
Amazon Low Prices Disguise a High Cost - iProject
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/16/business/media/amazon-low-prices-disguise-a-high-cost.html?ref=technology
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revelation
This is the same stuff we've read on music and movies, saying that low prices
will kill the authors, even go as far as to kill creativity, if you are
inclined to believe this socioeconomic-romance.

That is not at all what is happening. Publishers and "music labels" are
bleeding out, not writers and authors. It's killing the middlemen, not
creativity. And I won't shed any tears on their demise; for their existence is
only because of technological shortcomings, and capitalisms very nature is to
straighten the process and eliminate them.

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nirvdrum
Here's hoping there will still be some level of quality copyediting involved
in this new world. Most self-published works I've read I have an extremely
hard time reading because the quality is just so bad.

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robrenaud
Maybe there is a model for a version 2 of self published works?

Self publish first, if it gets a following, do the copy-
editing/polishing/revising for a different "cut" of the same book. Maybe even
throw an extra chapter in to give the dedicated fans a reason to buy the new
one.

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yahelc
David Carr has an agenda here, which is the preservation of the old order of
media. As a result of this blind-spot, he makes some logical leaps and
mistakes.

Most egregious amongst them is suggesting that Amazon's strategy is akin to
Apple's, which is profiting off of devices.

Except, Amazon sells the Kindle at a _loss_ ; it treats it as a loss-
leader.[1] They reportedly take a $10 loss on every Kindle Fire, and a $5 loss
on every $79 Kindle.

[1]: <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2396248,00.asp>

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orijing
Just curious, isn't selling below cost called "dumping" and is illegal in many
places?

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cdash
I am pretty sure dumping is only considered for international trade where an
item is exported at a lower cost than it is sold domestically. Another example
of selling below costs, is in the console industry where Sony and I am sure
other companies as well have sold consoles well below their cost and make up
for it with game sales.

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russell_h
_Amazon views e-books as cheap software sold to animate device sales, in this
case, the Kindle._

This seems like a pretty bizarre assertion, isn't Amazon generally thought to
be selling Kindles at, or close to a loss?

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SlipperySlope
I wonder how much the New York Times viewpoint was influenced by its proximity
to the headquarters of book publishers and the extent of book publishing
advertising in its newspaper.

Amazon probably does not advertise much in the New York Times.

I say bring on low prices!

I am done buying dead-tree books, and my book reading has trebled after buying
a Kindle. I hope that Amazon's own imprints do well and give even more authors
the chance to profitably publish their works.

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jay_kyburz
Anybody know of a site where I can browse and read novels published and sold
independently by the Authors?

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huggyface
Amazon allowed the book sellers to set their price, x, from which Amazon could
set the retail price to whatever they wanted (whether at lots of profit or no
profit). The booksellers got paid x regardless.

Apple allowed the book sellers to set their retail price, y, giving them a 70%
cut on a sale, demanding that this model be forced on all other sellers
(because if Apple's model was an outlier, they would have no sales).

There is no universe where the former could be cast as worse for consumers,
but through the most ridiculously extrapolated unintended consequences. This
piece certainly makes no compelling case, beyond some notion that an equal
price for all (and a higher cost for all) is good because it props up less
competitive resellers. Welcome to Soviet Russia.

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nitrogen
_Amazon allowed the book sellers to set their price, x, from which Amazon
could set the retail price to whatever they wanted (whether at lots of profit
or no profit). The booksellers got paid x regardless._

Indeed. A friend of mine was happy to receive royalties on a non-free ebook
that Amazon decided to give away for free for a while.

