Now, the Wall Street Journal and others are reporting that the big three retailers--Walmart, Target and Amazon--are rationing those selected bestsellers they have been deep discounting. This is ostensibly to prevent other retailers from buying from them in quantity and reselling these titles.
I believe that the only ones who are going to get hurt by the deep discounting and the rationing are those retailers who are doing it. First of all, they cannot continue to sell these books at these prices for a long period of time as they are losing a substantial amount of money by doing so; and limiting the number of copies per customer during the holiday season, especially, should discourage potential consumers and send them elsewhere.
In this poor economic climate for publishers and booksellers alike it would seem to me that working together to help our industry rather than undercutting each other would be far more constructive and productive.
What do you think?
-Jane
Monday, November 02, 2009
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"...it would seem to me that working together to help our industry rather than undercutting each other would be far more constructive and productive."
ReplyDeleteI agree one hundred percent. I wish you the best possible success in getting that idea across however. I think it's actually one of the signs of the apocalypse.
Seriously though, I would not be sorry in the slightest to see the powerhouses humbled by their own overextending arms.
Deep discounting has been around so long, I don't see it changing in the near future. Even if I don't like the things it does to the rest of the market.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the well thought out post.