Ebook Domination by Amazon. Your thoughts.

[Terry]

Many of us feel different ways about how Amazon does business. While if you're an independent author you're genuinely pleased about the opportunities afforded to you by them, you might still have your concerns about their general business practices. Publishers probably come out on the opposite end of the spectrum, totally hating them and well some consumers simply don't want them to control as much as they do because it leads to them doing whatever they feel like at times.

Having said that, I found this an interesting topic from a person's recent visit to a conference.
Amazon's Domination of the ebook Market

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

Great article! Thanks for the link. I am not surprised that Amazon is so big in so many places.

Of course, as long as Publishers require DRM, Amazon will dominate. There has been speculation that JK Rowling's experiment with the Harry Potter ebooks could change the game...but I don't think very many authors have her pull to do what she did.

[Regina]

I really wish that the publishers could step back from their platform of fear and greed and see that their insistence on DRM and limited sharing/ownership of ebooks spurs on pirating. I strongly believe that if ebooks had no drm (and costs were lower for ebooks as a result), people would feel more comfortable to buy ebooks and spend more money as a result. And of course as Mrs.J implies, then Kindle owners and others could buy ebooks from anyone -- including straight from authors and publishers.

[S.J.]

I'm not quite sure what points are being made here, aside from pointing out that Amazon is the 800-pound gorilla in a small pond. Does their position in the market allow them to be arbitrary and careless? Why yes. Yes, it does. Will this go on forever? I don't think so. Not all that long ago, internet access service was dominated by AOL. They offered dial-up modem connections and charged users by the hour. They were very happy with this arrangement, as it brought in lots of money. Their customers, however, were not so happy and quickly took any opportunity to get better service at lower prices. Hence, AOL was soon beset by competitors who offered better services at lower prices, and was slow to respond, since it had gotten so comfortable with its original arrangements. Where is AOL now? Where will Amazon be in fifteen years, at least as regards ebooks?

[S.J.]

I'm not sure that anyone is calling for Amazon to be punished for their success...their customers certainly aren't. However, I have read any number of complaints and objections from their suppliers...most specifically, authors, many of whom have had their books dropped by Amazon because they allegedly violated some vague and recently instituted standards. I can understand this ill feeling because it was also done to my books and, while most of my titles were reinstated, one was not, with no word of explanation as to why that one title, and none of the others. It feels arbitrary to me, but about a year ago I began selling more ebooks through Barnes and Noble than I did through Amazon, so it wasn't as much of a hardship for me as it was for others. It was, and is, still irksome.

[James]

I think S.J.'s analogy of Amazon being an 800-pound gorilla in a small pond explains the situation perfectly. If you were a goldfish, you'd be upset at seeing a 800-pound gorilla rump in your face all day, every day. I think we'd all like it if the pond could be populated by more, smaller gorillas. But, right now, Amazon can swat away those gorillas with ease.

I think I'm stretching this metaphor too far.

Personally, I find the bellyaching about Amazon a bit annoying. It's absolutely justified when they arbitrarily dump on people. But when I hear Barnes and Noble whining that Amazon took their toys, for instance, I don't have much sympathy because no-one really seems to be putting up any real competition.

Amazon has only come to be a behemoth in, what, twenty years? That's impressive, yes, but it goes to show how quickly the landscape can change. Amazon can be overshadowed just as easily as they're overshadowing booksellers right now.

[Regina]

I agree. Amazon continues to offer good products, superior customer service (especially when compared to its competitors), and an easy purchase experience. I have not found any other book store that rivals Amazon in these categories. If I did, I would purchase from them because I too prefer competition and smaller, less powerful corporations. But the alternative, at least when I purchase books put out by the big publishers or when I am doing any online shopping, is just not as easy, convenient or attractive.

Now, if I am purchasing indie books, I try to see if I can buy from the author's website or other smaller sites like www.smashwords.com

[Steve]

Amazon has put a lot of work into into dominating,a and deserve it to some extent. Their website is the best for shopping and their customer service has a good reputation, so it's really no surprise that they're doing so well. That said, they do dabble in borderline anti-competitive behavior, such as dodging sales tax and KDP Select.

Ultimately, I'm never a fan of one company dominating a market (and I own a nook, so I have a vested interest in B&N doing well), so I hope other companies learn to compete better.

[S.J.]

Amazon grew large and powerful by giving customers what they wanted. As for sales taxes, they got around that for a long time simply because there weren't any laws covering their situation. Governments being governments, however, they just couldn't stand the idea of anything going on that they weren't getting a cut of so they began passing new laws. Amazon wasn't dodging sales taxes, and making them pay sales taxes does not mean that the greedy corporation will be punished, it means that consumers will have to pay more so that the government can wet its beak. Honestly, when it comes to taxes, governments are addicts. We should stop enabling them.

[Steve]

I don't disagree (sales tax and income tax should not coexist in the first place), but the government aspect of it is a separate issue. Let's focus on the economics. From a consumer standpoint, Amazon doesn't charge taxes and is therefore cheaper (depending on the cost of shipping). That means it has an unfair competitive advantage compared to a brick and mortar store.

[S.J.]

Alternately, one could say that governments have placed brick-and-mortar stores at a competitive disadvantage compared to Amazon. I wouldn't say, however, that Amazon has an 'unfair' competitive advantage. They have an advantage. They also have a disadvantage, in that you can't go to Amazon, pay cash out of your pocket, and go home with your purchase the same day.

[Sharon]

From a purely personal point of view, as a consumer I have to say I look at Amazon as a convenience in the 'modern' world. I grew up on a remote ranch, no modern conveniences the nearest small town 60 miles away on gravel roads. Almost any shopping we did other than the basics available in that small town was through catalog sales.

Now I'm old enough to hate driving, even though it's just 20 miles on paved roads to town, but the small town I have access to does not have many of the things I want. Just the price of fuel to get to a city where I could find these items covers any shipping costs without even considering the convenience.

Add in things like excellent customer service and you have a company that is working at providing what their customers want to gain new customers and keep the old ones as well.