Amazon is battling German book publishers now

[sirmaru]

See this link to see Amazon's new battle with German book publishers:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...-international

"Amazon's adversary in the conflict is the Swedish Bonnier Group. The Swedish media conglomerate's Germany imprints include famous names in the country's publishing industry like Piper, Carlsen and Ullstein. Whenever Amazon sells a Bonnier e-book, it collects 30 percent of the retail price. But now Amazon wants its share hiked to 50 percent. So far, Bonnier is refusing to budge. "Amazon is undermining our ability to survive," says Christian Schumacher-Gebler, CEO for Bonnier Media Deutschland."

[CommonReader]

Labour disputes, thuggish security providers, a formal complaint by the federation of the German book industry about Amazon with the competition authority and the EU Commission is investigating Amazon's sweetheart tax deal with Luxembourg now (long overdue). Way to go, Amazon.

[ATimson]

So they want a share closer to what they receive on a print book. Seems reasonable.

[SteveEisenberg]

Interesting how when Amazon does this in the US, they claim it's for the sake of customers, and yet they do the same in Germany, where, due to fixed book prices, only Amazon Inc. can benefit.

Originally Posted by ATimson

So they want a share closer to what they receive on a print book. Seems reasonable.

Is it reasonable that Amazon demands the same margin on a digital product, as on a paper book, when there is no materials handling or shipping cost?* Yes, I agree it is reasonable. I hope Amazon doesn't get it, because I think publishers can put the money to better use than Amazon. But it is reasonable. It's reasonable because there is no such thing as an inherently fair price. But, by this logic, it also would be reasonable if the eBook costs consumers the same as the hardback, something that isn't a popular idea around here

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* As of 2009, Amazon.de (Germany) offered free shipping on all books. I presume that paper book shipping is still, at least, mostly free. Because of this, a margin of 50 percent on all books, paper as well as electronic, would in practice mean much higher profits on eBooks.