Amazon says 'will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms'

[bwaldron]

Originally Posted by llreader

At some point, though, some publisher will find the "sweet spot" and then everyone else will eventually fall in line. But that could take a while.

Markets can find such sweet spots pretty quickly, if allowed to do so.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The problem is that I've seen way too many eBooks not get the price lowered when the paperback is released. How do we know that MacMillan will stay on top of prices and actually lower them when the paperback is released? We don't. And we have too much evidence of prices not lowering then lowering.

The point I think you are missing is that Macmillan is saying that this is going to be a new policy. So the fact they didn't lower prices when they did not have a dynamic pricing policy does not mean they won't lower prices when it comes into effect.

I don't see why it's so hard to conceive of the possibility that Macmillan's behavior may change after they say they are going to do something different.

Just because Macmillan followed their policy of keeping ebook prices high does not mean they will not follow a new policy of lowering them over time when it comes into effect.

[guyanonymous]

I wish I could be as trusting and believing as you in the follow-through of their stated intentions.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by guyanonymous

I wish I could be as trusting and believing as you in the follow-through of their stated intentions.

I'm not sure how trusting anyone is-I think what Lemurion may be trying to say is he's not willing to toss blame and incrimination at anyone until he sees if they follow-through with their stated intentions.

[guyanonymous]

Fair enough - perhaps if they provided a precise timeline for price-reductions, I might give them more benefit of the doubt.

The whole situation that has been created - Apple/the three publishers that have signed on strikes me as price-fixing and collusion and on principal it pisses me off. That's my bias and I admit it.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by guyanonymous

Fair enough - perhaps if they provided a precise timeline for price-reductions, I might give them more benefit of the doubt.

The whole situation that has been created - Apple/the three publishers that have signed on strikes me as price-fixing and collusion and on principal it pisses me off. That's my bias and I admit it.

I guess the real question is-do you trust the market to correct itself?

Publishers claim that with Amazon's fixed price, the business was not sustainable. If Publishers, who are now getting their way, can't successfully sell at the prices THEY set, then again, the business will not be sustainable. So Publishers will have to adjust prices, or, go out of business.


I actually understand Amazon's strategy-it is right from Apple's playbook: People aren't used to buying digital music, so let's set the price at one easy to remember, easy to swallow price, and set expectations. Then, once the market matures, you have more flexibility.

I guess a lot of people's worries are that the eBook market is too immature for such a change...after all, Apple held pricing at .99 for 6 years. Amazon has held 9.99 for just over 2 years.

[guyanonymous]

I don't trust the market to naturally correct itself as it is not permitted to do so when all mainstream players do everything in their power to not let that happen through collusion and price-fixing. When the choice is buy A at a price you can't afford/justify or do without, and A is the only thing on the market...consumers have no choice.

And sure, they can do without, BUT, as artists are so fond of saying, art is a necessity of a society and for personal happiness etc.

(I do agree that sellers should be able to set their own price-points, but vendors are also able to say, it won't sell at that price, so I don't want to waste my virtual shelf-space. It's hard, though, when all sellers agree to a set-price and artificially remove the ability of the market to adjust).

[kjk]

Originally Posted by guyanonymous

I don't trust the market to naturally correct itself as it is not permitted to do so when all mainstream players do everything in their power to not let that happen through collusion and price-fixing. When the choice is buy A at a price you can't afford/justify or do without, and A is the only thing on the market...consumers have no choice.

But were Apple and Amazon allowing the market to naturally correct itself by setting prices at 0.99/9.99 ? Or were they conditioning the market to accept that as a reasonable price?

[guyanonymous]

No! They weren't either!

[kjk]

Originally Posted by guyanonymous

No! They weren't either!

ahahah, yeah. It's pretty messed up.

[llreader]

Originally Posted by guyanonymous

I don't trust the market to naturally correct itself as it is not permitted to do so when all mainstream players do everything in their power to not let that happen through collusion and price-fixing. When the choice is buy A at a price you can't afford/justify or do without, and A is the only thing on the market...consumers have no choice.

Well, we still have the choices, just not good ones or "fair" ones. We can choose not to consume, or consume something else. I posted in one of these threads that classic, unencumbered texts are a good read, and there is enough to keep you busy for a while. A sharp drop in sales may be the corrective stimulus needed.

[guyanonymous]

I love the classics, and there are 20000+ of them on Gutenberg to peruse.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by kjk

I'm not sure how trusting anyone is-I think what Lemurion may be trying to say is he's not willing to toss blame and incrimination at anyone until he sees if they follow-through with their stated intentions.

That's exactly what I'm saying. I don't know if they will actually reduce their prices enough for me to buy a Macmillan ebook (I haven't since the Tor Webscriptions experiment).

However, I do think it's extremely premature to say they won't do something in a new policy that differs from their current policy when the new policy isn't supposed to come into effect for two months yet.

People believe they are going to implement the part of the new and different policy that says they will raise prices, but not the part that says they will reduce prices. Remember, they did put a full page ad in Publisher's lunch saying they are going to be reducing prices over time. Macmillan has never said anything like that every before.

I say give them the benefit of the doubt and at least wait until they are supposed to put the policy into effect before saying they aren't doing it.

[guyanonymous]

They aren't doing it right now

And I'm sorry if I implied that they won't as opposed to my own doubt that they will. I'll believe it when I see it.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by guyanonymous

I don't trust the market to naturally correct itself as it is not permitted to do so when all mainstream players do everything in their power to not let that happen through collusion and price-fixing.

But what is Amazon selling books at at a loss if not price-fixing?