Quote:
Originally Posted by yvanleterrible
An ebook would have to be locked in a physical uncopyable form to be effectively resellable.
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That problem is what got me thinking about the possibility of (a store) buying the rights from a publisher for a quota of sales, dispensed from a secured kiosk, and allowing any sales beyond that to be outside of the publisher's purview.
This would mean that any transactions beyond the quota of sales would net 100% profit to the store, providing a market similar to the used book market. Additionally, trading once sold, for free or for profit, would also be tolerated with no money going back to the publisher.
This system would most closely resemble the present new and used book market, allowing publishers to profit from initial sales, allowing bookstores to profit 100% from "out of quota" sales, and allowing individuals to trade freely. And incidentally, it would remove the issue of returns to the publishers, which are usually destroyed and are therefore wasted.
Think of the latest "DVD kiosks," turning up in stores, allowing people to buy or rent DVDs "on the go;" there could be a considerable market for such kiosks, even outside of bookstores, and the out-of-quota sales profits would be the incentive for businesses to lease the kiosks.