Amazon discounts...?

Barbarique said:

Would someone please enlighten me as to why Amazon offers a discount (even if only a dollar or so) on a few POD books, but not most? Does it have to do with the trade discount? (I'm wondering because my subsidy-pubbed novel will be out soon.)

Thanks so much!

Click to expand...

Not long after it was published (POD), and as it was selling some copies, Amazon discounted Chuck Myer's Melanoma Melodrama 10% for a while. Maybe to goose sales a little more. Dunno. They probably have some algorithm that decides when and how much to discount.

--Ken

My own novel, THE HONOUR OF THE KNIGHTS, has been discounted 3 times on amazon.co.uk.

It was originally priced as the RRP - £9.94

It then fell to £9.44

Then to £8.94

and now £8.93

I think that's in response to the Book Depository, which was discounting the book way ahead of them. Despite that sales rank on Amazon (its in the 850,000s!), I'm sure the book is selling on Book Depository. Everyday my sales rank on BD has risen either by a few hundred or few thousand places. I'm hoping those are sales and not gremlins...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0955856108/?tag=absolutewrite-21

Books ,like so many things, do not have a fixed price.Most book sellers are operating a system of reverse auction.The price is determined by a number of things, but it all revolves around supply and demand .It's a very competitive market at the moment and overall book prices are falling.

I would love to answer this, but unfortunately I'm completely in the dark. My book is discounted on Amazon. I don't know why. It has been at a discounted price since there since it went live, so I've told people that are interested to buy it there and save themselves a couple of bucks (since it's overpriced anyway).

I have also seen websites in the UK selling my book for a discounted (but still too high) price. Oh, and there was a "used copy" listed on Amazon for over $1000. I don't understand why anyone would go through the bother of listing that.

Does anyone out there understand the enigma of Amazon?