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Originally Posted by Fiacha
If I buy paper, I have something that I can resell. If I buy electrons I cannot resell them when I am done. Therefore, the value to me of the electrons is lower than the cheapest available paper format.
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Speaking personally, I buy to
keep. I don't resell books, so that's not a factor in my purchase decision.
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Setting the price of a Kindle book higher than the price of a readily available mass market paperback is a significant deterrent to buying a kindle (not that the Connect Store is noticably better).
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Assuming there
is a readily available mass market PB edition. What about the case of new releases only available in hardcover in a paper edition?
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Amazon has no excuse since they sell the paper editions and so have the ability to set the kindle prices at a reasonable discount to the lowest paper edition automatically.
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But you assume Amazon controls the final price.
Retailers who sell books buy them from wholesalers or the publisher. They get them at a discount from the full retail price, and the difference is where they make their money.
We don't know what Amazon pays the publishers for the electronic editions they offer, but I'm willing to bet it varies by title. Depending upon the book, the price at which the publisher sells to them may not permit the pricing you desire.
And even if it does, that doesn't automatically mean Amazon will or should set the price that low. Pricing in a market economy is a matter of what the market will bear. The seller will want to set the price as high as possible to get the best margin and make the most money. "What the market will bear" is always the big question.
There was a thread elsewhere here with a poster recounting Amazon's pricing for a new Laurel K. Hamilton novel in Kindle format. The initial price was over $20. Over a period of a week or so, it dropped down to $15, and finally to the $10 price that is the more or less standard. No surprise at all. Amazon was assuming that there would be Hamilton fans who would want it badly enough to pay a higher price to get it right away. They could monitor the sales volume and make adjustments as it appeared demand was ebbing at the selected price point, and did.
From a business perspective, that's what Amazon should do, and it it doesn't, management can face questions from shareholders about why not.
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Dennis