Onyx wasn’t kidding about their prices going up in the US. At the end of last week Onyx raised their prices across the board on all models ordered from their website and from their official Amazon store.
A month ago I posted about Onyx’s prices going up at B&H, but that only lasted a few days before the prices went back to normal, and the prices only went up by $10-$20. Now their prices have gone up by as much as $40.
Most of Onyx’s devices have gone up in price, but there are a few exceptions. The Boox Go 10.3 is currently still listed at its normal price of $379 at B&H, but I could’ve sworn it was $409 the last time I checked, like it is at Amazon and from the Boox website, so that price probably won’t last long.
Additionally, Onyx still has the 1st gen Palma on sale on their website for $199.
That highlights the fact that Onyx really only puts their devices on sale after they’ve been replaced by a newer model, so if you’re waiting for a sale for the prices to go back down again you’ll be waiting for a long time. Onyx just doesn’t do sales for some reason.
I wonder how many people will decide to pass on buying an Onyx ereader or eNote now that the prices have gone up. Onyx was already towards the top of the market in terms of prices anyway, so this certainly isn’t going to help matters any, but it might not matter as much to some folks that want an open Android E Ink device. Unlike Amazon and Kobo, Onyx doesn’t make money off of selling ebooks so they have to charge more for their hardware.
So now in the US, the price of Onyx’s devices has gone up, and so has the price of Kobo’s and Pocketbook’s ereaders, but so far the prices of Kindles and Nooks haven’t changed.
Boox Old Prices vs New Prices
Here’s how Onyx’s price increase in the US compares to the older prices:
Boox Go 6: $149 -> $159
Boox Page: $219 -> $239
Boox Go Color 7: $249 -> $269
Boox Palma 2: $279 -> $299
Boox Go 10.3: $379 -> $409
Note Air 4C: $499 -> $529
Tab Ultra C Pro: $599 -> $629
Note Max: $649 -> $689
Are the prices being raised in the US only or is it more global? You’ve mentioned Amazon and the Boox website which I think sell internationally.
Checking Amazon in Europe I can see Pocketbook is much cheaper (including sales tax). E.g Verse Pro is about $50 less. Boox seems cheaper too but don’t have history on those prices.
Something has to give with an additional 20% tariffs and these price increases are not even close to that %.
Kobo uses also factories in Taiwan besides China so they can workaround that better just like Amazon which has even more sites.
But still would not be surprised if they will increase prices as well eventually since there are still extra costs to shift production.
I had the same question too. I just checked the website, and they now have a banner saying:
“We will be adjusting prices for products shipped from the US warehouse. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.”
The Boox Palma 2 is now $299.99 from the US warehouse, but switching to the Hong Kong warehouse drops it back to $279.99. So it does appear to be a US-specific thing (or specific to anyone else hoping to ship from the US, I suppose).
Okay, I just noticed another thing! Hovering over the Hong Kong warehouse option displays a popup saying “When purchasing from the Hong Kong warehouse, US customers can enjoy the same warranty and customs duty-free services as the US warehouse”. I wonder what that means? Is buying from Hong Kong cheaper, or will there also be a shipping charge added later?
Any tariff effects on these…?
Cool, maybe we’ll eventually see a US domestic model. And native a store front that isn’t awful or full of AI gen content