Quote:
Originally Posted by j.p.s
I think that shalym's point is that the agency model only went away with government intervention. There had not yet been sufficient reduction in sales to cause price reduction. That point absolutely remains valid.
It is certainly possible, maybe even likely, that the agency model would still be in place had the government not intervened.
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Oh, no question Agency would still be in place.
But Agency wasn't just about raising prices. It was also about *discounting*.
Prices dropped, not because the retailer thought it made sense, but because the publishers discovered (surprise!) that ebook demand was actually elastic.
Shatzkin had a report in mid-2010 from a Penguin exec who was delighted at his new power to raise retail prices, all the way to $17 and gloating at all the extra money he was going to make. Then July came about and Penguin sales were way down and Random House was up 25%… Penguin prices inched down and Penguin started leaning on B&N to pressure RH into getting with the program.
BPH prices never dropped back to early 2010 levels until after the conspiracy was dismantled and they never allowed discounting but they did drop the prices. They had to. And they still lost sales and revenue.
If you look at the numbers from DBW the BPHs have been in decline since the Kindle era began.
(Actually, since before. But the chart doesn't go back that far.)