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Amazon doesn't want to push prices down for the sake of pushing prices down. They want to push prices to where their data says they'll make more money (and, ass
by fpgeek 12y ago
Amazon doesn't want to push prices down for the sake of pushing prices down. They want to push prices to where their data says they'll make more money (and, assuming they get a cut of the total, to where everyone will make more). People make a lot out of Amazon not paying 70% for books priced above $9.99. Far fewer notice that they also don't pay 70% for books priced below $2.99.
- eropple 12y agoAmazon wants to push prices down for the sake of their own bottom line. What happens when what's good for their bottom line becomes even more divergent from that of the authors working with them? In a monopsony, where do they go? That's the problem under examination here.
- seanflyon 12y ago> where do they go? To Amazons various competitors: Google Play Books, iBooks, Barnes and Noble...
- eropple 12y agoWhich are all very small relative to the size of the Amazon market. You can't practically compete and not sell through Amazon, hence the problem with a monopsony.
- seanflyon 12y agoI haven't found a great data source for book market-share, but I don't think Amazon is quite as dominant as you imply. "about a 50% market share for books sold online (that’s ebooks and printed books sold via the Internet)" http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/is-amazon-invincible/ http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/is-amazon-invincible/ You don't even need to not sell through Amazon to compete with them, just be willing to take a smaller cut with competitors that give you a more favorable terms (allowing them to undercut Amazon).