Comments on: Is Amazon the New Walmart?

By: William Meisheid

William Meisheid — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:59:19 +0000

Both deliverables are equal in costs up to publication, then eBooks cost next to nothing (time to distribute the files) and print costs begin (printing, binding, shipping, storing, space for sale or ship for sale).

The publishing houses are looking at the sunk costs of business and whether the pricing scheme can support their continued existence as the ratio shifts.

One thing the Kindle pricing scheme does not take into consideration is the difference between a new product/book and inventory. There is no premium for a new release, for the hot item.

By: susabelle

susabelle — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:33:57 +0000

Michael, yes, I would assume so too, that they’ve looked at how much pure profit is made from eBooks vs. traditional print books. There were so many angles I could have taken with this story. So much to consider. I sell my own eBooks for pennies, compared to the print version. eBooks are almost pure profit, low overhead, little production.

By: Michael Anderson

Michael Anderson — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:28:19 +0000

Susabelle:

Music companies had decided that they wanted to hit $20 for a new CD, but as iTunes came out they gave in to the new 99 cent pricing model as it helped battle piracy so they made *something*. There has been a constant struggle ever since, with the publishers looking to charge more – but not so they can reward artists more, of course.

Book publishers are trying to cling to an old business model, and extract every bit of profit from ebooks without more reward for authors. They fear ebooks so they want loads of DRM; they assume everyone is a pirate so they want DRM and high costs. I assume someone there has actually done a cost model on ebooks to show how much they are saving through the elimination of paper, printing, storage, shipping, and so on.