Shady practice or not?

brainstorm77

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First of all, if this is in the wrong place then please move it :) Is it normal for a publisher to take their credit card processing fees from the authors royalties. This from a e publisher who states this on their site.

'Royalties: 35 % of the cover price less credit card processing fees for eBooks sold from our site, 35 % of the amount received from a reseller, and 10 % of the retail price for POD print books.'

Can some explain if this is a common practice?
 
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ChaosTitan

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Credit card processing fees seem like a cost of doing business for the publisher. It isn't something I think an author should be responsible for. Sounds like a pub I'd avoid.
 

brainstorm77

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Credit card processing fees seem like a cost of doing business for the publisher. It isn't something I think an author should be responsible for. Sounds like a pub I'd avoid.

That's what I thought.
 

defyalllogic

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businesses don't charge their vendors for the bank fees when they sell products. they either have a minimum or suck it up.
 

cbenoi1

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> businesses don't charge their vendors for the bank fees when they sell products.

Amazon, Google, and many others charge credit card fees to vendors. It seems pretty common amongst eCommerce businesses.


> 35 % of the cover price less credit card processing fees for eBooks sold from our site

They consider authors as vendors on their web sites.

There is a golden rule in business. The link in the value chain closest to the end customer makes the rules. Telcos, e- and b&m- retailers, all shove extra costs on their vendors. What else is new?

-cb
 

veinglory

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They only thing an epublisher should ever be deducting is the cut taken by third party vendors (e.g. Amazon, Fictionwise).
 

Soccer Mom

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I haven't seen that before in a contract. They want to deduct credit card fees from books sold on their own site? Unh unh. Not normal at all.
 

brainstorm77

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So far I've only seen this with one e press. They do state it openly in their sub guidelines.
 

CheshireCat

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What most of the others said.

A legit publisher absorbs the usual costs of doing business -- which is why author royalties are so low in the first place. The pubs' lion's share is to pay their costs and provide them a modest (?) profit.

An e-publisher already up and doing business has even fewer costs per book (no printing costs, shipping costs, etc.) than a print publisher, so your royalty should be higher -- and the pub's costs of doing business should never be deducted from your share because the pub's baseline percentage is higher.
 

jennontheisland

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Just because they state something openly in their submission guidelines doesn't mean it's considered acceptable practice.
 

brainstorm77

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Just because they state something openly in their submission guidelines doesn't mean it's considered acceptable practice.

I didn't say it was. I was stating a fact. They list it right out in the open, and I was quite surprised to read it to be honest, since I've never heard the like before.
 
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brainstorm77

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What most of the others said.

A legit publisher absorbs the usual costs of doing business -- which is why author royalties are so low in the first place. The pubs' lion's share is to pay their costs and provide them a modest (?) profit.

An e-publisher already up and doing business has even fewer costs per book (no printing costs, shipping costs, etc.) than a print publisher, so your royalty should be higher -- and the pub's costs of doing business should never be deducted from your share because the pub's baseline percentage is higher.

Yeah I thought it rather strange when I read it.
 

brainstorm77

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I haven't seen that before in a contract. They want to deduct credit card fees from books sold on their own site? Unh unh. Not normal at all.

They do indeed.
 

brainstorm77

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Are you paying for the publisher's phone bill too?

This sounds like quite a scam if I ever heard one.

I'm not with this publisher. I just wanted to make that clear. I came across this when I was researching e pubs for a novella of mine.
 

Brindle Chase

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I'm still a rookie, but neither of my publishers have anything like that in their terms. I assume their cut covers all their costs, plus anticipated profit, etc... My cut is my cut, not less anything.

I get xx% for sales on their site
I get xx% for sales on 3rd party sites
I get xx% if we go to print sales.

No ups, no extras, no hidden fees.
 

brainstorm77

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Site in question appears to be updated, that clause has been removed from the submission link.
 
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KTC

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Site in question appears to be updated, that clause has been removed from the submission link... Interesting....

WOW! Seriously! Karate chopped that one! Who has the power? AWers have the power. (-:
 

brainstorm77

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WOW! Seriously! Karate chopped that one! Who has the power? AWers have the power. (-:

It still may be there in the contract but not listed for all to see. I never did list the sites name openly, some here did request it through PM.
 

Julie Worth

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Even though it's now moot, how can it be a shady practice if it's in the contract? If you don't agree to it, negotiate it out, or else don't sign.