Kobo has done it again. I noticed the Kobo Clara BW is now back in stock on Kobo’s website, but the price is $10 higher than it was before it went out of stock, and the price of Kobo’s color models are now higher as well.
This is the second time Kobo has done something like this. Back in 2023, Kobo raised the prices of their ereaders by $10 across the board, and now they’re doing it again.
The Kobo Clara BW, the Kobo Clara Colour, and the Kobo Libra Colour are all now $10 more expensive than they were yesterday. Kobo’s older models, the Kobo Sage and Kobo Elipsa 2E, didn’t get a price increase, at least not yet.
BlueProton, Kobo’s official US retailer, has been selling the new Kobos for $10 above retail off and on since they were released so Kobo probably figured if people are willing to pay a higher price then they might as well make it permanent. It’ll be interesting to see if BlueProton decides to start charging another $10 of top of that.
Kobo’s color models were pretty reasonably priced compared to the competition so an extra $10 isn’t really that big of a deal, but raising the price of the Kobo Clara BW to $140 is a bad idea, especially when the build quality feels so cheap. It’s now $30 more expensive than the basic Kindle, and it’s only $20 less than the Kindle Paperwhite, and Kindles go on sale all the time so the Paperwhite will frequently cost less than Kobo’s basic model.
A lot of people really like Kobo’s ereaders, but Kobo has been making some questionable moves lately. Their color models seem to be a hit, but their black and white models are seriously lacking. The Clara BW is now one of the more expensive basic models, and they only offer two other BW models now. The Kobo Sage is over three years old and it’s a pricey $270, with poor battery life to boot. The Elipsa 2E has an outdated screen with lower resolution that other eNotes.
Hopefully Kobo will release some new updated black and white models this year because their current lineup isn’t very enticing, and raising the price of the Clara BW isn’t helping matters any.
It wouldn’t surprise me if they did this to help offset potential tariffs as they’re a Canadian company. It may be unclear how that will affect them, so they’re preparing with a price hike.
Could be tied to the tariffs thing going on in the US?
Agree. I just pray Canada does not abandon the US market because of this.
I’ve been thinking this as well. I love Kobo & am in the States. I imagine they did this in preparation for the tariffs but man is this disappointing.
Here’s to making my Libra 2 last forever… 🙂
The libra color has repairable parts
Yeah, but the display quality when reading black and white is light years behind Libra 2. It’s not worth it just for repairability.
10$ more in Canada too.
I bought my Clara B&W just in time, a couple of days ago.
I’ve sold my Kindle. Goodbye Amazon. Sorry USA…
I have abandoned Amazon also and I am in the US. Kobo’s products in my opinion are far more superior than Amazon’s. I have not liked Amazon’s past and and most recent business decisions.. There are no longer any Amazon products in the house. Just Kobo and Pocketbook. It really felt quite liberating to get rid of all of Prime.
Pretty frustrated about this. I just got a Clara BW on Amazon last week, but when I received it, it was open-box and the protective plastic had been poorly placed back on. The unit itself was dirty. Inexcusable. I returned it, I’m not paying full price for a dirty open-box item. Now I went to purchase it directly from Kobo, only to see that it’s now $10 more expensive! Wow. I got doubly screwed!! Seriously disappointing.
Blue Proton just upped it another $10, now at $150. Pretty strange considering they reached an agreement on tariffs.
Blue Proton has been charging $10 above MSRP off and on since the new Kobos were released so it’s not surprising, but I think it’s a shady thing to do as an official retailer of Kobo’s products. Too bad Kobo is no longer partnered with Walmart, leaving no other options in the US.
You can also purchase Kobo eReaders through Target online
Good point!
Yeah, and they’re shipped and sold by Blue Proton, the same as the ones on Amazon and Walmart.
I’m so frustrated and disappointed by this. I’ve been waiting to get a clara BW to replace my very used Aura One but have been holding out to scoop one up on sale. This hasn’t happened since June I think was the last post I saw about it actually being on sale & now they bumped the price up $10 more! It’s not worth that price increase & sadly I already bought some accessories for one during black Friday/cyber Monday sales as I had anticipated it being on sale in Dec. I guess I’ll just keep my eyes open for a deal, I just don’t foresee that happening now, especially with it consistently being out of stock on their site.
If they do create a new BW line up, that would be amazing! I wanted a Libra 2 very badly but by the time I got around to purchasing one Kobo discontinued the model :'( I hope they’re not preparing to do that with the clara BW, it seems like it’s a hit with (almost) everyone that has one!
Do any of Kobo readers have as clear a screen as Voyage? Looking to switch from Amazon to something. Thanks
Nothing really has a screen as clear as the Voyage, but the contrast is really good on the Clara BW. The latest Kindles are pretty close to the Voyage as well, but I still feel like it has a slightly clearer quality to the screen. The Paperwhite looks better to me in lower light, though, since it has a better frontlight than the Voyage.