Strange things afoot in online purchasing

[andrewducker]

Traditionally speaking my buying of trade paperbacks has followed a simple rule:
Forbidden Planet = Bloody Expensive, Amazon = Good Value
However, this doesn't seem to apply for Forbidden Planet's online catalogue, where the prices seem to frequently undercut Amazon and they get things sooner - sometimes months sooner.

Take, for example the new Absolute Death hardcover.  Amazon have it for £52.50 - FP Online have it for £50.25 (plus £1 shipping).  So £1 cheaper at FP - big deal.  Except that Amazon have it showing as in stock from the 18th of December, and Forbidden Planet delivered it to my door an hour and a half ago (huzzah for Julie being in slaving over her stats).

I assume that Direct Market comics just run ahead of book stores - which you wouldn't think Amazon would be happy about.  I wonder how long that will last.

Comments

[a-pawson.livejournal.com]

Direct Market stores do not have returns rights, something any other retailer (including Amazon) would insist on. Allowing all retaillers to sell new releases on the same date would remove any advantage the DM stores have, and cause all sorts of financial problems for the publishers.

[andrewducker]

Aaah, that makes sense. Give them a couple of months to sell their stock before allowing the big boys into the market!

[a-pawson.livejournal.com]

Also gives the publisher guaranteed cashflow. Sales to the main retailers can turn out not to be a sale at all if you get 95% of your stock returned.

[cybik.livejournal.com]

If I were a publisher I'd be wary of dealing with Amazon. They're not particularly nice..

[andrewducker]

Wariness is a virtue - but I don't think they have a choice in making a deal of some kind. Amazon is such a massive player in the book market that you have to deal with them.

[cybik.livejournal.com]

Yes, indeed. I'd still be wary - Amazon have started or will start (according to the Bookseller magazine) charging publishers for deliveries that aren't to Amazon's specifications, which could be extremely damaging to smaller publishers. It's a horrible market to be in at the moment.

[a-pawson.livejournal.com]

Nor are any of the major retailers. Once you start to deal with any major retailer you discover how ruthless their purchasing departments can be. But if you want to reach a mass market, it's pretty much the only way to get your product out there. Unfortunately they are aware of the value of getting a product in their shops and will use that to their advantage.

[cybik.livejournal.com]

Oh, absolutely. Amazon have started being absolutely awful, even more so than other retailers (as in fining publishers if their deliveries are not exactly to Amazon's specifications), though, which puts enormous pressure on smaller publishers. It's quite scary, the power they have.


And I still buy things from them..

[stevegreen.livejournal.com]

Must check out their price for the latest volumes of Charley's War.

[andrewducker]

Ooooh - I've only got the first hardback. Must pick up the rest at some point.