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People who buy 5 books a year are not the publisher's bread and butter.
There's a thread on here that says -- IIRC -- that 25% of American (new) book sales this year went to 10% of Americans who own eReaders. That tells me that the people who buy 100s of books per year (people like myself) are the ones propping up the publishing industry the most.
People who buy 100s of books per year most definitely -- as a group -- buy used. Publishers can try to tap that money, or they can decide not to. Up to them, really.
@SpeakingToHe, I am talking about a very specific case where a pBook has been in print for decades and has therefore a strong presence as a used item -- in this case, it makes sense for the eBook version of this book to sell at (a) less than the cost of the same pBook, (b) less than the cost of new eBooks, and (c) close to the used price.
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Sorry to sound argumentative, but what percent of people buy 100's (more than 200) books a year new. It would have to be more than 1/40th of the people who buy five a year. AFAIK buying second hand does no more for the publisher than pirating.
I would be totally flabbergasted to find that the number of people who buy more than 100 books a year actually buy more books in total than the people who buy 5 books a year or even those who only buy 4. Then thereare the subscribers like my mother who have books delivered from book clubs. Can't read them because of arthritus but gets pleasure when they arrive and more when she gives them away.
I am curious though. Which specific case are you talking about. I have always found it harder to find older books in used books stores, especially out of print ones.
Helen