YOUR main reason for pirating eBooks?

Financial 214
60%
Oppression 4
1%
HATE for capitalism 9
3%
Because you can 17
5%
To test before buying them 32
9%
To store good stuff in digital format 38
11%
You can't buy them in your country 33
9%
Because its fun 10
3%
Total votes : 357
Nov 14th, 2016, 7:32 pm
Financial - if you looked up broke in the dictionary you wouldn't see my picture--(because I couldn't pay for it!) :lol:
Oppression and hate for capitalism don't really enter into it for ebooks (IMO) as most writers AREN'T commuting between their Beverly Hills mansion, their NYC penthouse, and their yacht.
Part of it is "Because I can/hoarding" but there are many good authors whom I would never have noticed without this forum.
I have thousands of books, and with my current financial troubles, they are sitting in storage at the moment. I already had to pawn all my many DVDs and video games, so a digital format lets me re-read/watch/play old favorites and new offerings.
A weird part of my mind also sees me as a "curator of lost things," collecting books, movies, games, etc., in case the older ones disappear forever. Okay, so the library is only for one person at the moment... :lol:
Nov 14th, 2016, 7:32 pm
Nov 15th, 2016, 6:11 pm
I like to read them before I buy them because I often don't make it through a few pages before I'm done with a book. I've learned that I might not consider it to be good just because it's by a well-known author or on the best-seller list and I don't like wasting my time on a book I don't enjoy. I also often find that many series authors "jump the shark" in the same way TV shows do and after a certain number of books, they put out terrible books. And in some cases, they put their names on books they haven't written. I'll check a book out of my local libraries when I can and if I like them, I'll buy them.
Nov 15th, 2016, 6:11 pm
Nov 27th, 2016, 3:22 pm
When I was young, in the late 1950s, books were affordable and I could often be found in the bookshops purchasing books - mainly non-fiction, about all the subjects that interest me. I built up an enormous collection.

Now, many decades later, I'm an old pensioner and cannot afford to purchase books at today's highly inflated prices.

The answer is right here at Mobilism, where I can download as many books as I like at no cost; I have long been accustomed to reading them on my PC monitor and they don't occupy physical space on shelves.
Nov 27th, 2016, 3:22 pm
Dec 1st, 2016, 10:48 am
For me it's part financial, part health issues. I used to buy lots of books in charity shops for a Pound or two each and found many gems that I wouldn't otherwise have bought, but over the last three years or so I have developed crippling anxiety and very rarely leave the house now. Because of this, I don't work so can't afford to pay for books like I used to. It's only due to finding Mobilism that I keep building my library!
Dec 1st, 2016, 10:48 am

Sorry, but no re-uploads possible due to system failure.
Dec 1st, 2016, 3:15 pm
Rigth now is because I don't have acces to them in my country
Dec 1st, 2016, 3:15 pm
Dec 3rd, 2016, 8:01 pm
Mostly the money. I do buy some, got 28 purchases in my kobo library.
The thing with writing, its just like being a web designer or photographer.
One of those professions where its hard to earn a living with.
I figure most writers have a full-time job, so me pirating books won't hurt them much.

I do understand the frustration, to see a book you've been working on for over a year on this forum.
It can piss a person off. Make a (wo)man homicidal even.
Dec 3rd, 2016, 8:01 pm

Pm me if links are dead.
Please click "Thank You" if you like what I shared.
Support authors - if you like it, buy it.
Dec 7th, 2016, 9:13 pm
Books are so expensive.
Dec 7th, 2016, 9:13 pm
Dec 25th, 2016, 4:18 pm
Mainly because of financial reason. I live in a developing country and the value of my currency is so much lower than USD. 1 USD = 24 VND. With the same money (of buying a foreign book, say 20 USD), I can use that amount to buy breakfast for nearly a month :(

But if I like the content so much after reading, I will save my money day by day to buy a real hard copy of the book to support author.
Dec 25th, 2016, 4:18 pm

Now I’m awake and you’re here.  
Now I’m dreaming and you’re here.  
Now I have nothing but days.
Never nights.
Dec 26th, 2016, 7:51 am
I felt so guilty for all those amazing authors that I get their books for free through electronic publishing but I had myself rationalizing eventually.

Think about it, I can read ebooks that I may not end up liking without feeling like I wasted my money on that certain novel or non-fiction.

Another situation is when I become so excited on a certain book and then realizing that it wasn't worth the wait and/or read anyway! The e-books would have saved so much disappointments.

Oh well.. if I get my own job after I graduate I will learn to finally pay for those books ;)
Dec 26th, 2016, 7:51 am
Jan 27th, 2017, 8:27 pm
I voted financial, but it is way more than that. I can't afford many new books. I often try charity shops, but love the fact that mobilism gives me the chance to try new and varied authors and genres.
Jan 27th, 2017, 8:27 pm
Jan 27th, 2017, 9:28 pm
i live in a country where the vast majority of books i pirate arent sold. i actually have a physical library of over 5000 books,and 99% of my downloaded books are the ones i cant get here
Jan 27th, 2017, 9:28 pm

SUPPORT DEVELOPERS. IF YOU LIKE IT,AND CAN AFFORD IT, BUY IT.
Feb 12th, 2017, 4:51 am
It was hard to pick just one reason, but I chose "To test before buying them" because like some of the others that have commented, I would hate to spend money on a book that I ended up disliking as I have in the past before I got an eReader. I also have a major issue with the fact that the eBooks available for purchase are either the same price or almost as much as the physical copy of the book. There is no reason an eBook should cost the same amount as a physical copy when the only thing we are getting is a digital copy (especially after spending hundreds of dollars on the tech just to read it).
Feb 12th, 2017, 4:51 am
Jun 16th, 2017, 12:53 am
stuckkeyboard wrote:Digital hoarding compulsion and financial inability to buy *all the books*, as I want to do every time I go into a bookstore. Next step: figure out a way to actually *read* all the books.

Pretty much this exact same reason, lmao. I have now acquired somewhere around 2,000 eBooks- I lost count somewhere around 1,700.
Jun 16th, 2017, 12:53 am

And by the moon the reaper weary
Piling sheaves in uplands airy
Listening, whispers; "'Tis the fairy
The Lady of Shalott."
Jun 22nd, 2017, 9:58 am
It's prohibitive to try and purchase every book that I have in paper format to also account for a digital library. I wish book publishers would get on board with some of the DVD companies which now give you a complimentary digital copy when buying the hard copy. I love to read, I love expanding my library, but sometimes it's easier to use a digital format than it is the hard copy.

Outside of that, it gives me a chance to 'flip through' books that I can't find in my local library or bookstores before ordering online. It's by far the downfall of online bookstores and I discover so many new books just by browsing and flipping through them to decide if they are worth adding to my home collection.

Sometimes it's for financial reasons, but even if I grab a pirated ecopy, if it's something I find myself enjoying or using often (especially with reference books) I do end up buying the tangible copy. It's still too difficult for me to use ebooks for flipping back and forth and scanning for specific passages to give up tangible books altogether.
Jun 22nd, 2017, 9:58 am

Whenever feasible, one should always try to eat the rude.- Hannibal

We're like the wind...we blows both ways. - Mad Sweeney

Gods are real if you believe in them. - Mr Wednesday
Oct 8th, 2017, 12:05 am
I read so much that I can't possibly buy all the books I want to read.. :/ and don't get me wrong, I do still buy books. My room is full now and I'm running out of space, but downloading helps me test out the books I think are interesting. If they aren't, I don't buy them. If I like the book, I buy it so if ever I want to read it again but as a physical book, I have it with me.
I also try to buy some Ebooks here and there if they're on sale but it's hard because I don't know if they're worth it.
Oct 8th, 2017, 12:05 am