Originally Posted by HansTWN
Well, if Amazon keeps the prices for bestsellers below cost for eternity, then yes. In that case consumers benefit and I don't see what the scary thing about the "monopoly" would be. But the scenario some are painting here is that they will then raise the prices to clean up --- which again would make it very easy for someone else to come in and compete with them. So, which one is it?
If someone does enter the market, Amazon within minutes can undercut their prices. Amazon price matches now and there is a good chance they would continue to do so. It would be difficult for someone to start an ebook retailer knowing Amazon's past behavior.
Besides, I don't think Amazon will sell below cost now --- they don't enjoy the generous margins on the Kindle hardware anymore. And in the past a major part of the strategy was to get people to switch to ebooks. A major part of the market has switched already by now. So most probably they will sell at cost or slightly above it.
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