Amazon Relents On Macmillan Price Dispute

Are you satisfied with the $9.99 price point of eBooks on Amazon’s Kindle, or do you think that publishers should be allowed to price the books higher? Every consumer wants to get the best deal, us included, unfortunately it seems that Macmillan are in the midst of a little dispute with Amazon at the moment, as Macmillan wants to offer some eBooks at $12.99 to $14.99, but Amazon would like to keep it at $9.99. When you look at the upcoming competition, such as the Barnes & Noble Nook, Apple iPad, it’s understandable that Amazon will want to keep the price attractive, though it will also need to make sure it doesn’t hurt the publishers too. Unfortunately Amazon has stopped directly selling Macmillan titles, which is certainly a result of the dispute.

As a result, Macmillan CEO, took out a paid advertisement in Publishers Marketplace to voice out on the issue. Whether it was directly related to the ad he put out or not, Amazon seems to have relented, and will give in the Macmillan, allowing it to sell eBooks at a higher price, even though it considers the price too high. Do you think that Amazon should be the one to control the pricing of these eBooks, or should consumers be the ones to give feedback (via their wallets) on this issue?

Matthew Chung
Categories: General
Tags: Amazon, barnes and noble, iPad, Kindle, nook