As I commented over at Teleread, I think there are a couple of things going on here. First, publishers set list prices. If a retailer (say Mobipocket) lets publishers set their price, they'll normally pick the list price (or else what does it mean). eBook LIST prices don't tend to be higher than pBook LIST prices.
Second, many publishers set eBook list prices identical to their paper prices because they're concerned that bookstores will see them as undercutting the bookstore otherwise. (I will note that Harlequin, which is largely squeezed out of bookstores, offers a modest discount on their eBooks.) Obviously Amazon sometimes discounts from list price.
Third, when Amazon sells below list price, they do so by reducing their own margin--they still pay the publisher for the book based on their negotiated discount from list (generally 45-55%). For whatever reason, Amazon doesn't seem to feel it necessary to discount eBooks it sells through Mobipocket (an Amazon subsidiary), although I don't think publishers would complain as long as they still got their full payment. In contrast, if a publisher wants to offer special pricing at Mobipocket, it gets only 50% of the discounted price.
Some comparisons look at the lowest price offered on Amazon rather than the price of new books. Comparing eBooks to used books isn't exactly fair because publishers don't offer used books.
Just as an added thought, many publishers who focus on eBooks (including my own
www.booksforabuck.com) offer significantly lower prices on eBooks than on paper versions of our works.
Rob Preece
Publisher,
www.BooksForABuck.com