[NightBird]

Originally Posted by SonDan1

Is there a thread you can point me too that explains the poiltics of "Agency Pricing" situation. I need to be schooled in this.

Thanks again to all that replied.

Macmillan CEO John Sargent on the agency model, availability and price

New John Sargent blog post on e-book pricing

In a nutshell, in the US this includes the 6 major publishers: Random House, Macmillan, Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin and Simon & Schuster. The publishers set the price at all stores and no coupons, rebates, sales or discounts are allowed on their books. In most cases prices were raised. This started on April 1, 2010 (very appropriate timing), except for Random House, who held back until March of this year. Gradually spreading now to other countries as well. Retailers are still allowed to discount paper books, so many times the paper book will be less than the ebook for the same title.

Well explained by Macmillan CEO in his blogs:

Starting at the end of March, we will move from the “retail model” of selling e-books (publishers sell to retailers, who then sell to readers at a price that the retailer determines) to the “agency model” (publishers set the price, and retailers take a commission on the sale to readers). We will make this change with all our e-book retailers simultaneously.

Will retailers have flexibility to price books at a discount? No, the sale price will be fixed by Macmillan. Retailers will promote and market books, but we will control the price for the book.