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Amazon Digital Markup: 129,000%

andrewhy.de

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Re: Amazon Digital Markup: 129,000%

#131

Post by dagw »

dandelany wrote: post #80
res0nat0r wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hosting a static file in S3 you have to point people to manually find and download themselves is much cheaper because you don't have the built in captive audience, WhisperNet and everything else which comes with the Kindle ecosystem, so comparing the two only via a flat dollar cost is naive.

It's ridiculous to include the cost of the entire "Kindle ecosystem" with a fee called "delivery fee" - as other posts have mentioned, this is what commission is for. WhisperNet is another story - this is legitimately a part of the delivery - however, it's just 3G service that they leased from AT&T, and to assume it costs them even close to $2.58 per delivery is just ignorant. If I downloaded an 18MB e-mail attachmen…

If I downloaded an 18MB e-mail attachment over 3g on my phone, essentially the same thing, I would be absolutely livid if I was charged $2.58

If I downloaded an 18MB email attachment over 3g on my phone, while in the US, it will cost me $315.

Re: Amazon Digital Markup: 129,000%

#132

Post by guan »

freerobby wrote: post #18
xxpor wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But there's no difference from amazon's perspective, because once you bought the book, you can download it over 3g at any time, multiple times.

There is no way that the average purchase costs $2.50+ to deliver, even amortized over the lifetime of the book. Amazon can charge whatever they want; I just think they should be transparent about what people's net pay will be. It's disingenuous to advertise that you take a 30% cut plus "delivery costs," and then mark up the "delivery costs" to over 25% of the average book price. Apple uses a similar paradigm (proces…

What does Apple typically charge in processing fees on top of their 30%? I’ve tried to find some information on this, and every source I’ve found says they only charge the 30%.

Re: Amazon Digital Markup: 129,000%

#133

Post by takluyver »

bemmu wrote: post #30
freerobby wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no way that the average purchase costs $2.50+ to deliver, even amortized over the lifetime of the book. Amazon can charge whatever they want; I just think they should be transparent about what people's net pay will be. It's disingenuous to advertise that you take a 30% cut plus "delivery costs," and then mark up the "delivery costs" to over 25% of the average book price. Apple uses a similar paradigm (proces…

Maybe kindles are manufactured at a loss and these delivery fees are then part of the device cost?

But that's not a "delivery fee", which makes it kind of dishonest. Amazon already take a fixed 30% cut, which ought to include any subsidy on the devices.

Re: Amazon Digital Markup: 129,000%

#134

Post by takluyver »

xxpor wrote: post #113
damian2000 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wrong - most deserts of Australia don't have any 3G access. But anywhere in Australia with 3G access (i.e. populated areas) all have the same data tariff, which is comparable to the US price.

>But anywhere in Australia with 3G access (i.e. populated areas) all have the same data tariff, which is comparable to the US price How do you know the details of AT&T's roaming agreements with Australian carriers? I know you don't, because your statement is 1000% incorrect.

I would assume Amazon can negotiate with local carriers in each region, rather than paying through a US carrier for data sent to Australia.

Re: Amazon Digital Markup: 129,000%

#135

Post by benholmen »

I'm curious if anyone has experimented with educating potential customers about the fees associated with each delivery option. For example:

1. Buy on Amazon.com for $9.99 (I earn $5.10)

2. Buy on iBooks for $9.99 (I earn $7.00)

3. Buy a PDF for $9.99 (I earn $9.25)

If I felt any connection or goodwill toward the author (highly likely) I would be inclined to pick the best option for me _and_ the author.

Re: Amazon Digital Markup: 129,000%

#136

Post by xxpor »

takluyver wrote: post #134
xxpor wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>But anywhere in Australia with 3G access (i.e. populated areas) all have the same data tariff, which is comparable to the US price How do you know the details of AT&T's roaming agreements with Australian carriers? I know you don't, because your statement is 1000% incorrect.

I would assume Amazon can negotiate with local carriers in each region, rather than paying through a US carrier for data sent to Australia.

That would require a magical sim swap while the kindle is in transit.

Re: Amazon Digital Markup: 129,000%

#137

Post by freerobby »

guan wrote: post #132
freerobby wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no way that the average purchase costs $2.50+ to deliver, even amortized over the lifetime of the book. Amazon can charge whatever they want; I just think they should be transparent about what people's net pay will be. It's disingenuous to advertise that you take a 30% cut plus "delivery costs," and then mark up the "delivery costs" to over 25% of the average book price. Apple uses a similar paradigm (proces…

What does Apple typically charge in processing fees on top of their 30%? I’ve tried to find some information on this, and every source I’ve found says they only charge the 30%.

It's 30% plus the payment processing fees. It varies because Apple is clever about charging multiple purchases at once (which works to your benefit), but it's closely in line with processing PayPal, SimplePay, etc.

Re: Amazon Digital Markup: 129,000%

#138

Post by vellum »

pja wrote: post #126
shalmanese wrote: post #118

Why not make it $10 on Amazon and $9.50 on all the other services. That way, people who are indifferent will go for the service that nets you the highest margin while people who prefer kindle won't care that much about the price differential. Personally, I'm pretty much indifferent to iBooks vs Kindle since both are just apps on my iPad. If they're both $10, I choose Kindle simply because it's a bigger brand name. If…

You can't. Amazon reserves the right to drop the asking price on your book to the lowest price listed anywhere else. ("Most favoured nation status" is the term used to describe this kind of clause in a contract.)

An alternative solution might be to just sell DRM-free pdfs, mobis and epub files on a non-Amazon service, since most people hate DRM.

Re: Amazon Digital Markup: 129,000%

#139

Post by tvorryn »

Most US authors pay only a few cents per delivery. [1] Books with lots of images can become expensive but it seems like the images are likely unnecessarily big for an ebook, and that is why his costs are so disproportionately large.

1 - http://www.thepassivevoice.com/06/2012/amazons-markup-of-dig...

Re: Amazon Digital Markup: 129,000%

#140

Post by smackfu »

zevyoura wrote: post #62
andrewhyde wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having a great time with the book, sorry if I came off as whining. A few notes. A high % of the KS money went into rewards (books printed averaged $20 shipped). I did make 3x though Amazon, but if I had gone through gumroad, I would have done double the revenue. Biggest tl;dr complaint is that as an avid reader of about a book a week I had no idea that authors paid both 30% of the total price plus the delivery fee. T…

But if you had gone through gumroad, you wouldn't have done the same volume. If they renamed the "delivery fee" as "hosting and market placement" would you feel okay about it?

Or even "oversize book surcharge". If you saw that on your bill, you'd probably say "oh gee, I have to make my book smaller to avoid this."
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