Amazon is nobody's friend

[kennyc]

Hmmm, Amazon is a corporation, a business, like every business it intends to make a profit. It does this in a variety of ways. Some things it does is good for consumers, some is bad. Overall I think it is good and I am a regular (perhaps obsessive) customer. The vast majority of my books come via Amazon either as used pbooks or ebooks. Why? mostly selection, information about the books and price.

I don't like mobi format though, in that respect Amazon is an outlier from the standard epub. If they would change that and get rid of DRM and shrug off the slavish chains of agency pricing control I'd be happy as a clam.

And I am looking forward to seeing what they do in the tablet world!

[mldavis2]

I have no complaints with Amazon. When I access one of several price-comparison web sites in search of a pBook or eBook, Amazon is almost always the cheapest, fastest and most convenient of dozens of listed sources. There have been very few books that I've searched for that are not listed.

[David Gaughran]

I don't really understand the point of this article. With only minor editing, it could be about any big company.

Companies will always seek to make the most profit they can. Often this involves eliminating the competition and paying as little tax as possible.

I know some find some of Amazon's business practices unsavory. Personally, I've never been on the sharp end of that (apart from the boneheaded $2 Surcharge they apply to most e-books for international customers).

As a self-publisher, I know that Amazon are the most "friendly" retailer to work with. By that, I mean they don't actively work to reduce the visibility of our books, and give as an even playing field to take on the work from the large publishers (unlike, say, Apple and Barnes & Noble).

For that, I am grateful. But I'm not naive enough to think they are doing this out of the goodness of their heart. I'm fully aware that just because my interests and Amazon's interests might be aligned for now (poking the Big Six in the eye), that could well be different in the future.

But I am happy with their self-publishing platform: it's easy to use, has great functionality, and allows me to reach customers around the world - all for free.

And as a reader, they have the best online store out there, bar none.

[Tony1988]

Companies and the customer relationship has always been the same. They have never been friends. Companies want to make a buck and consumers want to save. End of story.

[Sydney's Mom]

I love reading, and for that reason, I love Amazon. I can get just about any book, shipped to my door, for free, in 2 days. A lot come overnight. Compared with getting in my car, driving to the bookstore, spending at least an hour, and coming out with 5 or 6 books I will never read, I love being able to shop online.

I agree the $9.99 wasn't the best thing. It certainly conditioned me. Now, I have a real problem paying over that. I think I mistakenly assumed that since Amazon was selling the books at $9.99, that is what they were worth. I need to work on changing that mindset.

Independent bookstores were great, just like independent yarn stores were a pleasure. But they went out of business. Just this last Saturday, I discovered I was missing a book in a set of knitting books. I went online to find it, decided to look at bestselling knitting books, and walked away with $200 of knitting books. Not all are coming in 2 days, and some are pre-orders, so I will get some nice surprises. If I had gone to a local yarnstore to get knitting books, I would only be able to look at the limited selection they had on hand.

Yes, internet sales taxes are coming. They are coming because Amazon has been so successful. An extra $20 on my bill, the price of a single book, isn't going to be a big deal. At least I hope it won't.

Great article. Thanks for posting it.

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

* shrugs * No company is anybody's friend.

I think this sums up the counter argument very nicely.

Chocolate isn't my friend either. Not gonna stop me from eating it.

Potato Chips and French Fries here.

Amazon provides a service that I find beneficial and I use it.

Clearly the person posting that blog thinks that Amazon provides a service that he can use since he advertises his books sales on Amazon just above his posting a blog ranting about how evil Amazon is.

I do love irony.

That is irony right? And not stupidity?

[Hellmark]

Now, I really don't seer why the big deal on the $9.99 pricing. Most books I've bought have always been under that. Yeah, I've waited till it was in paperback, but most of the paperbooks I bought was under the $9.99 pricing ($7.99 seemed to be the most common price for the longest time). After Agency has kicked in, I've noticed that as a whole, prices seem to be higher for both paper and ebook, for the same sort of book I used to get (paperback available, mainstream fiction).

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

* shrugs * No company is anybody's friend.

Thank you! It seems the purpose of every business, is to drive their competition out of business so that they are the only ones in business.

All companies care about is their bottom lines and how to increase them by charging us more, and giving us less than what we paid for.

They take advantage of every loophole they can find, outsource their jobs to put people out of work (who will no longer have the money to spend on their products) and basically do whatever they can to screw people over.

Amazon isn't any different from any other sleazy business operation.

[MrsJoseph]

I'm not a huge Amazon person for only *some*of the reasons that the author mentioned.

I do hate Amazon's efforts to own the internet, though. In addition to the companies the author mentions Amazon also owns:

AbeBooks
AmazonLocal - Local deals like Groupon
AmazonWireless - cell phone kisok but amazon branded
Askville - Like Yahoo answer- amazon branded
Audible
Diapers.com
DPReview - digital Photograhy database
Endless - shoes (and clothes IIRC)
Fabric - what it says - sewing
IMDb - movies
MYHABIT - clothes
Shopbop - designer clothes and shoes
Small Parts - hardware store
Soap.com - home products
Warehouse Deals - amazon branded
Woot - this one just bothered me a lot. I loved Woot!
Zappos - mostly shoes but also clothes

[Andrew H.]

What a profoundly stupid article!

Amazon is not my "friend." However, I am a consumer, and Amazon is extremely consumer-focused. And if there is a choice between serving me and serving the publisher, well, I'd rather the the on that Amazon serves.

And his point about Amazon being "deceptive" by not changing the names of Zappos or Audible or whatever, is more stupidity. First of all, one of the points of buying these companies is because they were already established in their particular area. If millions of people associate Zappos or Audible with shoes or audiobooks, it would be dumb for Amazon to change their name: that's a big part of the value. Secondly, there is no deception - audible and zappos both announced that they were being bought by Amazon, and offered customers the option of using their Amazon account instead of their Z or Aud. account.

[stonetools]

EowynCarter nails it.
I think that the author does paint Amazon darker than it actually is. The article, though , is a welcome counterweight to those who see Amazon as Captain America and the publishers as Dr. Doom,Galactus, Darkseid and Magneto united.

I think that what you can depend on is that Amazon is going to act in its corporate self-interest. When it tried to establish 9.99 as the default ebook price it wasn't doing that to "help consumers". Some people herethought that this was somehow the "right price" for ebooks, but that wasn't why Amazon did that. Rather, it was doing that to drive out competitors and establish its monopoly in the ebook market. After the competitors were driven out, we would have seen the "profit-maximizing monopolist " price, which would most assuredly have not been 9.99.

The publishers , who were acting in THEIR self -interest (and the interest of its authors) countered with agency pricing . In that they were supported by Apple (who acted in ITS self-interest-it wanted its own store), by Google (ditto), by B&N and Kobo( Amazon competitors), and by independent booksellers (who wanted their own ebook space). Do you see a pattern yet?

[Hellmark]

I've followed Amazon's practices for a while, and while I don't agree with some, as a whole I am fine with. I understand they're in it for money, anyone who thinks ANY business (even nonprofits, since while they don't keep it, they still want as much money as they can to further their goals) is not in it for money is stupid. On the things Amazon does that I don't like, I don't support them there (for instance, I don't buy Kindle books).

Woot, hasn't been an Amazon company all that terribly long, and for the most part has been unchanged by Amazon. Same people run it, in the same areas, and they do the same thing. They announced when they were bought out, don't hide that they were bought out, and nothing has changed, so why does it matter that Amazon owns them now?

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by stonetools

EowynCarter nails it.
I think that the author does paint Amazon darker than it actually is. The article, though , is a welcome counterweight to those who see Amazon as Captain America and the publishers as Dr. Doom,Galactus, Darkseid and Magneto united.

I think that what you can depend on is that Amazon is going to act in its corporate self-interest. When it tried to establish 9.99 as the default ebook price it wasn't doing that to "help consumers". Some people herethought that this was somehow the "right price" for ebooks, but that wasn't why Amazon did that. Rather, it was doing that to drive out competitors and establish its monopoly in the ebook market. After the competitors were driven out, we would have seen the "profit-maximizing monopolist " price, which would must assuredly have not been 9.99.

The publishers , who were acting in THEIR self -interest (and the interest of its authors) countered with agency pricing . In that they were supported by Apple (who acted in ITS self-interest-it wanted its own store), by Google (ditto), by B&N and Kobo( Amazon competitors), and by independent booksellers (who wanted their own ebook space). Do you see a pattern yet?

And this is why I buy books that I want at a price that I am comfortable with. Business is business. It is nothing personal. Businesses are driven to make the most profit possible.

Agency pricing never made any sense to me because the Publishers made more money under the old system then the new system. I know that the Publishers think that the higher ebook prices will encourage people to buy the DTB but that is not happening. If the Publishers are making more money with Agency Pricing, then that is what they are going to do based on self interest.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by Crusader

This is a very interesting article with regards to Amazon and their business practices.

http://www.hellnotes.com/amazon-is-n...0KuLrg.twitter

Some interesting points are made and there are connections I didn't know about.

How dare you post an article that does not protray the Great and Almighty AmaZOn in a beautiful light of the glory it deserves?

Do you know what forum you are on? This is Mobileread.com. Amazon is the Almighty KING and nothing I MEAN NOTHING is better than the Kindle.

Please have your post removed.

[DiapDealer]

Is Random House my friend? I forget.