Amazon caves on book pricing

By Shaun Nichols on Apr 3, 2010 10:21 AM
Filed under Software

Company said to be killing off discounting practices.

Amazon has reportedly agreed to allow publishers to set higher prices on its e-book titles.

The company has reportedly agreed to deals with book publishers Harper Collins and Simon and Schuster which would allow the companies to select their own prices rather than the default US$9.99 price tag, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The report suggests that new titles could be priced anywhere from US$9.99 to US$15 under the new deal.

Amazon has in recent months sought to rework its dealings with publishers as new competitors such as the Apple iPad have loomed in the market. Earlier this year Amazon looked to take early actions to appease publishers and authors by increasing its royalty payouts.

The move comes just days before Apple is set to release the first US versions of its iPad tablet. With several major book, newspaper and magazine publishers said to be on board the platform, many in the industry believe that the iPad could provide the stiffest competition yet for Amazon and its Kindle reader line.

Competition could be even fiercer in the UK, where the latest Kindle models have only recently made their debut. Apple has targeted the iPad for release in the UK by the end of April.

2 comments in this discussion

"In reality, what the introduction of agency pricing and the continuation of geographic restrictions will do is encourage more ereaders to turn to "alternative" sources to aquire ebooks. Publishers..."

By sabredog66

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Comments: 2

funkyg

Apr 6, 2010 7:45 AM

Sadly (as I own one) this is a nail in the coffin for the kindle. The books were often already more expensive than the paper versions and making them even more expensive means I won't be buying them any more. Sounds like the publishers have won and maintained their old business model despite obvious cost, environment and convenience savings of going digital.

sabredog66

Apr 6, 2010 11:12 AM

In reality, what the introduction of agency pricing and the continuation of geographic restrictions will do is encourage more ereaders to turn to "alternative" sources to aquire ebooks.

Publishers are their own worst enemy when it comes to their outdated business models. Having failed to learn anything from the flailngs of the entertainment industry, they have missed a fantastic chance to lead the way. They get no sympathy or credence when bleating about supposed lost sales when these practices continue.

As my youngest son is fond of saying...."Epic fail"

ereaders will still sell, fall in price and continue to increase in popularity, just as MP3 players did 5-10 years ago.

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