MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Amazon vs. Hachette Update

fjtorres · 08-02-2014, 05:20 PM

I'm not defending Amazon. If they want me to defend them they should be pushing for ebooks at a baseline of $4.99, not $9.99.

We seem to have different definitions of baseline: to me, baseline is the expected price for the category. Anybody wanting to go higher would need a very good excuse.

Like in console gaming: $60 is the baseline for AAA XBOX/PS3 titles. A few games come in special editions that run anywhere from $10 to $40 extra, but they have to make a strong case that the extras are worth the premium. Going higher than the baseline is rare.

That is how I read Amazon's statement: run of the mill midlist and even most name author ebooks (which, name or no name, are nothing special) should run at the baseline or lower. The occasional Harry Potter-type event release might command a slight premium but those would be as rare as the $99 console game.

08-02-2014, 05:20 PM	#166
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	I'm not defending Amazon. If they want me to defend them they should be pushing for ebooks at a baseline of $4.99, not $9.99. We seem to have different definitions of baseline: to me, baseline is the expected price for the category. Anybody wanting to go higher would need a very good excuse. Like in console gaming: $60 is the baseline for AAA XBOX/PS3 titles. A few games come in special editions that run anywhere from $10 to $40 extra, but they have to make a strong case that the extras are worth the premium. Going higher than the baseline is rare. That is how I read Amazon's statement: run of the mill midlist and even most name author ebooks (which, name or no name, are nothing special) should run at the baseline or lower. The occasional Harry Potter-type event release might command a slight premium but those would be as rare as the $99 console game.