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View Poll Results: How many digital bookstores do we need? | |||
1 | 10 | 10.00% | |
More than 1 | 90 | 90.00% | |
Voters: 100. You may not vote on this poll |
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02-02-2012, 03:27 AM | #1 |
Banned
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How many digital bookstores are needed?
Greetings!
If all prices are equal and the selection is the same, how many digital bookstores would you browse? |
02-02-2012, 07:05 AM | #2 |
Cheese Whiz
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Kind of a dumb premise
selection and prices aren't the only criteria people use to select any sort of vendor.
If you think you can get my business by offering me something ELSE besides selection and price, I say, go ahead and try! I'm willing to listen. Competition is good. |
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02-02-2012, 09:56 AM | #3 |
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Competition keeps businesses honest. A single bookstore would concentrate too much power in one business. A monopoly can charge whatever the market will bear. They just decide that they can maximize profits at X price, and set the price there. Competition drives prices lower, as competitors will lower their price to take business away from competitors.
The selection would suffer under a monopoly. Why should a monopoly bother to provide a wide selection of books, when the customer's choice is only to buy there or to do without. A monopoly would have total censorship powers. With competition, one seller can decide what books to stock, and another seller can make different decisions. The books still are available somewhere. There is no difference between a monopoly not stocking a book and the book being banned, the effect is the same. Why should a monopoly provide good customer service or good quality? The customer has no other choice, why treat the customer well. The more competition, the better. I like my Kindle, but I will buy at Smashwords if I can. |
02-02-2012, 10:09 AM | #4 |
Grand Sorcerer
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I think I'll have the flounder.
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02-02-2012, 10:29 AM | #5 |
PHD in Horribleness
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Given the option, I will buy from authors directly through their own sites. So, as many bookstores as there are authors I follow.
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02-02-2012, 10:46 AM | #6 |
Wizard
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Competition is good. I have very rarely seen the prices to be the same for an ebook in different stores.
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02-02-2012, 12:15 PM | #7 |
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I'm surprised that even 16% of respondents think that only one bookstore is needed. Even if you only use one bookstore, the existence of other bookstores benefits you. Think of it like a grocery store. If there was only one grocery store to choose from, that store would have little incentive to stock quality food at a good price. Even if you only shop at one grocery store, you still benefit from the competition among grocery stores.
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02-02-2012, 12:17 PM | #8 |
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Most ebook stores that carry current, DRMed books (if not all), only offer one format, so Kindle owners cannot buy from B&N, and vice versa. Only non-DRM books in multiple formats are sold in ebook stores.
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02-02-2012, 12:22 PM | #9 |
monkey on the fringe
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02-02-2012, 12:26 PM | #10 |
Grand Sorcerer
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02-02-2012, 01:10 PM | #11 |
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But Kindle owners could choose to jump ship to the Nook, and Nook owners could choose to jump ship to the Kindle. There are a number of smaller retailers to choose from. And if there is a book that is available from one retailer, but not from the other, nothing prevents you from purchasing it from one retailer and then stripping the DRM. The TOS may say you can't, but it doesn't prevent you from doing it. The existence of competition influences companies.
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02-02-2012, 01:53 PM | #12 |
Well trained by Cats
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Only 1,
If it is the right one. what separates the stores that sell DRM infested books from the Big publishers? It is the same book, sold at the same (List) price. So why do we need more Online stores when it just MOS? 90% of my new dead tree books were purchased at the same store (while they were in business). |
02-02-2012, 02:09 PM | #13 |
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Without competition, it is always the wrong store.
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02-02-2012, 03:51 PM | #14 |
Guru
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With agency pricing, price isn't really an issue now so I just buy from Amazon as they've the better overall system. Exceptions are for some authors who sell direct and Baen.
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02-02-2012, 04:36 PM | #15 |
Zealot
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Digital bookstores that let me support my local independent bookstore. That's why I use Google.
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