Unbelievable!- The French Still Flock to Bookstores

[Ninjalawyer]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

But. If you have a fixed price, you should also be required to innovate. Especially publishers. And that's one thing they simply won't do.

A fixed price is the antithesis of innovation, you can't have your cake and eat it to; innovating is costly and carries a lot of risk, there's no point in doing it if resting on your laurels can guarantee a steady stream of income with no risk.

[aceflor]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

there is something i read/heard before that talks about that soon all developed countries will look the same and the only thing that will distinguish them from others is their culture

I sure hope not, but it may be true. On the other side, I am the first hoping for a Starbucks opening nearby, so shame one me....

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by aceflor

I sure hope not, but it may be true. On the other side, I am the first hoping for a Starbucks opening nearby, so shame one me....

ooh, starbucks

i agree there should be a balance, but i don't want to see a walmart in ALL the countries i go to, no offense >_> here's my situation: in the vicinity of our university (which spans around 3 blocks only), there are 3 starbucks annnnd...3 coffee bean and tea leaf. it's ridiculous.

ah well, what can you expect from a person who admires the government of singapore?

there was once an arrogant american from the US embassy here who gave a talk at the university and was joking about the gov't of singapore. i wanted to punch her so badly...but of course, that was years ago, before all these economic thingys happened

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer

A fixed price is the antithesis of innovation, you can't have your cake and eat it to; innovating is costly and carries a lot of risk, there's no point in doing it if resting on your laurels can guarantee a steady stream of income with no risk.

No, that's now how the fixed price works. The fixed price means that shop A must sell that book at €10* and shop B must do the same. Only after a certain amount of time has passed (I believe it's 6 months) can shop B put the book on sale (or send it back to the publisher). Both shops will pay €6 to the publisher

Without a fixed price, shop A would try to sell the book at €10 (and have a €4 profit) But shop B gets its profit from selling groceries and only wants to use the books to lure people to the shop, so shop B sells that exact same book for €5. And loses €1 per book. But that doesn't matter as the majority of buyers will spend more than that for the rest of the stock.

The fixed price simply makes sure that shop A can stay in business with only books and shop B can't mistreat books simply to lure people to the shop. The publisher will get the same amount of money in both circumstances.


*all prices are made up!

[WT Sharpe]

This is no reflection on the most recent postings, but directed at people who know who they are. A pity that a small group of people bent on mischief had to spoil it for the rest.

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