things on to get more $$. On the topic of licensing costs, I don't think they are paying much if any for QI owned novels, so that should only be a thing for any KR novels they happen to have I think?
     
  13. Invisalats

    Invisalats The Bearded One

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    My only issue with QI/Webnovel is lack of professionalism and quality control. There are just too many novels that cost SS but have terrible translators and bad editing. I guess they know they can offer such insults to the international community and most will just deal with the shoddy product.

    Seriously if they actually had legitimate competition in English speaking countries they'd get crushed in the market or offer a quality product. Since they have no real competition most just pirate their novels or exploit extra accounts to read.

    PS: average chapters are only about 500 words of story, the remaining 700-1500 words are often the rephrasing of a prior paragraph or worse stating everything explained in the previous chapter while interspersing it with mc thoughts.
     
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2019
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  14. GDLiZy

    GDLiZy Wise Deepsea Mermaid

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    But here's the catch, you NEED to pay to read those 'cheaper' books, but in Webnovel, you can still finish the 'expensive' book without losing any money. Free SS is everywhere and you just needed a couple of mins to get your hand on some.

    Also, there are many threads like this.
    EDIT: https://forum.novelupdates.com/thre...ries-with-a-focus-on-reverend-insanity.73067/
    https://forum.novelupdates.com/threads/qidian-and-price-really-expensive.72734/
    https://forum.novelupdates.com/threads/amazon-prices-vs-qidian-prices.79612/
    https://forum.novelupdates.com/threads/premium-qidian.79594/
     
  15. Wujigege

    Wujigege *Christian*SIMP*Comedian

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    Sorry this is the dumbest argument that has been debunked by me repeatedly.
    You can watch TV Shows on NBC for "free"/ part of your cable plan
    but you have to pay more for HBO because of exclusivity.
    You can get those Harry Potter books anywhere: local library included
    but it is not the same for Qidian novels.
    So stop blowing hot air from your ass and make adult arguments.
    Even though my example is not that good Korea's KBS and tvN is probably a better example.
    Free to air TV vs Premium content
     
  16. checkm8

    checkm8 Well-Known Member

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    They have cut their free SS in the last few months.

    Weekdays:
    Between 15-25SS
    Daily Check-in: 0 or 8-10 SS
    Powerstone Vote: 5 SS
    What's Next: 5 SS
    Daily Video: 5 SS

    Sat/Sun: Between 15-35 SS.
    Daily Check-in: 0 or 15SS/20SS
    Powerstone Vote: 5 SS
    What's Next: 5 SS
    Daily Video: 5 SS

    It appears that users get 0 SS every couple of weeks and I've seen 10SS only awarded every 3 weeks or so, normally it's 8 or 9 SS.
     
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2019
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  17. prongsjiisan

    prongsjiisan Apostle of Violence

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    Indeed
     
  18. checkm8

    checkm8 Well-Known Member

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    "Free" Also knowns as an Advertising based revenue model.

    Using libraries as an example when the discussion is between how Consumers Purchase fiction is foolish.

    If the discussion is how readers access free fiction then a comparable comparison for Qidian would be the aggregate websites.

    Of course, Libraries generally purchase the books that are available to be read, earning money for the author.

    I doubt you would understand an adult discussion since you seem more interested in throwing insults and misleading statements.
     
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  19. Ged Merrilin

    Ged Merrilin Cat

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    I hadn't seen any threads comparing pricing after a brief search, guess i should have looked harder. Plus, I was just focusing on the cost of ss for anybody buying, or thinking about buying them.
     
  20. Ged Merrilin

    Ged Merrilin Cat

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    With all due respect, I am not sure where you are getting the cost of 10-15$ per book. Most books there have chapters of ~2k words, and are much longer than 50-75 chapters. Many are over 1000 chapters.

    Secondly, webnovel is not a startup company, which you seem to be implying. They have the chinese company Qidian behind them, which is massive. Also, I don't think that they are producing/translating any comics or anime? I'm not completely sure what you are saying there. If you are comparing them to line webtoon that doesn't seem like a good comparison, as line webtoon does not have a similar paywall and is at least mostly original, not translated. If you are referring to different comic sites then I don't know, cause I don't really use them.
     
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