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Originally Posted by pwalker8
And sometimes you don't make Jack and go out of business, which is what happened to Fictionwise and BooksOnBoard. Fictionwise sold itself to B&N back in 2009, before the Agency pricing model was introduced in 2010. The Buywise Club, i.e. Fictionwise's discount business model, was actually discontinued in March 2010.
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I wasn't into Fictionwise or Books on Board though I did hear very good things about them and their business models. I haven't looked closely enough into the matter to have an informed opinion on the reason for the demise of either. Common sense and logic would indicate that business models built on discounting Big Publishing's books had Buckley's chance of surviving agency. Logically such business models were doomed by its introduction. To survive the businesses concerned needed to find a new business model which could thrive under the new arrangements. Neither seem to have succeeded.
A matador of course may wave a red cape at a bull. I don't know what you call a person who waves a red cape at a penguin. Good luck.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pwalker8
Getting cheap books is great, except that if it's not a sustainable business model, then it goes out of business. Many companies have found that playing the discount game and the race to the bottom tends to be an unsustainable business model. You are basically trying to survive on a very narrow profit margin, which means anytime there is a down turn, you go belly up. Anyone remember what else happened in 2009? Big economic downturn.
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We've had this discussion before and I don't expect we will ever agree. However, I would respectfully point out that pricing below Big Publishing does not automatically make a business model unsustainable nor constitute a race to the bottom. For the former to be true would require Big Publishing be so efficient and competitive that no one else could do better. Yet Amazon clearly has. Comprehensively.