This just seems to be wrong.
"Amazon Ordered to End Free Delivery on Books in France"
- Thread starter epicstruggle
- Start date
LOL, way to go commies!
Of course I exaggerate, but you get the idea.
Of course I exaggerate, but you get the idea.
And you live in France?
Well I think the concern might be that it will follow in other places following France's example. I don't doubt booksellers will be looking at the situation.
Sounded like a French-only thing to me, there certainly isn't any book cartel in my country.
Just because there isn't a book cartel doesn't mean that a couple of major B&M book sellers won't step up and try something similar.
I don't doubt that Amazon will find a way to circumvent the order in any event. Reduction in price or coupon equivalent to shipping costs. It's a fee that Amazon was paying so now they only have to find a way to offer similar value to their customers.
Just because I don't live in France doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to say that it sucks.
For example...... "Murder in X country is legal!" That actually sucks, and it doesn't mean I have to live in that country.
You said it as though it sucked for you.
The Net Book Agreement was enforced here in the UK until relatively recently (well, mid-1990s) so I assume France must have an equivalent to this still in effect.
Interestingly enough, the end of the NBA didn't completely ruin all small bookshops - eBay and Amazon Marketplace have done this. The used book market, especially, has just totally disappeared here in the UK.
Interestingly enough, the end of the NBA didn't completely ruin all small bookshops - eBay and Amazon Marketplace have done this. The used book market, especially, has just totally disappeared here in the UK.
There used to be 'state sponsored' book cartels in several European countries until not too long ago. I believe the EU forced through changes for the last remaining ones, though.
The reasoning was that free pricing on books would cause a mainstreaming of culture where the best sellers would squeeze out the lesser titles from the market due to volume discounting making them more appealing to the customer, add price competition on popular titles increasing sales even more, rinse, repeat.
A similar rationale was that free pricing on books would risk overwhelming domestic writers as a foreign bestseller might have financial backing for the translations making it lower cost than a locally written book, thus pricing the latter out of the market.
The reasoning was that free pricing on books would cause a mainstreaming of culture where the best sellers would squeeze out the lesser titles from the market due to volume discounting making them more appealing to the customer, add price competition on popular titles increasing sales even more, rinse, repeat.
A similar rationale was that free pricing on books would risk overwhelming domestic writers as a foreign bestseller might have financial backing for the translations making it lower cost than a locally written book, thus pricing the latter out of the market.
Yeah, that's one of the most brain dead ideas I can think of. Though, I might have chosen 'how to' and computer reference books with price in mind.
Well... Said mainstreaming was also feared to cause 'popular' books to be carried outside traditional bookstores causing the market to erode to erode for the latter. Especially impacting the broad availability of a varied selection of books outside the more densely populated areas. See, for example, Mariner's link above regarding the situation in Britain.
Of course, the availability of pretty much whatever to wherever over the internet have basically alleviated most of the cultural concerns, so these days it seems to be more about a protected group (in this case French booksellers) looking to maintain their privileged status.
Of course, the availability of pretty much whatever to wherever over the internet have basically alleviated most of the cultural concerns, so these days it seems to be more about a protected group (in this case French booksellers) looking to maintain their privileged status.
Amazon stands up for french customers:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...-shipping-costing-1000-per-day-in-france.html
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...-shipping-costing-1000-per-day-in-france.html
