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Originally Posted by JSWolf
What the press doesn't understand is that if Amazon gives in to Hatchette, then Hatchette will be going back to agency prices and that means higher prices for those that buy Hatchette eBooks. The only thing stopping agency for now is Amazon and would most people want agency prices back? I would think not.
So tell these publications to understand what's at stack before calling Amazon crazy. Look at it from the consumer point of view and see who's the one that's against the consumer.
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I am afraid we are way past the point of either agency bad, non-agency good for the customer. I can see agency pricing possible to be consumer friendly. Maybe not with a fixed price, but possibly with a fixed price range. Or with discounting allowed under special circumstances only - e.g. buy 2 at full price, get 3rd book 20% off if bought together, or discount on pre orders. What about a mixed mode agency / wholesale contract? Set the price fixed by publisher at release, and after some time (e.g. 3 months) allow discounting.
That Amazon and Hachette are still negotiating only means one thing for certain: the contract will be different than was enforced in 2010, even if it is under agency again. And quite frankly the consumer is only a secondary concern. People will buy at whichever price if people wants it bad enough. For example:
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Originally Posted by pwalker8
Well, I'm a consumer and from my point of view, I don't want to see books and ebooks treated as a race to the bttton, generic commodity. I buy books from specific authors, not generic "parts is parts" ebooks.
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Another prediction of mine: Amazon will still keep the biggest market share on ebooks, no matter how the negotiations end. Last time around the biggest losers were the small indie bookstores and the consumers, with Apple being the one that came out as biggest winner. This time the publishers are walking on legally thin ice.