MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Do e-reader stores still use non-agency books as loss leaders?

scrapking · 02-12-2012, 11:51 PM

When the big debate about some publishers wanting to bring in the so-called "Agency model" for the e-book industry was raging, one of the more interesting points for me was that the publishers would actually make less money under it than with the status quo. The way it was explained in some articles at the time was e-book stores (Kindle, Kobo, etc.) were actually often selling e-books at a loss, particularly with bestsellers.

My question is, is this practice still going on with books offered by publishers who are not yet on the agency system? The majority of books I buy are non-agency books, and generally fit into one of the two following categories:

- a new release that's discounted versus the hardcover (or expensive trade paperback), such as: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/new...ewthread&f=215

- a back catalogue title discounted against a paperback, such as: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/World...U-Q/page1.html

Also, since Kobo sends me a new discount code in email once every ten days or so, usually for 20-30% off, and with the help of MobileRead contributors at https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...discount+codes it's possible to turn most single use codes into a five-use code, I get and additional 20-30% off all my favourite non-agency books. So my second question is, is Kobo actually making money off of me after these additional discounts? I don't want to "work the system" by using these unintentionally multi-use codes such that non-agency books always lose money for the e-book store of my choice, I want to be fair to everyone. My girlfriend already refuses to turn them into multi-use codes, thinking that it's unfair and not wanting Kobo to lose money over the practice.

All thoughts appreciated.

02-12-2012, 11:51 PM	#1
scrapking Evangelist Posts: 467 Karma: 1073260 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Victoria, BC Device: Kobo Vox, Kobo Glo	Do e-reader stores still use non-agency books as loss leaders? When the big debate about some publishers wanting to bring in the so-called "Agency model" for the e-book industry was raging, one of the more interesting points for me was that the publishers would actually make less money under it than with the status quo. The way it was explained in some articles at the time was e-book stores (Kindle, Kobo, etc.) were actually often selling e-books at a loss, particularly with bestsellers. My question is, is this practice still going on with books offered by publishers who are not yet on the agency system? The majority of books I buy are non-agency books, and generally fit into one of the two following categories: - a new release that's discounted versus the hardcover (or expensive trade paperback), such as: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/new...ewthread&f=215 - a back catalogue title discounted against a paperback, such as: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/World...U-Q/page1.html Also, since Kobo sends me a new discount code in email once every ten days or so, usually for 20-30% off, and with the help of MobileRead contributors at https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...discount+codes it's possible to turn most single use codes into a five-use code, I get and additional 20-30% off all my favourite non-agency books. So my second question is, is Kobo actually making money off of me after these additional discounts? I don't want to "work the system" by using these unintentionally multi-use codes such that non-agency books always lose money for the e-book store of my choice, I want to be fair to everyone. My girlfriend already refuses to turn them into multi-use codes, thinking that it's unfair and not wanting Kobo to lose money over the practice. All thoughts appreciated. Last edited by scrapking; 02-12-2012 at 11:54 PM.