I am of the understanding that buying books online is hardly worth anything because you don’t actually own anything. Maybe you own the digital file? I’m not sure. I don’t trust the longevity of it, though.
I’m told a lot (mainly by my Dad) that its a good idea to print those out to keep them. However, I’m talking about books that are easily 200+ pages.
I don’t know if its worth the ink or money to print them out. At that point would it be better to just buy a book?
The ink would be way more than buying the book itself
Sure, but there are plenty of ebooks, web fiction, fan fiction, fan-translated works that are unlikely to get an official release, extra chapters/short stories that were only published in an obscure magazine and/or on Twitter, etc that just aren’t available in a physical format. I’ve considered getting into bookbinding for precisely this reason, but I’m not sure where to even start.
Use laser printers, not ink. Inkjet printers are garbage.