iPad Helping Book Publishers Gain More Control Over eBook Pricing

[TraceyS/FL]

why should price have anything to do with cost?

This probably is in direct relation to the "demands" for free apps without ads and the low prices in the App store.

Gimme something for 'nutin dude cause like, i deserve it and profit is evil.

 

[sjinsjca]

Thanks, Apple. I love paying more for things.

You pay more for things when supplies are low. Supplies are low when prices are artificially constrained. By freeing prices to rise in accordance with supply and demand, you attract competition and eventual price moderation.

It's hard for many folks to grasp, but it works and always will.

Apple has ensured a vibrant market in which publishers will eagerly play. That is to your pocketbook's advantage... eventually.

 

[jerome65]

This whole discussion would be humorous if it were not so sad. I believe that the article clearly states that at the current price Amazon is loosing money on every eBook sold. So those that think the price is too high expect to be sold a product at a loss, it is no wonder that the U.S. economy is in the toilet.

If an eBook is cannot find a market at the cost of production, marketing, and make a profit then it is probably a failed product and the publishers should continue with printed books.

 

[titomcgee]

Wait...what?

Seems a little weird for the folks praising this - it would be the equivalent if the music industry actually started charging what they want for music. Apple holds down the prices there, so why is it such a bad thing for Amazon to hold down the prices on books?

 

[jerome65]

Seems a little weird for the folks praising this - it would be the equivalent if the music industry actually started charging what they want for music. Apple holds down the prices there, so why is it such a bad thing for Amazon to hold down the prices on books?

I don't think that is is praising the publishers but a bit of a backlash on Amazon's pricing of the products and some people realize the economics of making the books. Amazon has dictated both the price and the publishers cut on an eBook. While this may have been OK when it started out because it was a new market that was not competing on a large level with their core business, it is not a good deal for the publishers going foreword if the eBooks take off and cut into physical book sales. Again from the article:

The increased prices will reportedly actually result in lower income for book publishers, serving instead to prevent Amazon from selling eBooks at a loss in order to draw in Kindle customers.

So Amazon in deciding on their pricing for eBooks has basically made the entire industry a loss leader to attract Kindle customers. This is not a good economic model for an industry. Sure it is common practice for a retailer to attract customers with products that are "on sale" at a loss, but those are typically temporary sale prices not regular prices and it is not an entire product line that is sold at a loss.

Even with the new pricing it is not a bad deal if you look at it. The list price of a new release hard cover books is $24-30. The publisher wants the eBook version to go for $12.99-14.99, which is still about 50% savings over the list price of the hard cover.

As for the publisher dictating the price, they always have in the past and it was not until big retailers came in that you started seeing major discounts. Magazine publishers pretty much get their newsstand price, Apple mandates their retail price, as does Nintendo for their products. This isn't as uncommon as it sounds.

Of course the market will decide, and if the publishers cannot sell their books at $12.99-14.99 and cannot make a profit at $9.99 then I'm sure they will stop selling eBook versions entirely or at least delay the release so that they can maximize their profits (and pay off their initial investment) off the hard cover before releasing the eBook...which is exactly what they do with the soft cover book and the movie industry does with DVD sales.

 

[Bruce Oksol]

Apple will bring a new pricing structure to eBooks, just like they did with iTunes.

On iTunes, one does not have to buy the entire album; one can buy the best songs for 99 cents each (+/- depending on popularity).

eBooks by Apple will be priced this way:
1. Contents: 20 cents
2. Index: $2.00
3. Chapter 1, for mysteries: $5.00
4. Last chapter, for mysteries: $10.00
6. Chapters with word "sex" in it, in "tell-all books": $5/chapter
7. Dustjacket: 30 cents
8. Preface, Introduction: $3.00 each
9. Author's biography: link to Wikipedia -- free
10. 10% will be forwarded to charity of your choice for all books on health and medicine.

 

[jupp0r]

If the experience of reading a book on a screen is comparable of reading a book on paper, why we should be upset if they cost the same?

Because we can't borrow an ebook to friends and family (or are limited in how often we do this). We can't donate it to a library. We probably can't read it in 20 years. We can't use the programs we want to read it. We can't sell it in a yard sale. It all comes down to DRM. DRM makes digital products inferior to their pre-digital alternatives, so they should cost less.

 

[Arran]

Seems a little weird for the folks praising this - it would be the equivalent if the music industry actually started charging what they want for music. Apple holds down the prices there, so why is it such a bad thing for Amazon to hold down the prices on books?

I agree. Short term it does seem weird.

But long term, by pricing below cost, we end up dominated by one big supplier who can later charge what they want since the competitors are gone. Eventually a new challenger will appear, but it always takes time and involves some degree of pain for the (ex) customer.

I like Apple, but their dominant position in music is only good from a shareholders perspective. As a buyer of music, it's not so good.

 

[Splum]

I'm sure they are, but it's hard to avoid the question that raises about the iBooks app. No book agreements in a country = no iBooks app either, therefore iBooks may not be able to read anything other than Apple's eBooks. Otherwise why not advertise the iBooks app.

The 'per country' agreements are a major pain. I have a friend in Germany who was considering to buy a Kindle. He he eventually didn't, because of the 320K books available on Amazon, only a fraction were available for purchase in Germany (and he was not even talking about German translations, but the English originals)