Quote:
Originally Posted by sirbruce
Again, while that $14 worth of overhead may seem impressive for a $50 hardback, when you're talking paperbacks (which is what people compare ebook prices to) it's a lot less impressive. That's $2.24 on an $8 paperback....
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Again, the overhead savings are not recognized only at the publisher level, but also at the reseller's.
But, even if we disregard the resellers' cost saving, your example above would still realize close to 30% savings to the consumer, while maintaining the old profit margins for publishers. And the price will be close to that magical $5-$6 range, where it appears publishers can make money, and "piracy" is sufficiently "unattractive" to most consumers.
Now, it will likely affect the profit on hardcovers, as ebooks are published at the same time (if they are delayed, there will be much increased piracy for some popular titles.) But, one can argue that with ebooks there will be more impulse purchase, which together with the cost savings, may result in less drastic business model reshaping, than many currently fear.