Amazon Offers Cut of Ebook Sales To Book Stores Selling Kindle 80
nk497 writes with this excerpt from PC Pro "Amazon plans to give independent booksellers 10% of the takings from ebooks bought on Kindles they sell, the online giant has revealed. The new Amazon Source program aims to encourage independent bookstores and small retailers to sell Kindle readers by offering commission for the first two years of the device's life. As an alternative to the 10% kickback from book sales, retailers opting into the Amazon Source program can choose instead to receive a larger discount up front when buying the devices for resale."
lifespan? (Score:2)
What's the typical lifespan of a kindle?
That sounds like a good deal if people do change HW every couple years, not sure what the fineprint says (I can't RTFA).
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Dunno about typical but I and many people I know have had one for around 3yrs. tbh, unless the screen is damaged I can see it going on for some time yet
I think mine is about three years now and has one black spot on the screen where something poked it. The two killers will be the screen, as you said, or the battery; I don't think it's replaceable.
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Dud, sod off. He is Canadian, they dont use the apostrophe up there.
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If you're careful you can open the unit to replace the battery, they have a connector on them. You have to get your hands on a replacement, though - it's not exactly a AAA battery. When my first (I'm still on the second) kindle "died" (i had an oopsie) I salvaged to 4-way stick switch, battery, and SIM - each easily replaceable if you have the part handy.
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Re:lifespan? (Score:4, Funny)
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Can't speak to LIFESPAN of Kindles, but recently bought a lot of 80 re-conditioned Kindle 3G's, and am finding about a 5% failure rate out of the box.
And, while not a Kindle,I have a first-flight Nook Color reader (~ 2 1/2 years old), and the battery performance is off significantly, to the point where it requires daily charging. Of course, it's backlit, color, and is a walled-garden Android minitablet, so the charge cycle is going to be a lot higher than an e-Ink Kindle. . .
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Not necessarily.
There's still a definite class of books that can't be Kindled - coffee-table photo-books as one example, and those that just belong on a bookshelf somewhere. There's also something to be said for having a storefront to take your hardware problem to, even if they just throw it in a box and ship it to Amazon for you behind the scenes. Also potential for a graceful "warrantied replacement/upgrade" mechanism where you could bring in your old/problem Kindle and have it immediately replaced with
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I bought the first Kindle ages ago. Still works like a charm. I then bought the first Kindle Touch, works flawlessly still. I recently bought the new Kindle Paperwhite and honestly can't see myself ever getting rid of it. I actually replaced my Nexus 7 with the Kindle Paperwhite because I'm going Google free and frankly, I hate reading on LCD's. E-Ink is perfect for me.
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What's the typical lifespan of a kindle?
I've had my Kindle 2 since Feb 2009, so four+ years and counting, of using it daily.
Every day, to work and back it reads to me via text-to-speach while I am driving. Its the best text-to-speech I have come across. I don't think the newer ones (aka fire) can do what I want, so I'm not trading it in. The bubble membrane keyboard, with a few snips of tape for tactile location of the proper keys, allows me to operate it without having to be distracted. I never need to look at it. The touch interface kindles
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Mine is 4 years old and still going strong, use it daily and still takes a week to need a recharge.
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especially when once customers discover the ease of buying books online, they might stop being customers.
People will buy and use a Kindle anyway. Why not get a cut?
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Of course, the cynical response to this proposal would be "what independent bookstores?". Not many of them are left, so the few survivors might as well get what they can out of this.
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Yeah, 10% seems low, especially when once customers discover the ease of buying books online, they might stop being customers.
On the other hand, I might actually -go- to a book store again if I knew the book purchases through my Kindle would help 'em out a bit...
I haven't completely broken the habit of bookstores. But if there was an app that would allow me to easily scan a UPC code and wish/purchase an eBook, it would be a convenience. I mostly don't buy physical books anymore because I flat ran out of storage space - the exceptions being "art" books, cookbooks, technical tomes and (the few remaining) magazines. But having "display models" of the electronically-available works would help make sales. For one thing, I rarely use the ebook preview feature, since it
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I haven't completely broken the habit of bookstores. But if there was an app that would allow me to easily scan a UPC code and wish/purchase an eBook, it would be a convenience
This is one of the main features of the Amazon app for Android (and I assume iOS as well). You can scan the barcode on anything to look it up on Amazon.
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I haven't completely broken the habit of bookstores. But if there was an app that would allow me to easily scan a UPC code and wish/purchase an eBook, it would be a convenience
This is one of the main features of the Amazon app for Android (and I assume iOS as well). You can scan the barcode on anything to look it up on Amazon.
Well, A) I don't shop Amazon anymore, between "Animal Farm", their acting as a front for the US Government and various other misdemeanors. B) I don't want to "look it up", I want to put it someplace where my ebookstore of choice (not Amazon) can stuff it into an online purchase if I want or put it on my wish list.
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I've got a Kindle and it is great for magazines, but I still buy hardcopy books. There is something about the smell and feel of a book, not to mention the hand me down effect. My brother, the next door neighbor and the local school library all seem to appreciate getting the books to read for free, and I really like frequenting half-price books, granted the .25 to 1.00 I get back in trade is not much but considering I read 2-3 books a week it DOES add up.
If the cost of an online book was substantial
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If I could find a way to hand the e-book around the my circle of reading buddies it might become inviting but as many books as I offer them, they return so the price is split several ways making the physical book even more attractive. I will stipulate that part of the attraction of a book is a visceral smell and feel of paper.
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Kindle books always go on sale, and lots of sites to track it
the entire kindle version of the song of ice and fire is on sale for $22.59 now
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If the cost of an online book was substantially cheaper than a hard copy I might feel different but it really isn't...
What about writers who sell physical books but give away the electronic versions? That's what Doctorow does and what I'm doing with "Nobots". If it works I'll make future books the same way.
Asimov: [aber.ac.uk]
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Love the quote, thank-you. Asimov and your signature author Heinlein are two of my favorites. On a side note I also collect authors' signatures, and that is hard to do on an electronic version. I've spent countless hours in pursuit of authors and had great luck getting them to sign my books. Like I posted to previous reply, I share around a circle of friends and they also buy books so the costs are shared, with the added benefit of getting to chat at our bi-monthly pen and paper RPG sessions. We've been pl
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The whole story's at that link (Yay, Google!). I have at least one printed book with that story in it, I have a lot of Asimov although I've read a LOT more of his books than I've bought.
I'm not surprised that there's no problem getting a book signed, fans are an author's greatest asset. If I sign this book you're a lot more likely to buy my next one. I wrote Asimov a fan letter, and he answered it with a post card. I wish I still had it.
I hadn't even thought of signed editions, that is an advantage to print
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What would be ideal would be a more extended partnership with local book sellers. It would be nice if the local book seller could sell a hardcopy with the ability to grab the Amazon ebook edition as well for a couple dollars more than just the hardcopy itself. This way, both Amazon and the local store benefit from each other.
This might even be doable (assuming Amazon could get the permission from publishers) with used books as well.
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"We'll pay you to stop being a bookstore and start being a Licensed Kindle Kiosk".
As opposed to simply watching that business go away anyway, and closing up shop entirely? So, sell nothing and go out of business, or recognize that your customers' expectations and habits have changed, and be a part of it. The problem isn't the e-reader, the problem is printed books.
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If all you (as a store) do is Kindles, then you're the replaceable AA batteries of the literature distribution system. I guess in theory, you'd do this and still keep s
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not like their profit margins are close to 100% as it is now
What a great idea (Score:2)
I agree that 10% sounds low, but its better than nothing. Why would a store want to sell a product that affects their business model? Now if said store got a kickback from it....
It also keeps bookstores from having to stock as many physical books. I am not sure what the percentage rate a store gets from selling a physical book, but I can certainly see this being an attractive offer for many B&M stores.
Ask Kodak (Score:2)
Because if they don't somebody else will.
Razor Blades (Score:2)
Re:Razor Blades (Score:4, Insightful)
Exactly ... isn't this basically "we're going put you out of business anyway, but here's a little cash if you help us do it." ?
Book stores don't sell every book that's available on Kindle (you'd need a big store to sell >1,000,000 different books). People who buy books on Kindle may well prefer buying paper books at their local book store when they are available there, so they don't have to wait for Amazon to deliver.
So, while it's not an obvious win for the stores, there are potential benefits.
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so they don't have to wait for Amazon to deliver.
Wait what.. A whole ten seconds to download the book? I could buy 100 books in the time you would need to drive to your local book store. And that includes reading what the book is about and deciding if I'd like it or not.
The question I would bring up is whether Kindle has the book in its inventory. I buy lots of science and technical books, but not all are released for the Kindle. For those I can click a link to request the publisher to convert it for the kindle, but more likely, at least for the short
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Wait what.. A whole ten seconds to download the book?
If you learned how to read, you might have noticed that comment referred to PAPER books, which you can't yet download and print in ten seconds.
Some people prefer paper books. Some people prefer paper books for some things and e-books for others. Some books aren't available as e-books, but are available on paper.
People who only buy e-books aren't going to be in a book store, so they're utterly irrelevant.
Seems right.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Seems right.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Watch as devices sold slowly render your main business dead
Which is going to happen to that retail store whether or not the devices are bought through them. Why not get a piece of the action while your business is failing anyway? Sell e-readers, and use the proceeds to tune up your coffee lounge area.
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If your selling enough kindles to make that 10% actually mean something then you have enough walk in traffic to not need that 10% incentive. Not to mention, when you sell a kindle to your bookstore patron you are pushing your patrons to use Amazon instead. You just told your customers to go ahead and make your future purchases with Amazon b
Not a dead model at all (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't understand why the new model for local book stores is not clear to everyone. It is this; local bookstores are essentially places to browse books to see what you want, then thy can earn money either of direct sales from the location (which is very much going to happen in the cases of gifts) or from affiliate revenue.
Gifts alone are not enough revenue to cut it; buying a Kindle from your local affiliate is a whole new stream of revenue that is likely enough to keep a store afloat. All the store has to do is figure out a way to entice people to buy Kindle's from the store and they get two-three years of recurring revenue as the owner buys books even if they never return to the store!
Book stores would also be smart to place QR stickers on each book that provided an affiliate link to purchase the book on Amazon.
10% is greater than Zero (Score:3)
Yes put a QR sticker on the book so you can get 10% of the profit rather than 100%
Your math is wrong; 10% is greater than 0%. People are ALREADY looking at a book in a bookstore, scanning the barcode on Amazons shopping app, and ordering it online.
10% A MONTH for three years is also better than 0% over three years, which is what you may get if a bookstore sells a kindle reader and the purchasers keeps buying books. Wh wouldn't they? I know I buy a book or two every month. That's all money that an affili
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10% isn't enough to pay the electric bill let alone employee wages, rent, taxes etc. In fact 10% would likely be much worse than 0 because falling behind on bills carries penalties.
There is a minimum stores need to survive, anything less and they go under. Hint: 10% is about 85% too little during the best of times. I personally know store owners and have seen how narrow the margins are. For many of them it's a month to month decision whether or not to close the doors. Reducing their margins this drastically
How stupid are you? The magic of recurring revenue (Score:2)
10% isn't enough to pay the electric bill let alone employee wages, rent, taxes etc.
How do you know? You can't possibly know the rent for every small to medium sized bookstore to proclaim that. Also, why do you assume affiliate revenue is 10% compared to a baseline profit the bookstore would have earned from the book, after factoring in stock that didn't sell or was damaged and stolen? All of those factors are greatly reduced by a bookstore that is operating off the model of making money from recurring r
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You're obviously a troll and someone thats never run a business. How about we take 90% of your income away and see how well you survive? I'm done with you. Can't argue with fucking retards.
Turkeys and Christmas (Score:1)
In other news, the local turkey farm has now opened for Christmas.
Turkeys have been offered extra feed if they are prepared to wear bright red hats and suits, and wander around singing christmas carols.
That's just wrong (Score:2)
For this to work properly, the delivery infrastructure has to remain separate from the product being delivered. That's what we do with electricity and gas. For efficiency purposes, one company owns the power lines or the gas pipes. But they're not allowed to discriminate against electricity and g
Awesome... (Score:2)
We can read and still enjoy the vanilla'esqe smell of a nice old used book store.
Good move Amazon. Go once step further, and let them sell kindle books and keep 10%.