Thread: Is the new 'agency' system going to change your buying habits?
View Single Post
Old 03-13-2010, 07:44 AM   #23
Kali Yuga
Professional Contrarian
Kali Yuga ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Kali Yuga ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Kali Yuga ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Kali Yuga ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Kali Yuga ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Kali Yuga ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Kali Yuga ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Kali Yuga ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Kali Yuga ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Kali Yuga ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Kali Yuga ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Kali Yuga's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,045
Karma: 3289631
Join Date: Mar 2009
Device: Kindle 4 No Touchie
Quote:
Originally Posted by bgalbrecht View Post
I was going to claim that I multi-task, but it is hard to type and floss at the same time.
I'd be very impressed if you could, though


Quote:
Originally Posted by bgalbrecht
I don't think Amazon was discounting all ebooks to $9.99, just the best sellers for which they are discounting the hardcovers. But they are arguing that ebooks ought to be priced as budget books, when budget editions have been released, and I think this latest blog post says that MacMillan doesn't agree. Sargent clearly refuses that proposition, and is only willing to make the concession that a budget ebook price is no more than $10, and maybe less.
Well, Amazon's stated goal was to establish $10 as the "standard" price point. Some ebooks (new and older) were priced higher, but it wasn't limited just to best-sellers. They (or other retailers) never explicitly said their goal was to force a reduction in wholesale prices, but it does seem apparent that was their strategy.

Sargent's recent blog post indicates they don't plan to peg ebook prices to paperback costs, they'll base it on demand. The instance he mentions is a book that is available for awhile in mass market and trade paper, and the publisher drops the MM copy; the ebook price may go up to match the trade edition. He is basically operating off the principle that the different paper editions are just window dressing on demand-based pricing. HC-to-paperback is just a far less efficient mechanism than what you can accomplish with an electronic good, whose price can be updated at any time.

I might add that eventually there may well be benefits to disconnecting those prices. Let's say a typical paper book is in HC for 8 months, and it takes a month or two to ramp up the paperback production, distribution and marketing -- mostly to place a thin veneer over the mechanisms of demand. With the ebook edition, it will start out with a lower official price, then it may drift down as demand falls, to the point where the ebook may fit your price in 6 months instead of 10 or 12.

Besides, in a few years, basing ebook prices off of paper will make as little sense as basing a DVD price off of a movie ticket or VCR price; or basing a digital download price off of a CD or vinyl record price; or a PS3 game off of a physical copy of Parcheesi....
Kali Yuga is offline   Reply With Quote