How Amazon squeezes authors

[Soldim]

I saw an interesting blog post on how Amazon cheats authors out of part of their share on ebook sales:

Wait, Amazon pays out the worst? What? This can’t be right! They are the best right? Everyone loves them. I love them. I dig a bit deeper and find this little gem:

Avg. Delivery Cost ($) 2.58.

Doesn't seem Amazon is all that good, after all.

[Edward M. Grant]

The fees seem excessive to me, but they're apparently selling a multi-megabyte e-book file and Amazon presumably charge by the byte. I checked one of my KDP report spreadsheets and at 340k, the average delivery fee for my novel appears to be $0.05.

[taustin]

Amazon charges a delivery fee on ebooks? That's just slimy.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by taustin

Amazon charges a delivery fee on ebooks? That's just slimy.

The model was built when the predominant delivery method was Whispernet over 3G, do each delivery did cost them money. Nowadays it is hard to justify the small amount, let alone the large one.

[xg4bx]

if an author signs on the dotted line, how is anyone 'cheated' out of anything? this is literally the first time i've heard of this practice.

his book is also 18mb including pictures. whats the average ebook, 300kb? of course hes going to pay more, maybe he should have read the ToS before he eagerly submitted his book.

it boils down to don't like it, then don't use it. i'm sure hes still walking away with a far better deal than he'd get from any publisher.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

if an author signs on the dotted line, how is anyone 'cheated' out of anything? this is literally the first time i've heard of this practice.

his book is also 18mb including pictures. whats the average ebook, 300kb? of course hes going to pay more, maybe he should have read the ToS before he eagerly submitted his book.

Cheated is an emotive word, but I think most people would feel that the scale of charges was out of proportion to the actual cost of delivering the book, so that the charge has become a profit centre, rather than covering costs.

[tubemonkey]

Amazon is taking 56% for each of his books sold. What a rip off!

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

...so that the charge has become a profit centre, rather than covering costs.

Just like those infomercials on American TV. Buy this super cool widget for $9.99 + S/H (rarely revealed); and if you act now, they'll throw in a free one. Just pay additional S/H charges. Jump to their website and you discover that S/H is $7.95 for each widget. Total cost = $9.99 + free + $7.95 + $7.95 = $25.89.

But wait, it comes with a money back guarantee if you're dissatisfied. Just return both items (you pay return shipping charges) and they'll refund you $9.99 (maybe; I've read stories where the product was returned and no refund was ever given). They keep the $15.90 S/H charges, make a tidy little profit, and get to resell the merchandise.

Caveat Emptor

[Soldim]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

it boils down to don't like it, then don't use it. i'm sure hes still walking away with a far better deal than he'd get from any publisher.

He definitely does better with iBooks, Nook or gumroad (of which I had never heard before) than with Amazon.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Amazon is taking 56% for each of his books sold. What a rip off!

They take 65% for most of the books I sell. (Public domain books, even with added material, aren't eligible for the 70% option.)

He does mis-state one bit. Amazon don't take 30% and then $2.58 delivery fee. They take the $2.58 delivery fee, and then 30% of the remainder.

i.e. they don't leave him $9.99*0.7-$2.58 = $4.41
they leave him ($9.99-$2.58)*0.7 = $5.19

that is, with the delivery fee, Amazon's cut is 48% of the sale, not 56%.


Also, don't forget that the delivery fee doesn't just cover one download. It covers an indefinite number of downloads to any of the devices registered to the account.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

if an author signs on the dotted line, how is anyone 'cheated' out of anything? this is literally the first time i've heard of this practice.

his book is also 18mb including pictures. whats the average ebook, 300kb? of course hes going to pay more, maybe he should have read the ToS before he eagerly submitted his book.

it boils down to don't like it, then don't use it. i'm sure hes still walking away with a far better deal than he'd get from any publisher.

I think it's more the disingenuous way it comes across. It seems as if Amazon are somewhat trying to trick authors into thinking they only take one type of cut, and then *SURPRISE* they charge a (ridiculously inflated) delivery charge as well.

I have no idea how clear that is in their terms, but on first glance it would seem that to have the "delivery charge" completely separate from their "cut" when you know that 99% of that "delivery charge" is really also their cut isn't an especially above-board business practice.

Not that this would apply to Amazon, but pertaining to your post, there have been businesses convicted of deceptive business practices that were technically legal except for the deceptive way they were presented.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Also, don't forget that the delivery fee doesn't just cover one download. It covers an indefinite number of downloads to any of the devices registered to the account.

Whose fault is that? Amazon wants to keep your books on their servers. It should be factored into the 30%. It's the cost of doing business.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

if an author signs on the dotted line, how is anyone 'cheated' out of anything? this is literally the first time i've heard of this practice.

his book is also 18mb including pictures. whats the average ebook, 300kb? of course hes going to pay more, maybe he should have read the ToS before he eagerly submitted his book.

it boils down to don't like it, then don't use it. i'm sure hes still walking away with a far better deal than he'd get from any publisher.

This. And it is clearly specified in the costs and payment etc. I was certainly aware of it when I signed up.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

I have no idea how clear that is in their terms, but on first glance it would seem that to have the "delivery charge" completely separate from their "cut" when you know that 99% of that "delivery charge" is really also their cut isn't an especially above-board business practice.

It tells you how much the delivery charge will be when you set your price. I can't really see how anyone could miss it. He really needs to work on his image sizes instead of moaning. I looked at the sample and they don't really add anything anyway.

[RainingLemur]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

if an author signs on the dotted line, how is anyone 'cheated' out of anything? this is literally the first time i've heard of this practice.

his book is also 18mb including pictures. whats the average ebook, 300kb? of course hes going to pay more, maybe he should have read the ToS before he eagerly submitted his book.

it boils down to don't like it, then don't use it. i'm sure hes still walking away with a far better deal than he'd get from any publisher.

Agreed. Unless Amazon did some kind of stealth update that included the "cheats" in the verbiage (which doesn't seem to be the case), you aren't cheated out of anything.