ENTRIES TAGGED "online retailers"
EBay Wants You to Buy It Now
EBay is moving into Amazon's territory. Citing reduced consumer interest in online auctions, eBay is refocusing on fixed-price "Buy It Now" products. From the New York Times: Among the changes being announced Wednesday [8/20/08] is a new pricing plan for sellers who offer fixed-price items in eBay's "Buy It Now" format. Starting in mid-September, sellers will pay only 35…
Amazon Buys AbeBooks
Amazon has acquired AbeBooks for an undisclosed amount, reports The Bookseller. Russell Grandinetti, vice president of books for Amazon.com, is quoted in an Amazon press release announcing the deal: As a leader in rare and hard-to-find books, AbeBooks brings added breadth and expanded selection to our customers worldwide … AbeBooks provides a wide range of services to both sellers…
News Roundup: Publishers Push to Meet Russert Book Demand, Seth Godin's Kindle Analysis, BN.com Redesign Nets Big Traffic
Publishers Pushing to Meet Russert Book Demand Random House and Hyperion Books are rushing to meet demand for Tim Russert's two books, Wisdom of Our Fathers and Big Russ & Me. From Newsday: Carol Schneider, executive director of publicity at Random House, reports that the company is immediately printing 100,000 paperbacks of "Wisdom" that began shipping yesterday [6/16/08]. Likewise, Hyperion…
BN.com Redesign Nets Significant Traffic Increase
Barnes and Noble is seeing positive results from its 2007 Web site overhaul. From Publishers Weekly: … in 2007, the online arm of the retailer posted a 10.1% sales increase, helped by a strong fourth quarter, and the solid results continued into the first period of 2008: B&N.com posted a 7.2% sales increase, compared to an increase of 1.1%…
Amazon "Buy New" Option Removed from Publisher's Titles
The "buy new" option has been removed from a variety of Hachette Group's Amazon UK listings, reports The BookSeller: Amazon conducts yearly negotiations with publishers over the discounts it receives. The Hachette tussle comes in the wake of a similar dispute in January, when a number of Bloomsbury titles were temporarily removed from sale through Amazon's main channel. The…
Path to Web Retail Getting Easier for Independent Music Labels
This is an interesting story from the music world. The implication is that the barrier to retail is dropping in music, which has different hurdles than publishing. The Independent Online Distribution Alliance, better known as IODA, launched itself in 2003 to help independent labels, artists and others in the music industry make the leap from physical to digital. One…
Studio Notes DVD Sales Increase Amidst Digital Distribution
Warner Brothers found that DVD sales actually increased during a simultaneous DVD/VOD release program. These results apply to other industries, including publishing.
Amazon Challenges New York's "Amazon Tax"
As expected, Amazon is challenging New York's recently passed sales tax statute. From Amazon's filed complaint (pdf): Because some independently operated, New York-based websites post advertisements with links to Amazon and are compensated for these advertisements, Amazon is now presumed to have engaged in "solicitation" under this statue … despite the fact that Amazon lacks any physical presence in…
Amazon Growth Fuels Online's Book Market Share
Online retailers claim 21-30 percent of the consumer trade book market, according to two recent surveys. Publishers Weekly says much of this growth comes from Amazon: In discussing their 2007 results, both Penguin's David Shanks and Simon & Schuster's Carolyn Reidy said the e-tailer was their fastest-growing account last year, while Quarto Group chairman Laurence Orbach noted that sales…
New York Eyes Amazon Affiliates in Tax Move
The Amazon affiliates program could yield millions in revenue for New York state, and it won't come from customer referrals. From the New York Times: … people owe taxes on what they buy regardless of whom they buy it from. But the seller only has an obligation to collect those taxes (and thus the only time taxes are ever…