Quote:
Originally Posted by Barcey
I'm sorry but I don't believe that Amazon conditioned the market. I believe they set a price that their market research showed the market would accept. The consumer reaction just reinforces it.
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Same difference. While there was probably market research, $9.99 is one of those "magic numbers". We think in terms of tens, and $9.99 is
just below the point where it becomes $10. It's no surprise Amazon chose that price.
But meanwhile, Amazon set the example. Because
they set the price at $9.99, other ebook retailers are between the rock and the hard place. Since Amazon carries pretty much everything, why should a buyer go elsewhere, when they can get it cheaper at Amazon? Of course, they need a Kindle or Kindle app to purchase and read them, and they are locked in to Amazon as the vendor by Amazon's DRM. That's the point of Amazon's exercise: become the default ebook vendor, with
everybody buying ebooks from them.
If Amazon had chosen, say, $11.99 as the default price,
that's what people would think of as the default price and expect to see.
The issue it presents for publishers is the expectation that ebooks issued at the same time as the hardcover should carry that price. The Agency Model was a direct response to the issue.
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Dennis