In the wake of poor holiday sales in brick-and-mortar bookstores in the U.S. and the U.K., Internet retailers are being accused of coming by their simultaneous sales success unfairly, via overzealous discounting. As reported by The Bookseller:
Kes Nielsen, head of book buying at Amazon.co.uk, denied that internet retailers, who had discounted some titles by more than 60% in the run-up to Christmas, were solely responsible for declining average selling price. He said: “I don’t think you can single out a particular channel as in some way leading the charge [for discounting]. It’s a very competitive environment and everybody is doing their bit to offer value and that’s what we are doing as well.”
There’s nothing new about online retailers squeezing margins, of course, but it looks like Amazon in particular might have finally taken it too far:
Nielsen refused to comment on its ongoing dispute with Hachette over terms. The impasse, over the level of discounting Amazon receives, has led to the retailer removing some “Buy New” buttons when displaying Hachette’s key titles. Despite this, Hachette-imprint Orion’s A Quiet Belief in Angels was Amazon.co.uk’s number 10 bestseller for 2008.
You can’t blame Amazon for using every weapon in their arsenal to shift product. Given that they offer little else besides discounting it’s bound to be their principle tool.
Better by far to blame short-sighted publishers who have allowed their product to become completely devalued in the eyes of the bookbuying public.
Publishers have made the mistake of assuming that Amazon gives a damn about their books, mainly because they’ve always dealt with booksellers who did. Amazon of course do not, and have continued to devalue the price of new books by heavy discounting and displaying new prices alongside second-hand. Hachette has the right idea, and other publishers should follow.
Okay I’m writing this from a reader and book buyer’s point of view. If I’m going to gamble on a book and a gamble it is because so many so-called highly-praised and prize-winning books are shit, I’m going to think of price. And as for the argument of the true value of the book more shit. I can be just as enlightened by a $3.95 secondhand book as a $20 trade paperback. So I’ll buy the lesser costing book and live to read another day. As valuable as books can be they are retail objects too. I don’t give a hoot whether Amazon understands the true value of a book. Hachette’s reaction is the reaction of a business who wants to profit and survive and that too is what Amazon is about. It can be questioned too whether Hachette understands the true value of the book. It certainly does from a retail point of view. And good for them for wanting to get the best price but as a reader and consumer I want the best price too. The better the price the more books I can buy. So on this selfish point I side with Amazon who offer me books I can’t readily find in my local bookstore, big or small, and for the best price. This makes it tough for publishers and writers. But neither writing or publishing today is a charitable act. A price must be paid in so many ways. I will pay full price for a book on an author I know I will merit from, literary or pulp. For most others I hedge.
Bravo for angel guerra. I agree whole-heartedly. I’ll tell you what else devalues book publishing: the Indigo monopoly. I don’t go into the store anymore because I see it as a rip off, especially since they sell junk that has nothing to do with books. If I want junk, I’ll go to the Dollar Store. I think having all those useless items cheapens literature for the public—it downgrades the whole idea of reading. Then there is the ludicrous irewards card—it has more overpriced crap included as an inducement.
[...] Has Amazon taken discounting too far?Let’s look at this another way: Amazon is going to take discounting as far as it possibly can because price is its competitive tool. This is hard for publishers because they are locked into contractual payments based on a presumed retail criteria. Consumers, for what it’s worth, don’t really care about these nuances, especially in rough economic times. [...]
[...] How far is too far when it comes to book discounts? [...]