Reply to: Amazon AutoRip is crazy

[d000hg]

How quickly do they appear after purchase? For example, what's to stop you from ordering the CD, downloading the MP3s from Amazon for free, and then cancelling / returning the CD (apart from the legality)?

The moment you purchase, they are available in your cloud (online) player, which also offers you the opportunity to download instantly.

If you download it, you can't return the CD. I think you can stream it and still return, you'd have to check the T&Cs which definitely cover this but basically they have thought of it.

[vetran]

Try Common Misconceptions About Publishing: #1 - Charlie's Diary and go onward from there.

However remember book = paper -> no VAT
ebook = electronic media -> VAT (i.e. government takes 16.6% before you start working out figures)

fascinating thanks.

I'm repped out otherwise you would have a positive.

[eek]

The government doesn't take 16.6%. Amazon charges you an additional 20% and then hands over 2-3% or whatever the VAT rate in Luxembourg is, and keeps the rest.

True but I was trying to keep things as simple as possible. Multi country vat avoidance just adds more levels of complexity and confusion

[TheFaQQer]

Try Common Misconceptions About Publishing: #1 - Charlie's Diary and go onward from there.

However remember book = paper -> no VAT
ebook = electronic media -> VAT (i.e. government takes 16.6% before you start working out figures)

The government doesn't take 16.6%. Amazon charges you an additional 20% and then hands over 2-3% or whatever the VAT rate in Luxembourg is, and keeps the rest.

[eek]

If you could, I find it interesting.

I was sort of assuming that book costs were about 50p, distribution 50-£1. Author ~ £1 publisher £1.50 (including advertising) retailer ~ £2.50. with that eBooks are £1-£1.50 cheaper.

Try Common Misconceptions About Publishing: #1 - Charlie's Diary and go onward from there.

However remember book = paper -> no VAT
ebook = electronic media -> VAT (i.e. government takes 16.6% before you start working out figures)

[TheFaQQer]

An album I wanted was £6 for MP3, or £4.50 on CD. The CD copy comes with a free MP3/online version thanks to autorip. On top of that, because Amazon are promoting electronic music, if you buy a CD you get £1 credit off your next MP3 purchase.

Amazon sent me an email this week telling me that my two CDs are now in my autorip section.

I bought these as presents, but now I have the MP3s available to me if I wanted to download them. It's only my honesty which prevents such a thing from happening

How quickly do they appear after purchase? For example, what's to stop you from ordering the CD, downloading the MP3s from Amazon for free, and then cancelling / returning the CD (apart from the legality)?

[d000hg]

If you could, I find it interesting.

I was sort of assuming that book costs were about 50p, distribution 50-£1. Author ~ £1 publisher £1.50 (including advertising) retailer ~ £2.50. with that eBooks are £1-£1.50 cheaper.

Well firstly if I understood you that only adds up to £6 and paperbacks seem to often be £7-8 these days (which is shocking).

But since we already mentioned e-books attract VAT and paper books don't, doesn't this pretty much perfectly make up for the £1-1.50 saving you calculated?

[vetran]

Not really I can point to a whole set of blog posts to prove the point if you insist.

Fixed production costs are the same whether it's electronic or paper. The only differences are:

Printing costs ( which are surprisingly little)
Distribution costs which are different.

But I don't think the profits are that different because amazon still pockets the majority of those

If you could, I find it interesting.

I was sort of assuming that book costs were about 50p, distribution 50-£1. Author ~ £1 publisher £1.50 (including advertising) retailer ~ £2.50. with that eBooks are £1-£1.50 cheaper.

[eek]

True but they don't incur the production & distribution costs normal books do.

I suspect the profit on eBooks is considerably higher than paper.

Not really I can point to a whole set of blog posts to prove the point if you insist.

Fixed production costs are the same whether it's electronic or paper. The only differences are:

Printing costs ( which are surprisingly little)
Distribution costs which are different.

But I don't think the profits are that different because amazon still pockets the majority of those

[d000hg]

True but they don't incur the production & distribution costs normal books do.

I suspect the profit on eBooks is considerably higher than paper.

I read somewhere the production costs are actually pretty minimal on a big run. But market forces are of course a factor - what will people pay.

[d000hg]

eBooks also had the publisher setting pricing, unlike paper books where Amazon buy them and sell them for whatever they choose. I'm not sure if this has now been changed in the wake of the huge price-fixing row.

[vetran]

kindle books are electronic media and therefore subject to VAT......

True but they don't incur the production & distribution costs normal books do.

I suspect the profit on eBooks is considerably higher than paper.

[TheFaQQer]

kindle books are electronic media and therefore subject to VAT......

Yep.

If you search the top freebies every so often you can get a bargain though. Publishers sell them at free or next to nothing, which then means that they can publish the paperback with the line "Number 1 Best Seller" at a higher price. Most of my Kindle books have been dirt cheap or free, but when I've looked for the same book again a few weeks later, the price has jumped.

[eek]

It's the same with most kindle versions of books, someone has told me why they are more expensive than the printed ones but for the life of me I still struggle with the concept!

kindle books are electronic media and therefore subject to VAT......

[SimonMac]

An album I wanted was £6 for MP3, or £4.50 on CD. The CD copy comes with a free MP3/online version thanks to autorip. On top of that, because Amazon are promoting electronic music, if you buy a CD you get £1 credit off your next MP3 purchase.

It's the same with most kindle versions of books, someone has told me why they are more expensive than the printed ones but for the life of me I still struggle with the concept!