Agency model, Apple and Amazon in the UK

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by kjk

It is a great set of circumstances right now-Amazon can show which pricing model is most effective to both increase profits/move more ebooks. It will be interesting to see if the publishers learn from it.

Also to bring new readers into the fold. The "price war" is benefitting ePub buyers at least as much as Kindle buyers and encouraging folks to get readers, whether they be Kindles, Sonys, Pocketbooks, or whatever.
More ebook readers = more ebooks sold. Now and in the future.
The ebookstores might find themselves with more overall profit at the end of the day (which is at the heart of the Amazon discount strategy).
Essentially we're looking at a real live experiment: two large, similar markets, with one stuck with price-fixing and the other with competitive pricing. Who benefits and by how much?
The results could end up shaping ebook retailing for a long time.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The facts do not back up your assertion.

Amazon's UK bookstore sells books a lot cheaper than the Apple UK iBookstore.

But the UK is NOT the US. And the Agency 5 are not in the UK.

[HarryT]

But, with respect Jon, your posts did not specify that you were talking about a marketing arrangement in one particular local market; you made it sound as if this were some kind of sinister global conspiracy which affected everybody. That is clearly not so.

IF Apple were involved - and there seems to be proof of this; has anybody produced a copy of a contract? - are they doing anything illegal? If so, they should of course be prosecuted. If not, there's no point in moaning about it; they are operating entirely legally under your laws.

[patrickt]

A. One might describe the U.S. as a local market but it is a fairly significant "local market".

B. There are actions that are quite legal but have unethical and have a negative impact on customers. Price fixing so no one in the local market can undersell Apple would, in my opinion, be unethical and have a negative impact on customers.

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by Ben Thornton

Yes, but not every reference says this, and I've seen people arguing on other threads that it's the publishers rather than Apple who instigated this. So it was in my list of things that were interesting about what the article said.

I'm not convinced that it was done to retain one iTunes model. My impression was that Apple mainly wanted to ensure that nobody else sold books cheaper than them (especially Amazon!)

Whether it was Apple pushing or TB5 (The Big 5), the net result was "Consumers get screwed". Given that Apple and TB5 both prefer this modus operandi, does it really matter which side 'pulled the trigger'??? ( And yes, I *AM* composing this message on my trusty G3 iBook - which cost me a whalloping $67 for everything, *USED*, through eBay! )

Derek

[6charlong]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

Whether it was Apple pushing or TB5 (The Big 5), the net result was "Consumers get screwed". Given that Apple and TB5 both prefer this modus operandi, does it really matter which side 'pulled the trigger'??? ( And yes, I *AM* composing this message on my trusty G3 iBook - which cost me a whalloping $67 for everything, *USED*, through eBay! )

I think the issue was that Apple would be sued for restraint of trade along with the publishers. After all, they could never have pulled off the Agency Model without the collusion of an important retailer.

[Fbone]

Looking at the prices on UK site I see prices vary. Some are considerably less, some are the same and others are higher priced perhaps due to VAT.

Nice to see WHS lowering their prices so the non-Kindle owners can enjoy the savings.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Nice to see WHS lowering their prices so the non-Kindle owners can enjoy the savings.

I think it's just a "sale" rather than a permanent price reduction, unfortunately.

[lordvetinari2]

Originally Posted by Ben Thornton

This article is interesting. It says a number of things:
[...]
2. It includes a claim by Hachette that the Agency model is legal in the EU
[...]

It's certainly legal in Spain. Books can barely be discounted (perhaps 10 cents, tops) by big booksellers because these would hurt small booksellers.

However, they keep telling us that ebooks are not books, they are services, and thus the VAT is much higher with ebooks. So maybe the price fixing should not apply with ebooks here.

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by lordvetinari2

However, they keep telling us that ebooks are not books, they are services, and thus the VAT is much higher with ebooks. So maybe the price fixing should not apply with ebooks here.

This is also under discussion in France, and I have a feeling the consensus is to lobby for putting e-books in the same category as p-books, hence with a reduced VAT rate and prices controlled by publishers. So far though, it's not the case yet.