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The Story: When buying audiobooks, I've found that Audible.com and Barnes and Noble.com have the best prices and are also well known sources. If there is anything that is different in pricing, it's usually at most a $4.00 difference, with Audible.com usually winning over. I find this difference to be ineffectual because it's just that, a dollar difference. What will win me over is if this difference in pricing adds up to a lot of saved cash.
One big difference though is that Audible.com gives you credit's to buy an audiobook for "free" (though I've read that some need two credits in order to be purchased, but the two I got were each one credit). I place the word free in quotes because you have to subscribe for $15.00 a month, so really it's more of a discount than an actual free book. This discount on an audiobook usually rounds to around $5.00-$10.00 on average, which is pretty good. But in the end, is it worth it?
The Math:
East of Eden
Audible.com:
Member: $24.47
Non-member: $34.96
BN.com: $29.83
Grapes of Wrath
Audible.com:
Member: $19.58
Non-member: $27.97
BN.com: $24.02
Catch-22
Audible.com:
Member: $22.03
Non-member: $31.47
BN.com: $23.23
Hunger Games
Audible.com:
Member: $19.58
Non-member: $27.97
BN.com: $23.21
50 Shades of Gray
Audible.com:
Member: $23.52
Non-member: $33.60
BN.com: $19.92
Audible.com
Member total: 109.18-19.58(one credit) + 15.00 (monthly fee) = 104.60
Non-Member total: $155.97
BN.com: 120.21
Audible.com = Winner with $15.61 difference in savings.
My Opinion:
If you think you will read a lot of audiobooks, then definitely subscribe to Audible.com as there is a difference in purchase price. When subscribing, do the audible.com promotion from Amazon.com, where you get a free 30-day trial run and 2 credits for audiobooks.
If you're like me and don't read audiobooks that often, or just want one for a trip, then I still suggest doing Audible.com anyway, but cancelling it before the renewal date. Still do the Amazon.com promotion as you'll get 2 mp3 audiobooks for free and not have to pay a dime. If you want more audiobooks in the future after quitting your subscription, then I suggest just buying them from Barnes and Noble.com. That way you don't have to pay a fee for the subscription to audible.com and you can buy your audiobooks on an as needed basis.
As an extra note, you will have to download Audible Manager in order to get the MP3 files onto your computer. I'm sure BN.com has the same set-up, but I haven't tried it yet. Once I do I will update. Also, definitely save the audiobooks to your computer/ipod/usb port so you don't lose them and have them for future use. Audible.com does say that you won't lose them, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
Hope this was helpful. :)
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