Mike Shatzkin sums up the approach of the publishers well in this comment:
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The prices the big guys charge for ebooks are not just a product of their overheads. You maximize revenues regardless of your overheads. They charge what they charge because they believe they're maximizing revenue, and I think they're right. (If they cut prices from $10 to $3, would they more than triple the sales? I doubt it. If Penguin had cut the price on Follett from $20 to $3, would they have gotten more than SIX times the sales? I REALLY doubt it.)
So while you're absolutely right that the price of "branded" books being kept high clears a path to the consumer for the self-published author, everybody is still pursuing the course that really makes the best sense for them. The market will probably force prices of the branded books down over time, but there is no reason for publishers to accelerate the process.
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Says it all right there. People will charge what the market can bear for the goodsand services they sell in the marketplace, regardless of overhead. Its up to you whether you want to pay that price or not.
You should always remember that over time, ebook prices will go down, and and that if you are a patient shopper, you can do pretty well.
Overthe weekend two of the books on my wishlist went down sharply in price-one going from 12.99 to 7.99 and the other from 9.99 to 4.99. I snapped up both of them and then bought a Kindle Dealy deal that went from 7.99 to 0.99. I finished up by buying Joe Haldeman's "Forever War" , an SF classic, thatwas going for 4.95. I ended up buying four well regarded books for $19.
Rather than complaining that ebooks aren't being sold for the "right price", I would work on smart shopping techniques. It would be more helpful in the long run.