|
I have seen information (and apologies for my "on the Internet somewhere" reference) that suggests that an assumption of negative effect of a secondhand market on creators/producers is a false assumption; that overall on things like, for example, computer games and vehicles, a thriving secondhand market boosts firsthand sales as the market is more willing to buy relatively high cost new items with an awareness that the cost is defrayed by a secondhand sale to someone else. The secondhand sale provides things at a lower cost to people who wouldn't have risked buying new (lest they discover they didn't like the item), and therefore acts as advertising as positive experience can lead them to purchase new in similar product next time.
I don't know how valid this is (as mentioned, I read it "somewhere on the internet"), and whether it also applies to secondhand books (and possibly libraries?), but I think it's an important point that would require evidence and consideration before making an assumption that secondhand books are bad for writers and publishers, especially if not having a secondhand market (as with ebooks) might make things worse for them, all else being equal (which it isn't, I know).
Cheers,
Marc
|