Posts Tagged ‘ebooks’

Several months have gone by since I first heard the speculation that Amazon, once it had cornered a significant share of the ebook market, would begin to raise prices on their ebooks. On the other hand, the accusation that publishers generally try to add some cash to their near empty wallets by padding ebook prices has also been around a long time.

On the Amazon forums, a user going by the handle “Knipfty” has been keeping track of Kindle eBook prices at Amazon.com. According to Knipfty’s figures, 80% of all the new books added by Amazon since Jan 20 have been priced above $9.99.

This has caused some outrage with many Kindle users boycotting any title that costs more than $9.99.

Kindlerama noticed the beginnings of this price creep back in December. HT to Teleread for pointing out the new stats.

With many Kindle purchases spurred on by the assurance that, “ebooks are cheaper,” it will be interesting to see how far Amazon and the Kindle publishers are willing to push the prices, and how strong Kindle owners’ reactions become.

Techdirt posted an interesting take on Farahad Manjoo’s article in Slate where he warned the world to “Fear the Kindle,” since it “shanghais book buyers and the book industry into accepting a radically diminished marketplace for published works.”

Yet, as Techdirt notes, it is the publishers that are demanding that Amazon add restrictions and content locks on the books.

…publishers are worried about Amazon turning into “the Apple of the book industry,” yet at the same time, they’re the ones who are pushing for DRM and limitations that will effectively lock users in to Amazon’s ebook platform for a long time.