tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-640125206110669026.post2799598630613430109..comments2011-04-25T10:30:06.350-04:00Comments on Wynken de Worde: exploring Google eBook pricingSarah Wernerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941029918210770136noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-640125206110669026.post-33397447482663178702011-01-04T21:58:34.418-05:002011-01-04T21:58:34.418-05:00Very interesting. Having graduated from "lib...Very interesting. Having graduated from "library school" in 2008, when ebooks and the Google "book project" were beginning to be big discussions, I can tell this would be a great classroom debate...Dawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00824027366993286152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-640125206110669026.post-89628472371342506772011-01-04T11:40:54.256-05:002011-01-04T11:40:54.256-05:00You amaze me with the depth and breadth of your an...You amaze me with the depth and breadth of your analysis of e-book pricing. It certainly is complicated. The bottom line, however, looks simple to me, an independent bookseller: the Big Boys are selling below cost, and I can't afford to do that, with print books or anything else, so I'll sit tight for now and wait to see where the chips fall.P. J. Grathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12693462910472164289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-640125206110669026.post-69362307345309233172010-12-23T04:47:29.132-05:002010-12-23T04:47:29.132-05:00Some ideas to get the ball rolling:
1) Discounted...Some ideas to get the ball rolling:<br /><br />1) Discounted ebook and pbook combos. Here the idea is to link the ebook to an authors backlist, or an author in a similar genre. Cheap used paperbooks could come in especially handy here. Or how about that Espresso POD machine of Schuler's? Many an ebook only author might love to see a limited print run, perhaps special, autographed editions?<br /><br />2)A buyers club. Buy Y number of books to accumulate X number of points. Could be ebook only perhaps? Enough points and you could get a non agency title at a massive discount. Some details to work out and investigating the way Fictionwise used their Buywise club and micropay system in the past. <br /><br />3) Appeal to people's generous impulses. Create a club where a percentage of proceeds go to a charity, perhaps a different one every month month. (Choose non agency titles).<br /><br />Anybody else game?<br /><br />(The trick will be to build online communities which will not be geographically based unlike their physical stores. This is because a one-to-one conversion rate from pbook to ebook customer will simply not succeed since the margin is likely to be much lower on ebooks.New customers must come from those who don't go to stores regularly).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-640125206110669026.post-28799492704021994052010-12-08T17:14:17.472-05:002010-12-08T17:14:17.472-05:00Stephanie,
This is just incredibly helpful--thank...Stephanie,<br /><br />This is just incredibly helpful--thank you for taking the time to post and answer some of my questions! I think you're right, lots of buyers probably aren't interested in the pricing minutiae, but for those of us who are, this level of detail is great.<br /><br />I'd forgotten about the Random House decision not to go with an agency model for ebooks, and now that you've reminded me, those prices make more sense. I certainly appreciate that Amazon and Google both have the ability to sell books at a loss to draw buyers in because they can make up profits elsewhere. That ebook prices are following this model that Amazon has used to such powerful effect for codices makes sense. It will certainly always leave independents at a disadvantage. Who can sustain that sort of loss leader?<br /><br />In terms of the relationship between Google and independent bookstores, I'm struck by both the practicalities of it and the rhetoric of it. I have been curious about the touting of Google as the answer to Amazon's domination of the market and of their independent store friendliness. It's interesting that Google sees this as an advantage. I can see the advantage from a bookstore's perspective: as your tweet suggests, you've made it much easier for your patrons to buy ebooks from you. Even if it's only a small fraction, that's more than would have otherwise. <br /><br />The question of what you can offer to counter Google's cheap prices is, as you point out, the huge question! Maybe some folks will chip in with suggestions here.<br /><br />Again, many thanks for sharing these details! (I'd love to come see Anne at WORD, but am stuck down in DC, so I'll have to wait until she comes to Politics and Prose!)Sarah Wernerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06941029918210770136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-640125206110669026.post-7608381231881431402010-12-08T16:05:09.830-05:002010-12-08T16:05:09.830-05:00Hi! I'm Stephanie, the manager of WORD, aka @b...Hi! I'm Stephanie, the manager of WORD, aka @bookavore. I think Tattered Cover has covered some of this pretty nicely, but here's the nitty-gritty on pricing, since you're interested: what you're seeing is the difference between ebooks sold under the agency model and those sold under the wholesaler model. Currently both are in use by many publishers. Hachette uses the agency model, so INFINITE JEST is an example of that. Under the agency model, all books must, as a matter of the contract, be sold at the same price in all places. So that's why they're all the same.<br /><br />Under the wholesaler model, we buy the books for the list price less a specific discount, just like we buy physical books. This is where the pricing goes all over the place, because there aren't any contractual restrictions on it. Without going into actual numbers, I can tell you that many of the super-low ebook prices, especially on brand-new hardcover books where the publisher usually sets the list price of the ebook to be equal to that of the hardcover book, are several dollars below the wholesale cost of the book. Amazon is choosing to sell them and lose money on each book to gain market share, and Google is doing the same thing for the same reason. We simply can't afford to do so. But, as you noted, we're playing around with discounts to figure out how we can offer a more customer-friendly price without losing our shirts. You'll notice it particularly on Random House titles (Larsson, for example), as they're one of the only big houses not using the agency model, but other houses as well.<br /><br />Anyway, I don't want to bore you with all the details--in fact that's probably why most bookstores aren't talking about this, it's all very boring and business-oriented and I can't imagine most book buyers want to know. But I hope it answers some of your questions. <br /><br />Oh, and as for competition with Google: Google may be supplying us with books, but we always knew that they were going to sell them, too, at their own prices in some cases, so it's not too surprising. Not much we can do about it. For now we're focusing on how to provide the same level of curation and customer service with ebooks as we do with physical books within the system we've got in front of us, and make pricing a part of that where we can. All suggestions welcome!<br /><br />(ps: we also love Anne Trubek! She's doing an event here at 7:30 on 1/11, you should come.)Bookavorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02954375336753345628noreply@blogger.com