Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant
In the UK, for your two example books....
|
I'm not sure you are quite catching my drift; I am not discussing a comparison of ebook and paper prices. The fact that ebooks have a 20% VAT and paper does not, and that the UK does not have an equivalent to a Lang Law, all but guarantees that ebooks will cost more.
For example, the RRP on the "Saturday Big Tent Wedding" is £17, and Amazon charges £7.64. Unless UK wholesale pricing is very different than the US (which is possible), Amazon pays the publisher £7 - £8 per copy, and likely loses a small amount of money on each sale.
It is almost certain that Amazon is losing money on selected paper books. It is routine for Amazon to treat best sellers as loss leaders; take a small loss on certain aspects, but in return gain customer loyalty and, therefore, additional sales that do turn a profit.
All of that, while perhaps of interest, is not what I'm discussing. I'm pointing out that when agency pricing went into effect, the early adopters were horrified that the $10 price point would disappear. What has largely happened, though, is that new ebooks are in the $12-$14 range, and they usually (but not always) fall to $10 around the same time that the paperback is issued. Indexing the price drop to the paperback release is mostly an accommodation to the existing business practices, than a desire to low-ball the paper prices.