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Amazon’s Monopsony Is Not O.K.

nytimes.com

21–30 of 208 posts

Re: Amazon’s Monopsony Is Not O.K.

#21
post #6

Distribution channels are important, and editors will have to adapt to these new means. I wonder if there was a way of cutting the middle man and selling the books directly from their website in a way that is readable in all e-book readers, hummm

so Skip Amazon? But all users won't go to each publishing company's page to check for their new releases. That's how Amazon is sandwiched in the middle.

This, but also iBooks, Google Play, etc

And of course, just provide DRM-Free books on their website for a discounted price.

Re: Amazon’s Monopsony Is Not O.K.

#22
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is exactly what I was thinking. Why should I worry that Amazon makes publishers sell their books for lower prices? No explanation is offered...

Because what if they repeat the same trick towards Customers? Do we have a choice then?

Repeating the same trick toward customers would be "monopoly". And yes, it would be bad. And our choice at that point would be antitrust action, presumably.

But again: the linked article isn't about monopoly power. If you want to draw a line between this behavior and a future monopoly, it needs clearer argumentation.

Re: Amazon’s Monopsony Is Not O.K.

#23
post #12

I normally love Krugman, but it seems like he skipped a step here. Amazon is squeezing publishers to push prices down, which is bad becuase... why? I mean, the apocalyptic end game here is that publishers are forced out of business entirely and Amazon ends up buying content directly from authors, I guess. That doesn't sound so bad to me, nor like something that's going to "hurt America". Maybe then they might squeeze…

I don't. He's usually very clueless about technology, even about the economics of technology, yet he loves to ramble about it nonetheless.

Re: Amazon’s Monopsony Is Not O.K.

#24
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because what if they repeat the same trick towards Customers? Do we have a choice then?

Why wouldn't we? There are hundreds of companies selling books, and you can start a new one with essentially nothing. Book selling is not a natural monopoly which requires heavy investment to enter into. I see no reason to assume Amazon can keep a monopoly with high prices simply because they squeezed the publishers. Low prices is what keeps them in power. (Btw, I'm playing Devil's advocate here. I don't buy at Amazo…

> I don't buy at Amazon for ethical reasons

What's the reason in your case? I genuinely wonder - considering dumping them too.

Re: Amazon’s Monopsony Is Not O.K.

#25
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once the publishing companies are gone it is millions of authors selling to Amazon, classic monopsony. The competitive solution is millions of authors selling direct to billions of consumers without a powerful intermediary. Whether the current situation with extra ineffectual intermediaries is much better I am not sure, probably not.

Right, but that's sort of a semantic answer: I know (well, OK, I looked up) what monosony means . I just don't see the argument, specific to publishing, that it's such a terrible thing. Having a single buyer of a commodity good is bad, but books aren't commodities. Basically right now book authors, to first approximation, get paid basically nothing. But a few are huge successes with the ability essentially to set the…

OK say compare with the market for wine which sells at a similar price but has a much less centralized selling system but similarish diversity of product.

With competition there is little space for 30% margins but there is still room for retail to take some margin. It is not a hugely profitable business but there are good niches.

Re: Amazon’s Monopsony Is Not O.K.

#26
post #12

I normally love Krugman, but it seems like he skipped a step here. Amazon is squeezing publishers to push prices down, which is bad becuase... why? I mean, the apocalyptic end game here is that publishers are forced out of business entirely and Amazon ends up buying content directly from authors, I guess. That doesn't sound so bad to me, nor like something that's going to "hurt America". Maybe then they might squeeze…

I don't. He's usually very clueless about technology, even about the economics of technology, yet he loves to ramble about it nonetheless.

So you think it's good that authors get gouged on the price they can sell their services for? I bet you were cool with Google conspiring to lower the wages they could offer their employees too.

Re: Amazon’s Monopsony Is Not O.K.

#27
post #12

I normally love Krugman, but it seems like he skipped a step here. Amazon is squeezing publishers to push prices down, which is bad becuase... why? I mean, the apocalyptic end game here is that publishers are forced out of business entirely and Amazon ends up buying content directly from authors, I guess. That doesn't sound so bad to me, nor like something that's going to "hurt America". Maybe then they might squeeze…

The textbook answer to why monopsony is unhealthy is monopsony suppresses investment in production. In this case, the risk is dissuading authors from writing by suppressing their earnings.

Imagine a simplified supply chain: authors distribute through Amazon to reach readers. Amazon exerting pricing pressure on authors benefits readers in the short term by reducing their reading costs. But by reducing authors' profits, Amazon dissuades new entry. Authors with skills elsewhere write less; the diversity and quality of new books suffers. Monopsony, when it reduces producer profits below equilibrium (e.g. what these authors would earn with many Amazons fighting for their business), dissuades investment in production.

Reality is complicated by the middleman, publishers. Now we have authors contracting with publishers to distribute through Amazon to reach readers. There are multiple publishers competing for authors, so for now the authors don't appear to be squeezed as much as the middleman. Authors' continued use of publishers hints at the value of their services, which may be nothing more than collective bargaining.

Removing legacy middlemen is healthy. Skewing producers' bargaining rights is not. Disentangling publishers' rents (the fraction of publishers' profits which come from them being, before Amazon, authors' only choice for distribution) from authors' costs of production (what good authors need to be paid to compensate them for the time, skill and risk which goes into writing) is difficult.

Re: Amazon’s Monopsony Is Not O.K.

#28
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EPUB, PDF, the web. All good options.

Why not an open-source one something like where everyone has power? something like Reddit or Bitcoin?

The list of options in the comment you're replying to contained, depending on your level of purity, between 66% and 100% open-source options.

(I suspect you're looking for something more comprehensive than just the formats, but I'm not sure what, exactly.)

Re: Amazon’s Monopsony Is Not O.K.

#29
post #12

I normally love Krugman, but it seems like he skipped a step here. Amazon is squeezing publishers to push prices down, which is bad becuase... why? I mean, the apocalyptic end game here is that publishers are forced out of business entirely and Amazon ends up buying content directly from authors, I guess. That doesn't sound so bad to me, nor like something that's going to "hurt America". Maybe then they might squeeze…

> What's the critical function provided by publishing houses that Amazon is in danger of disrupting?

Editors

Having a "everybody can publish anything" model is great. But it doesn't fit all cases.

Yes, an editor is really helpful. Revision, pagesetting, etc, as well.

Re: Amazon’s Monopsony Is Not O.K.

#30
post #12

I normally love Krugman, but it seems like he skipped a step here. Amazon is squeezing publishers to push prices down, which is bad becuase... why? I mean, the apocalyptic end game here is that publishers are forced out of business entirely and Amazon ends up buying content directly from authors, I guess. That doesn't sound so bad to me, nor like something that's going to "hurt America". Maybe then they might squeeze…

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