Comments on: Lawyer files Hail Mary request to stop ebook price changes

By: godzilla

godzilla — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 08:13:57 +0000

I know of a retailer who sold products below recommended retail price under-cutting other competition. When its sales volume became the the largest (at the expense of lower margins/even at a lost), it demanded great discount from the supplier to offset the losses.

So while publishers will receive the same amount per ebook for now, I’m sure Amazon does not intend to lose money on content and devices forever. It is just a long term strategy to gain market position vis-a-vis publishers, other ebook sellers and possibly physical bookstores?

By: jake

jake — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 22:59:12 +0000

You want collusion? Try to find a competitive price to PRINT a book from a book printer if you aren’t one of the big guys. It’s odd how they are always (when you obtain bids from multiple book printers) within ten cents or so of each other. It’s been clear for a long time that the print industry (from business cards to whatever) has been colluding on pricing, particularly in the book printing industry. Maybe as they start to go under from ebooks, they’ll start looking at being competitive again.

As to Amazon, I remain incensed by Amazon’s GRAB for the rights to publish my books in foreign languages. Just because I publish with them in English doesn’t mean I should have to give up Spanish, Italian, et al as their agreement demands. It says something like by publishing with us in English you agree to publish with us in these languages, which effectively denies you the right to Sell those rights (as a package with paper print book rights) to a foreign publisher. Wish someone would look at this and cover it here….

By: raythor

raythor — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 18:50:19 +0000

Both sides of the issue on pricing have seemingly valid views. I have two (2) self-published ebooks on KINDLE Bookstore: BLOODGUILTY (a chiller-thriller) and SPOOKY MOON STORIES (for children and young adults). And since I set the price for my ebooks, both sides of the argument might not affect my marketing efforts. This is a distinct advantage for self-publishing authors.

By: David Deaver Brown

David Deaver Brown — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 09:41:12 +0000

As a publisher nothing drives sales more than lower prices. This is why Costco and Walmart are #1 & 2 respectively in physical book sales. As an author they have more sales with lower retails. And the consumer wins. So who loses? The big 6 publishers who lose control over the process. Amazon and Apple are the new Barnes & Noble and Borders. And don’t forget Walmart.com and Target.com who are getting into this. Can Staples.com and others be far behind?

By: vnangia

vnangia — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 00:54:00 +0000

Ah, I see. So to put it another way – their insistence on DRM has caused a situation where they’ve lost power to negotiate because they’ve created a monopsony that can now push back?

Hmm, where have I heard that before? *cough*itunes*cough*

By: vnangia

vnangia — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 00:51:33 +0000

Very sorry, but I think you’ve misunderstood. I was asking in this very specific instance how there is harm.

Your argument is a broader concern about online retailers having significantly lower costs, which in turn translate to high competition that drives out a local business. That problem will exist as long as the internet exists, though I suspect nostalgia will keep a few high-priced boutique sellers alive.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 00:08:19 +0000

After 2 years they are free to sell that way again – the problem is that if Amazon drives other companies out of business during those 2 years, it will be impossible to bring them back, and customers such as myself who really hate Amazon and don’t want Amazon getting any of our money may find ourselves with far fewer buying options. I will be absolutely heartbroken if it turns out my tax dollars were used to help Amazon drive Barnes & Noble out of business. :(

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 00:06:13 +0000

I am a member of the public, a consumer. I do not want to buy from Amazon, and I do not want to buy e-books. I want to buy print books, preferably from companies such as Barnes & Noble that have physical stores. If Amazon is allowed to use unfair business tactics to drive these companies out of business, I am harmed, since I will be forced to either not buy or buy from a company I hate that I feel conducts business in an extremely unethical manner. If they harm the market enough, I may not be able to buy print books of many titles ANYWHERE, and e-books, which I despise, may eventually be the only reading option for many books.

By: Jack Modelia

Jack Modelia — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 23:15:13 +0000

I am not sure why agency pricing is wrong. I understand that all the publishers meeting and deciding that they should do that is wrong since it is collusion, but why can’t they individually do so, even if after a few years from now? I am not convinced that in digital goods, a traditional retail model works. If Amazon sells 1 million copies of an e-book, they do not physically have 1 million digital copies of said book on their server, unlike the case with physical books. Each consumer that buys get the same digital copy, or rather a license to read the ebook. This lends itself to the agency model — it works for apps.

By: eojsmada

eojsmada — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 19:30:23 +0000

What I like about the ruling is that it forces the Publishing Industry to have to re-organize itself and finally get into the 21st century. This is exactly what happened with the music industry when iTunes came out, and the amount of money that the RIAA makes is not only comparable, but in some cases better, than what it used to make. Every Industry that fails to keep up with technology and society, will ultimately have to evolve or become extinct. There are a great number of independents who would gladly take up all the business from Harper-Collins and others.