Today was the official start of the new ‘agency pricing’ system whereby all books from 4 of the 5 big publishers will be sold at fixed prices set by them. It has been promised that some books will go up, some books will go down and some books may not be for sale at all. So how are things looking on day 1?
– Prices still seem to be all over the place. I checked a few items on my Kobo wishlist. One in particular that I was hoping would be reduced was still at over $18. It was $16 and change at the Sony store and a bit less at Amazon. I chalked that up to Kobo being the sole Canadian store (all books cost more here) but then checked a few other titles. Two were actually cheaper at Kobo by a dollar or two.
– Books which disappeared off my Fictionwise wish list remain disappeared, but the problem does not seem to be only at that one store. Several posters at Mobile Read reported similar issues at eReader.com and Books on Board. One person got a reply from customer service at Books on Board saying that Hachette requested the books in question be withdrawn. Another said they heard that the books were still there, but had just been made invisible so that people wouldn’t accidentally buy them before the issues were worked out.
– Several people reported difficulties downloading books they had already bought. This seemed to be limited to mobipocket books and might have been a server issue unrelated to the changeover, but it did fuel some of the conspiracy theorists in Blogland.
– At least one author reported that his own book did actually have its price lowered from what it was yesterday, so this seems to be an encouraging sign that the publishers may indeed keep their word about matching the lowest print price.
Personally, I am delighted to see some books really coming in cheaper, but $12 is about my ceiling. Anything higher, and I guess I’ll have to resign myself to waiting like in the old hardback days. Of course, by the time a paperback is issued and the price gets matched, my library may have picked it up and I could get the ebook for free. I do think they will lose sales over this. But for now, I am prepared to wait and see.
Actually, as of right now, none of the eBooks at Fictionwise that are not available for sale cannot be downloaded in any format.
Someone needs to explain to me exactly how this isn’t a cartel price fixing scheme in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
I’m just askin’.
— C
@Cerebus: in June 2007, the US Supreme Court overturned the long-standing (since 1911) prohibition against ‘vertical’ price-setting. ‘Vertical’ basically means from manufacturer down to the final seller, as opposed to, say, bookstores getting together and agreeing to fix prices.
The case involved is ‘Leegin v. Kay’s Kloset’, or more formally Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc., dba Kay’s Kloset … KAY’S SHOES.
If the publishers get together and agree that, say, all new-release best-sellers will be $14.99, that would be price-fixing. But if a publisher says to a bookstore, “Here’s what you’ll charge for this product or else you can’t sell it,” that’s legal now in the US.
Yep, the fictionwise problem is nothing to do with mobipocket (no sideways finger pointing at Amazon, who owns them). I can’t download any of my adobe EPUB books I’ve bought unless they are still for sale – including two I bought the day before and had not yet downloaded. So, I’ve paid and have no access at all, as they cut off the servers completely, rather than just stopping new sales. At least Amazon is still providing access to purchased content (even some pre-orders that are being delivered, even though new orders can’t be placed).
The most amusing post-agency repricing I’ve seen is Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison (Harper Collins) at Amazon. The ebook was free up to now and has a big red bar on its cover that says “FREE EDITION WITH BONUS MATERIAL”. The price today is $6.99. False advertising? It’s not Amazon’s cover image, it’s from the publisher itself.
Link: http://tinyurl.com/yakzwz4 (I wonder how long until they change that cover?)
I’m totally confused as to what has happened with my fictionwise account. Two books I preordered have disappeared. I got an email that didn’t say what books. Further confusing the matter is that at least one of them was a 100 percent rebate. Which I’m pretty sure I went ahead and spent.
(I’m just annoyed)
The two books I’m sure went were Enchanted Glass and a Kim Harrison book.
Tell me how it makes sense to remove books already bought.