Amazon’s New E-book Price Policy Goes Live

Amazon and top publishers have been talking about the possibility of publishers getting more control when it comes to setting prices for their products on Amazon. Amazon Kindle Store has generated a significant amount of revenue for the company in the past couple of years. Amazon has tried to stay in control of e-book prices in its store to keep e-book prices low. While many of us were complaining about $9.99 to be too high of a price for most e-books, publishers were plotting ways to extract more revenue from their work. With more Kindle alternatives making it to the market, publishers are in a better bargaining position with Amazon. That’s why some have managed to force Amazon to bend its rules and let them set their own prices.

Amazon may have failed to keep top publishers from setting their own prices. But it is doing its best to throw those “rogue” publishers under the bus by adding a disclaimer under their e-books. So Amazon is essentially telling us that it’s not responsible for e-book prices that may be higher than usual.

You can see the new disclaimer under Hachette and MacMillan books. So you are going to know which publishers are setting their own prices in Kindle store. The move is certainly very interesting. Amazon is pointing out publishers that are setting their own prices. At the same time, it’s not addressing the issue. I am not sure how this new disclaimer does anything for consumers. E-book junkies are not interested about who sets e-book prices. They are interested in getting their e-books in a more affordable fashion. Some Amazon Kindle owners have threatened to boycott books by these publishing groups. I am not sure enough people are ready to do it to make a difference.

The main solution at this point is to buy e-books that are priced fairly and avoid those that are priced too high. How can you tell? That is really up to each and every buyer. Many e-book fans assume that publishers are making a fortune out of their work. But that’s not the case with all publishers. The e-book prices were always going to go up. But as long as consumers think the prices they pay are fair, a boycott won’t succeed.