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What would the book market look like if there were some way to completely get rid of used books (ignoring rare, collectors, etc books)? Would there be more mon

What would the book market look like if there were some way to completely get rid of used books (ignoring rare, collectors, etc books)? Would there be more money in it, or is the market already earning as much as it's going to earn, and the used books have no impact? There is a rather large subset of society that consists of creatives, and for the most part those cursed with creative passions tend to perform economically poorly. I suspect that this is in part due to the selling of used creative goods (music, books, movies, etc). Most importantly the concept of used books may itself devalue the medium in people's minds. Much like what happened to mobile apps; things that used to be several dollars or more on the desktop are $0.99 on mobile. The idea of a $20 app is offensive to people. The idea of spending full price on a book is also, perhaps, offensive to a large number of people. All that said, even if getting rid of used books was economically beneficial to those writing the books, there still seems to be no practical way to achieve it. So it's really just a thought experiment driven by hopeful desire to help those around me who are more artistically inclined and suffering as a result. Perhaps the right solution is to come at it from a different angle. Subscription services seem to be one solution that is working in the sense that it gets those who normally pirate content to pony up for convenience. Though that doesn't seem to translate into greater income for the content creators...

ghaff 11y ago
>or is the market already earning as much as it's going to earn, and the used books have no impact? My guess is--pretty much. It's hard to find good numbers (i.e. some quick searching turned up some fairly old and incomplete data) but the used book market would seem to be something under 10% of the total. And that probably overstates the impact given that the textbook segment is probably significant and that used books effectively target many people who wouldn't be in the market for the new book anyway. >All that said, even if getting rid of used books was economically beneficial to those writing the books, there still seems to be no practical way to achieve it. No there isn't. First sale doctrine.
thadjo 11y ago
> Would there be more money in it, or is the market already earning as much as it's going to earn, and the used books have no impact? This would have a pretty huge impact on the publishing industry. Traditional publishers make a ton of money on their backlist – perennial best-sellers like "Catcher in the Rye". These books are great for publishers because production costs are covered and the cost of sale is low (no marketing, book ends, book tours, etc..), and is part of the reason why legacy publishers like Penguin Random House are still such strong companies. Allowing publishers to completely control the market for these books (no competition from used book sellers) would be hugely beneficial for them; it would make their most lucrative titles even more so. I'm a little surprised they don't try to do this. They could set up their own used book operation so they can corner the market for their titles.

ghaff 11y ago

>or is the market already earning as much as it's going to earn, and the used books have no impact? My guess is--pretty much. It's hard to find good numbers (i.e. some quick searching turned up some fairly old and incomplete data) but the used book market would seem to be something under 10% of the total. And that probably overstates the impact given that the textbook segment is probably significant and that used books effectively target many people who wouldn't be in the market for the new book anyway. >All that said, even if getting rid of used books was economically beneficial to those writing the books, there still seems to be no practical way to achieve it. No there isn't. First sale doctrine.

thadjo 11y ago

> Would there be more money in it, or is the market already earning as much as it's going to earn, and the used books have no impact? This would have a pretty huge impact on the publishing industry. Traditional publishers make a ton of money on their backlist – perennial best-sellers like "Catcher in the Rye". These books are great for publishers because production costs are covered and the cost of sale is low (no marketing, book ends, book tours, etc..), and is part of the reason why legacy publishers like Penguin Random House are still such strong companies. Allowing publishers to completely control the market for these books (no competition from used book sellers) would be hugely beneficial for them; it would make their most lucrative titles even more so. I'm a little surprised they don't try to do this. They could set up their own used book operation so they can corner the market for their titles.