Comments on: Are Used Book Sales good or bad for Publishing?

By: Dom Giovanni

Dom Giovanni — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:53:56 +0000

The assumption that ebooks of any kind will eventually
replace physical books as we know them is merely that,
a postulation, one that cannot be taken for granted. There
is an art, an aesthetic to “real” books tat cannot be duplicated
by any electronic means. Ebooks may gain in popularity for
some types of books but by no means come near to replacing
the vast majority.

Dom Giovanni’s Poetry

By: Used Books, Sharing and Lack of Clarity « Kindle Review – Kindle 2 Review, Books

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:15:54 +0000

[...] an earlier post on Whether Used Books are Good or Bad? we have an estimate that Used Book Sales generate $1.466 billion a year and are 10% of total book [...]

By: Kindle and eBooks Q&A with Ed Ditto « Kindle Review – Kindle 2 Review, Books

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:45:43 +0000

[...] Publishers start killing the used books market by offering older releases as ebooks at lower prices. The Kindle is actually the perfect way to kill the used books market. [...]

By: switch11

switch11 — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:43:55 +0000

It started out as just measuring the used books market and figuring out whether it was good or bad for new book sales. However, as you dig deeper it’s hard not to look at the signs that ebooks are designed in such a way that the used books market is going to disappear once ebooks become more popular.

Or to be absolutely precise – a used books market where authors and publishers do not have a share will disappear.

By: charlene

charlene — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:48:34 +0000

Though I like your analysis of the assumptions made by the survey, I don’t really understand the obsession in this post with getting rid of the used book market. Are you going to get rid of libraries next? I must admit that the local public library probably costs the book publishing industry hundreds of dollars a year from me alone! (Although I’m not quite sure about that, because I frequently buy books because I read a library copy and liked it, or need the next book in a series of which the library only has one.) Actually, this is MUCH more of a “problem” than used book sales. And what about sales of used music, or used clothing? Surely that’s not fair to the clothes manufacturers and designers! …It seems to me that if publishers and authors taking ‘losses for the benefit of society’ is rather ridiculous, consumers taking losses for the benefit of the publishers is even more so.

Books also are hard to measure because of them constantly going in and out of print. (And yes, e-books would fix this.) For the book-buyers I know (and yes, this is anecdotal, but still) the only people I know who regularly buy used books are a) those who really can’t afford new books, who would simply NOT BUY them, or get them from the library, otherwise; and b) those, like me, who have the money, and would rather buy new books, but sometimes are forced to buy used books because they’re out of print.

Also, I must say something about textbooks: The reason the used textbook market is so large is that textbooks are too expensive, due to publishers taking too large a cut. My textbooks in college were anywhere between $50-$100, for hardbacks which, had they been fiction rather than textbooks, would have cost no more than $20 — and do you really think that the author was getting an extra $80/book? HA. Also, if your textbooks cost $100 each, and you have five classes, even if the used textbooks sell for 80% you’re still saving $100, which for a student is kind of a big deal. Now, if new textbooks sold for $20, I bet the used market for textbooks would go WAY down. (Same with Kindle textbooks. If they sell them for $100, the used print textbook market will continue to flourish.)

(All this being said, I know I’ve left several comments lately critical of your stance on these kinds of issues — but I do appreciate your blog, and the information you give on the Kindle! Thanks!)