eBook settlement credit is on the way

[maddz]

Hmmm. Found £3.00 credit in my Kobo account but whether it's the settlement or an attempt to get me using Kobo I'm not sure. I've only ever purchased 11 books from them (3 in 2013, the rest earlier this year). The only reason I have an account is because I used to use a Kobo Touch (now retired because of firmware issues), and I purchased books not available (or cheaper than) on Amazon.

The problem now is which titles to spend this credit on.

[pwalker8]

Odd, in addition to the Amazon credit I mentioned earlier, I just got a check for $28.

[maddz]

Originally Posted by maddz

Hmmm. Found £3.00 credit in my Kobo account but whether it's the settlement or an attempt to get me using Kobo I'm not sure. I've only ever purchased 11 books from them (3 in 2013, the rest earlier this year). The only reason I have an account is because I used to use a Kobo Touch (now retired because of firmware issues), and I purchased books not available (or cheaper than) on Amazon.

The problem now is which titles to spend this credit on.

OK, nothing to do with the settlement - it's just some promotional credit which expires next weekend.

[library addict]

I received 4 checks today.

Most from closed stores (Sony, Borders, ARe), the other for books I purchased directly from Penguin.

I've adjusted my book buying habits, but on days like today I do miss the glory days of Fictionwise (100% micropay!) and having so many more ebook sellers to choose from.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by library addict

I received 4 checks today.

Most from closed stores (Sony, Borders, ARe), the other for books I purchased directly from Penguin.

I've adjusted my book buying habits, but on days like today I do miss the glory days of Fictionwise (100% micropay!) and having so many more ebook sellers to choose from.

Apple and the price fix six screwed the little guys who had a very nice way of doing business.

[Quake1028]

Originally Posted by Quake1028

$50.35 in my Amazon account

Another $12.40 in my account now.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Apple and the price fix six screwed the little guys who had a very nice way of doing business.

The timeline doesn't support that narrative. A good portion of the little guys had already gone belly up before Apple entered the ebook business. When Apple was looking to come into the ebook store business, Amazon had 80% of the ebook market in the US, so if you want to point fingers, point them there. Pretty hard to run someone out of the market when you aren't even in the market and just as hard to run people out of business when you have less that 20 percent of the market at your peak.

The bottom line is that Amazon was very aggressive in the ebook market at that point, investing in an infrastructure that no one else in the business was close to matching. They were aggressively selling name ebooks under cost to capture market share. That, in addition to creating an infrastructure that made it very easy to buy ebooks and have them automatically download on the the kindle readers even if you didn't have wifi (their whispernet), and building the biggest inventory of ebooks by far was very hard to beat.

Apple probably had the cash and marketing muscle to compete with them, but the anti-trust suit made them decide that the fix was in and it just wasn't worth the effort, thus there is little competition. The fact that Amazon quickly caved on agency pricing after the competition had dried up, showed that it was all about market share. Lack of competition is a bad thing for the consumer.

[kansaskyle]

I was excited to get a credit only to find my bride had used it unknowingly on another purchase! It looks like it doesn't apply to just ebooks.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

The timeline doesn't support that narrative.

That is BS and you know it. Shops like Fictionwise and BooksOnBoard were doing well before Agency. After Agency came into being and they had to renegotiate their business models had to be changed and those business modes were what made them stand out from the likes of Amazon. Lots of MR users shopped at these stores. There is no way they were going under before Agency.

Yes, some stores did go under and it was not from Agency. PaperBackDigital was one such store. But they only sold Mobipocket format eBooks and that was not sustainable with MS Reader and ePub.

So please spare us this "Agency wasn't as fault" because it most surely was at fault.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by kansaskyle

I was excited to get a credit only to find my bride had used it unknowingly on another purchase! It looks like it doesn't apply to just ebooks.

You should NEVER let her buy stuff with your account. She should have her own account. My wife has her own account and I would never use any credit she had on her account.

You should to make your bride get her own account and return whatever it was she blew your credit on. You can't let her keep stealing your money.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You should NEVER let her buy stuff with your account. She should have her own account. My wife has her own account and I would never use any credit she had on her account.

You should to make your bride get her own account and return whatever it was she blew your credit on. You can't let her keep stealing your money.

Hmmm...my husband and I do have our own accounts, but that's just because he buys a lot of things for his work on his account, and I buy things for work on my account. (and for Christmas presents ) However, the personal credit cards on the accounts are the same, and neither one of us considers it "stealing" to do so. If you think that your wife is "stealing" from you when she makes a purchase that uses "your money", then maybe you need to re-consider what marriage means.

Shari

[issybird]

I think Jon was joking.

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by issybird

I think Jon was joking.

Or he's met my ex.

[John F]

Jon, were you joking?

I'm guessing he isn't.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

Or he's met my ex.

Or my ex.