Quote:
actually there was an interview question to that effect. Apparently they (amazon) have the same model for ebooks as they do their store at large. They take a loss on popular ebooks and make it back on specialty ones. So you can find best sellers that are 9.99, significantly lower than what the publisher charges amazon. This is to "draw" you into their store. It works pretty well but you have to have a big selection to get the money back on books the publisher agrees to big discounts on.
Sony did not (does not) have the negotiation leverage nor the size (or gumption?) to make that happen. Amazon is vastly bigger than Sony's book entry. The scales are unimaginably in amazon's favor.
|
But the prices on Sony's Connect store have come down quite dramtically on many popular titles since the release of the Kindle.
What I am saying is, I think the Connect store is benefitting from Kindle's leverage. Amazon leverages the publishers to drop their prices (effectively to all re-sellers). This allows Sony to sell the ebooks for less.
Since Sony is not willing to sell at a loss, often titles are $2-3 more on Connect than on Amazon.