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Originally Posted by stonetools
EowynCarter nails it.
I think that the author does paint Amazon darker than it actually is. The article, though , is a welcome counterweight to those who see Amazon as Captain America and the publishers as Dr. Doom,Galactus, Darkseid and Magneto united.
I think that what you can depend on is that Amazon is going to act in its corporate self-interest. When it tried to establish 9.99 as the default ebook price it wasn't doing that to "help consumers". Some people herethought that this was somehow the "right price" for ebooks, but that wasn't why Amazon did that. Rather, it was doing that to drive out competitors and establish its monopoly in the ebook market. After the competitors were driven out, we would have seen the "profit-maximizing monopolist " price, which would must assuredly have not been 9.99.
The publishers , who were acting in THEIR self -interest (and the interest of its authors) countered with agency pricing . In that they were supported by Apple (who acted in ITS self-interest-it wanted its own store), by Google (ditto), by B&N and Kobo( Amazon competitors), and by independent booksellers (who wanted their own ebook space). Do you see a pattern yet?
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And this is why I buy books that I want at a price that I am comfortable with. Business is business. It is nothing personal. Businesses are driven to make the most profit possible.
Agency pricing never made any sense to me because the Publishers made more money under the old system then the new system. I know that the Publishers think that the higher ebook prices will encourage people to buy the DTB but that is not happening. If the Publishers are making more money with Agency Pricing, then that is what they are going to do based on self interest.