Penquin is Pulling My Leg - Go On, Penquin, Tell Me Another One

I was lollygagging around the internet today and checked out some of my favorite authors on Amazon to see if they had any new releases coming up, when I happened across this:

Book Bundle, Amazon

I saw the bundles before my brain took in the prices. Forty dollars, y'all, for five books.

Now - please correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't book bundles supposed to be an enticement? As in enticing the reader to invest in the series by offering a too good to pass up price? As in enticing the reader to re-invest in books s/he may already have?

The first In Death bundle, books one through five, are OLD, y'all. You might say they're backlist, except I don't think they've ever been OOP. So why the hell would I pay $40.00 damn dollars for them, expecially considering I have them all in paperback?

I thought this e-bundle and its companions, would be a great way to keep track of the books. I have every one, but they're scattered here and there throughout the house, as I pulled them out for something and didn't put them back. Plus they exceed the shelf space alloted to them. Since all the titles sound the same to me, the bundles would be a great way to keep them in order.

Alas, it is not to be. $39.99 boils down to $7.99 per book and that's just not good enough, not for this reader.

Why are these publishers so hard headed? Is it just corporate greed, or do they have some sort of agenda, a business plan for the future (one that doesn't gouge the customer so much).

I'd be interested to see how the Lady Julia Grey bundle is selling. Three books for $8.83. That's $2.94 a book. I bet they've made more sales and more money than the J D. Robb bundles.

Now, that would be an interesting comparison!