Quote:
Originally Posted by rcentros
Example ... I've just finished reading The Silmarillion (after years of not reading it while being a big fan of Tolkien's books). I thought I might want to add it to my book collection (the copy I read was borrowed from the library via Overdrive). Here are the prices in the "competitive" eBook market.
Amazon – $9.99
Barnes & Noble – $9.99
Google Play Store – $9.99
Kobo – $9.99
Apple iTunes – $9.99
Not that I think this is an unreasonable price, but it would be nice to see SOME separation (if only by 50¢).
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There is nothing to stop retailers competing on the price of these books by offering rebates, reward points, etc.
Kobo currently has its super points reward scheme, which gives a small proportion of the price paid back in the form of points that can be accumulated and redeemed on a future purchase. There is nothing to stop other retailers offering a more generous rebate scheme if they wanted to compete.
If you want to see real anti-competitive practices in action, look at Amazon's Kindle Unlimited scheme, where self-publishers have to agree not to make their books available at competing retailers if they want to participate.