Remember when almost a year ago Amazon started fooling around with pricing, allowing publishers to raise their prices until there was a massive consumer backlash? (The $9.99 Boycott by Kindle owners, where they refused to buy eBook titles that were priced over $9.99)
Anyway, get ready for the Apple iPad iBook Boycott. Having already signed on six huge publishers who’ve been allowed to charge higher ‘agency’ rates, Apple has announced the inclusion of two more publishers: Perseus Books Group (they offer titles from 330 smaller publishers) and the Workman Publishing Company. This deal heralded in a New York Times post here, looks like the same shakedown where publishers are allowed to set their own agency rates.
Okay, this is the destructive quote from the article: “In talks with publishers, Apple has said it would not let other retailers sell any book for a lower price than the price in its new iBookstore. Several of the larger publishers are seeking to renegotiate agreements with Amazon and other e-book retailers to mirror the deals with Apple.”
Amazon could say: “Been there, tried that…Didn’t WORK!”
This is how you throw cold water on a hot market. The publishers are working deals, and the eBook retailers are offering the moon… and then they expect the consumer to pay anything they ask. There’s a reason that Amazon sold titles for $9.99. (Which many consumers still consider unjustifiably high.)Â The consumers made it very clear that $9.99 was all they were willing to pay for an eBook title, especially after they’d just forked out hundreds of bucks for the eBook machines to read them on.
Stop trying to manipulate the market APPLE! The Consumer has the final word.
