Quote:
Originally Posted by Ansileran
Of course, I don't see why publishers set the price for the final sale, as long as they are paid the agreed upon sum per book... but that's another topic ^^
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Because that would defeat the whole point of fixed pricing, which is to provide a level playing field for small independent booksellers. Supermarkets, etc, could afford to sell bestsellers at essentially cost price (as they do in the UK, for example).
The abolition of fixed pricing in the UK has resulted in in the almost complete disappearance of independent bookshops. I'm not saying that the deep discounting done by Amazon UK hasn't been a good thing for the consumer, but if the premise is that independent bookshops are good for society, then what's happened in the UK is a graphic illustration of the effect of a free market.