Kobo has a price matching system for e-books that many people are blissfully unaware of. Customers from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom who buy an eBook from Kobo and find the same one on another website for a lower price can ask Kobo to credit them the difference, plus 10% of their original purchase price.
In order to qualify for the price match you have to file your claim within 7 days of purchasing it and the e-book has to have the same ISBN number. This might be a little tricky with Kindle e-books, because they tend to have ASIN numbers, which are different from the standard ISBN. I have heard from many people that Kobo does honor the “for Kindle” price.
Additionally, if you want to get the price match, the digital bookstore that is offering it for a cheaper price has to be in your home country. You cannot buy something from the Australian Kobo store and say the US price is cheaper.
Here is how you can request a price match
If you’ve bought a book from Kobo and find the same one on another website for a lower price, you can ask Kobo to credit you the difference, plus 10% of your original purchase price, under Kobo’s Price Match Guarantee.
- From any eBook’s item detail page on kobo.com, click Price Match Guarantee. You’ll be taken to the Price Match Guarantee page.
- Click Start Your Request.
- Under Your details, enter your information. Note: You’ll find your receipt number in the email sent to you by Kobo following your original purchase from kobo.com.
- Under Competitor Information, enter the URL where you’re seeing the book, as well as the competitor’s price.
- Click Submit.
Kobo will verify the competing offer and reply to you within 3 business days. If your price match qualifies, they will award a credit to your Kobo account equal to the price difference, plus 10% of your original purchase price.For example, if you’ve purchased a book from Kobo for $9.99, but see it offered from a competitor for $7.99, you may be eligible to receive a credit of $2.99 (reflecting the $2 difference between the two prices, and an additional $0.99 that equals 10% of your original purchase price of $9.99).
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
