Uneasy with Amazon

And on a different topic, Amazon is in the news this week, and not in a good way. They've recently told authors and small publishers that if they don't use Amazon's POD (print-on-demand) service, Amazon won't sell their books.

POD is much more than vanity press books, and this doesn't benefit anyone but Amazon. The fact that a number of small publishers have (if rumors be believed) already caved and signed with Amazon (despite the terrible reputation Amazon's service has for producing shoddy books) illustrates the power Amazon has come to have in the publishing world.

(The details of this situation have been reported in a number of places, but see:

http://www.writersweekly.com/the_latest_from_angelahoycom/004597_03272008.html)

Too much power is never a good thing. Most authors know that for them, Amazon is a mixed bag at best -- how could it be otherwise, when Amazon makes it just as easy for a customer to buy a used copy of your book as a new one that you get paid for?

Even as a reader, it occurred to me a few weeks ago to question how dependent I'd become on them. I started to order a few books I've not found in any local brick-and-mortar store, and then got to the shipping options. Free shipping on already low prices -- what's not to love?

Hmm. For starters, I realized that two of the books I was buying didn't have a discount on them at all. They were paperbacks, and Amazon's price was $7.99 -- no discount whatsoever. And I wondered if in the past I've clicked the 'buy' button without really thinking about whether I was getting a good deal or not, particularly in comparison to the discounts I can get at Borders or Barnes and Noble.

And if I opted for free shipping, they were telling me to expect the books in 14-21 days. That's up to three weeks. Is it worth it? Sure it is -- sometimes. But sometimes I want the books sooner than that. So then I looked at my options for standard shipping (3-7 days). The price for waiting for a week for my three books? Thirteen dollars. And if I wanted the books this week? Eighteen dollars -- for books I was already paying full price for.

You know, I ship things quite often, and $13 is a bit steep for three paperback books (one a very thin one.) I know part of the money is a 'handling' fee, but still...is it worth it? Is free shipping worth waiting so long? Is paying the handling charge worth getting the book sooner? (In reality, I'm sure it pays for the people who opt for free shipping, since that cost has to be covered somewhere. One wonders what Amazon would do for profit if everyone opted for free shipping.)

This post probably sounds like I've developed a hate-on for Amazon, and that's not true. I think they provide a wonderful service when it comes to researching hard-to-find items. But I've realized that I've been making certain assumptions about them that aren't necessarily true, such as everything they sell being discounted (not true, particularly for paperbacks that aren't new releases), that they're the only way of getting certain things (also not true, as most bookstores will special order stuff), and that their 'free shipping' is a good deal. (It is, but only if it's something you really don't mind waiting for.)

In short, I think they've become such a fixture that it's given them an unhealthy amount of power, something which will only grow in light of the POD thing. (Have older paperbacks always been full price, and I just didn't notice? Or is that something they changed at some point, once they thought people were safely assuming they'd always get the best price at Amazon?)

Will I continue to shop Amazon? Certainly. But I don't think it's going to be such a given anymore that my purchases will come from there. Competition is good for the consumer and there are other options -- including free shipping from Barnes and Noble.