Book Price War

[Bookstore Guy]

I'm sure you all have seen this, but it's worth noting:

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/bookselling/amazonwalmart_price_war_now_a_battle_royale_target_sears_enter_the_steel_cage_140683.asp

Apparently the new way to sell hardback books that were already going to sell tons of copies is to sell them for $9.  Selling books for a slight loss has been a practice of the book industry for a while, but $9?  Seriously?  Regardless, I am using this to my advantage, and so should you.

[WriterDan]

Yeah, I noticed this yesterday when I checked out how much longer it was going to be until Stephen King's new book comes out.  Saw that it was selling on Amazon for $9 and swore that it had to be a mistake.

But no.



Books for me!

I read something that said Wal-mart, Amazon, and Target were all caught up in this internet "sales war" and couldn't help but smile at my good fortune.

[Patriotic Kaz]

Why would anyone read a Palin book? She got elected for being personable and pretty not to mention the metropolitian area in which i live has 5 times the population as her state! The title Govenor of Alaska impresses more people than it should.

[mtlhddoc2]

Kaz: why must this become a political debate? Are the religious debates not volatile enough?

Because, it could be completely turned around and say "why would anyone read a book by Obama? He only spent 2 years in his state Senate and 2 years in the US Senate, he has proven that he never finishes anything. Plus he is from Chicago...  blah blah blah blah"

[Patriotic Kaz]

When did I say i support any politician? My voting is based on the lesser evil....and i had to make my rant on stupid people who vote because they would feel comfortable drinking a beer with someone...which is just wrong.

[little wilson]

Stating who you support isn't necessary for a political debate. When you talk about a politician--specifically about a politician in their political office--it's political. You mentioned Palin and her stint as the Alaskan governor. That makes it political. By speaking negatively, it could theoretically start up a debate....Which I really hope it doesn't. Mtlhddoc is right. The religious debates are enough. We don't need to get political here.

[sortitus]

I don't think this will affect the bigger chain sellers (B&N, etc.) too much in the long run. Unless these companies don't stop selling at these prices (which smell a lot like loss leaders), of course. Bookstores can't compete with this kind of pricing because they can't make up for the loss with a high-margin sale. Good thing this isn't an across the board price war, and that WalMart doesn't carry most titles.


I'm not opposed to talking politics, but it's easy for debates of that kind to get out of hand. If you can keep it civil and focused (which is especially difficult for online discussions - hence the religious threads being so heavily moderated), please start a thread on the topic.

If you want to talk about it in depth with less chance of people getting offended, go to a (physical) political forum or something. Your school likely has one occasionally. I know that the political clubs at my school organize combined parties where everybody on campus is invited to talk politics about once a month.

[Patriotic Kaz]

We have SPEAK which sometimes gets out of hand.

When did everyone with any clout what so ever think they could write a book? Also, I only saw 3 of the 10 books listed.


P.S. My comment was meant to be a rant on how T.V. and other expansions in media have killed competence in political office and idiots now vote for poor reasons. I.E. I would buy so and so a beer and have a nice chat. Palin was just my example.

[Bookstore Guy]

Actually, depending on the sales figures, the books being sold at $9 can have a huge impact on B&N and Borders.  Four of the books on the list are huge sellers in bookstores.  The new novels by Stephen King (hugenormous), James Patterson, Dean Koontz, and Michael Crichton.  These authors sell in the hundreds of thousands.  Now, if you can get the book for 70% off with free shipping, and no tax, of course you are going to.  $9 is cheaper than the new over-sized mass market paperbacks (that suck) that are being printed now-days.  Bookstores wont sell their copies for more than 50% off (which in itself is a loss).  So, imagine all the people who would normally buy at B&N going to amazon and walmart instead.  That is that many customers that won't be going to a bookstore anymore.

Real world example:
When Harry Potter 6 came out, my bookstore had 20% of our preorders cancel because the local Walmart was selling the book for 50% off, and we were selling it for 40% off.  That small extra price off reduced our sales a TON.  Now compare a bookstore selling King's new novel at 40% off vs. Amazon at 70% + off (they could still go down even further).  Now factor in the economy.  Yeah, this could seriously hurt bookstores sales, who typically make their sales plans taking new releases into consideration.

A part of me is glad I get the books for insane cheap, but another part see this as just another sign that physical bookstores are going the way of the dodo.

[readerMom]

I hope physical bookstores stay around. You cannot browse properly online.
For people like me those sales are meaningless because I would never buy a best seller, they have them at the library.  I tend to buy things I want and my library doesn't have. Besides, my local bookstore has the wonderful habit of ignoring release dates, so its worth it to me to order from them to get books a little early.

[Patriotic Kaz]

Publishers probably think that is a bad habit.... and while I do think bookstores will die out in the realativly near future i hope that date is pushed as far back as possible

[The Jade Knight]

I'll be honest.  I never buy anything in a bookstore unless a) I have a gift card, or b) Brandon is doing a signing there and I'm trying to get a signed copy from him.

[stacer]

Here's the American Booksellers Association (independent booksellers) responding to the price wars, with an indepth explanation to the DOJ why this practice is detrimental to the whole industry. Everything they say is exactly what publishers are worried about, as well--it's an increased focus on the already unhealthy focus on blockbuster bestsellers. They're selling them at a loss--less than it costs to PRINT the books--which means that even though publishers are getting their full price, it means bad, bad things for pricing in the future. This is setting price expectations among consumers--who's going to try a new author for $20, $25, $30 if they can get a big name for $9?? And few publishers can afford to print quality hardcovers for $9, let alone mark it up a little to make any kind of money to pay their editors, their designers, their sales staff, their accounting department... AND still pay the author 10-15%.

[Patriotic Kaz]

Then they should get a lobbyist to push for a price floor on new books.

[stacer]

I think that's part of the intended discussion the letter is asking for.