Quote:
Originally Posted by rhadin
I wonder why there is such angst here on MR about some publishers and authors wanting to charge more than other publishers and authors? Seems to me the answer is not Amazon's way but the marketplace way: don't buy a book that costs more than you want to pay. If enough people refuse to pay the price, the price will be lowered. That's how capitalism is supposed to work.
But if you feel you have to bring everything down to the lowest common denominator as determined by Amazon, then why not apply this across the board? Why not start agitating that all automobiles be sold for $25,000 or less. After all, a Rolls Royce will get you from point A to point B just like a Yugo. And let's insist that Apple not sell any of its products for more than the price of the least expensive computer or smartphone. After all, there is nothing special about how Apple crunches numbers or places a telephone call -- it uses the same networks as non-Apple products.
Bottom line is that I find these diatribes against the BPHs and the prices they want to charge as ill-conceived. There is nothing god-like about Amazon's price capping and no reason why any publisher should adhere to it. Similarly, there is nothing god-like about the books the BPHs publish and no reason why Amazon should sell them.
Let the market work as it should, and if you are unwilling to do that, at least be consistent and require all manufacturers and products to be sold at a price that is equal to but not higher than that of any of its competitors. After all, a TV is a TV.
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I suspect it's a case of whose ox is getting gored along with a certain level of tribalism.