One of the article's points was --
Quote:
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They [the publishers] fought tooth and nail to get Amazon to agree to an agency model pricing structure that actually made them LESS money than Amazon’s existing $9.99-across-the-board pricing scheme. They could do the exact same thing with Amazon’s regular books, and they should because Amazon’s prices are a greater threat to indie bookstores than $9.99 ebooks were to the future of digital publishing.
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I disagree. I may like little indie bookstores, indie hardware stores, indie clothing stores, indie grocery stores, etc. They look nice on a small town's main street. However, I also like cheaper prices, wider selections, and the convenience of at home shopping. I don't think Amazon should be required to sell its books for the same amount as a tiny indie book store. Just as I don't expect to pay the same amount for a new kitchen from Home Depot compared to a new kitchen from the specialty store down the street.
One of the points to big warehouse stores like Amazon is that they keep overhead as low as possible and their overhead is spread across millions of books. An indie bookstore has a much much higher overhead cost per book. Amazon passes these savings to the consumer, which attracts more customers. Without the ability to sell at lower prices Amazon would not sell nearly as many books, and at some point it would be Amazon facing extinction. Amazon's overhead per book is only lower if they sell a ton of books.
As a consumer I want the choice to decide if I'm more interested in low prices, wider selections, and convenient home delivery -- or if I'm willing to pay extra from my local indie bookstore. Maybe only one of these models will be able to survive, but I'm not convinced that it should be the indie model.