Pixels vs. Paper (a fiber post)

There has been some discussion lately on Ravelry which is a knit and crochet community, on pricing of knit and crochet patterns.  It might be helpful to know that Ravelry is the Facebook of the knit/crochet world and there are some amazingly gifted individuals there creating and offering patterns for sale (and a bunch that offer free patterns, I mean really good free patterns).  Money in the knit community is made from patterns, not from knitting an item and then selling it.  Okay, you can also make money being really, really clever and doing workshops and teaching people things or writing wildly funny blogs that get you book contracts, like the Yarn Harlot  http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/.  But for the rest of us, we make a pattern, then post it for sale here, there, or submit it to magazines or Independent Designer Programs, etc. This brings up the question of how do we price?  I waded in on a discussion that was occurring regarding this issue on Ravelry with the comment that we are selling Pixels not paper and that if we are selling a pdf download it should be cheaper than if they were selling a paper pattern we then mail to a customer.  I received not a few "disagrees" over that opinion.  But I still hold to it.  My panties haven't untwisted over one of the big publishing houses fight with Amazon.  Amazon wanted to sell the Kindle version for less than the trade paperback version.  The big publishing house wasn't having it.   Amazon lost over what I see was definite corporate greed by the publishing house.   

If I create and actually print the pattern for sale I have costs I don't have when I create a pdf download.  I have paper, ink, printer wear, storage, my time, postage for mailing.  These are hard costs and it seems reasonable to factor them into the price of the pattern.  But if I create a pdf download then the majority of those costs are yours not mine and if does not seem reasonable to pass those costs on to you as if I actually incurred them.  But that is essentially what that big publishing house did when it faced down Amazon.  I'm reminded of what I used to say to my kids (I'm sure they hated it)  "Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should".  I don't think you should charge paper prices for pixels.  My pattern is priced at $1.99.  I think it is probably priced a little low, but I don't think it should be priced higher than $2.50 max.  It is a pdf download, all associated print costs are yours.  If you want me to print, mail, etc.  I will charge you $5.00 for the pattern, otherwise $1.99 is reasonable in my opinion.

Just because I could charge more, doesn't mean I should.