I was ‘officially gobsmacked’ to discover that Digital Frontier – a retailer on Amazon is selling a copy of my first book “Best Practice Creativity” for £3000. I know postage rates have risen and so on, but that’s nearly 4 pence per word!!! 😉 I also know that some people say my books are really good, but this is just ridiculous!
It’s a rip off yeah! Online retailing at its worst
It raises the interesting point about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on Amazon’s part. Yes, it’s a free market and all that, but the RRP of the book is £45.00 and Digital Frontier’s price is nearly 100 times the retail price. If the company concerned are the ‘thieves’ than that makes Amazon the ‘police’, hence the title of this blog. Surely there should be some checks and balances built into the system? I’ve had my doubts about Amazon before, when sales of “The Music of Business” mysteriously did not get reported on my royalty statement. If they are to tolerate 1000% price hikes from people who pay no royalties to the originators of the work, what future does this hold for online trading? As the market leader, Amazon surely ought to be carrying the CSR ‘torch’ for others to follow.
By the way, I get no royalty from Digital Frontier’s sales 🙂 And I’m selling copies of Best Practice Creativity direct at £25 plus P&P, or you can get the whole ‘box set’ plus one of my ambient music CD’s and a really cool badge for £65 plus P&P. Drop me a line at peter@humdyn.co.uk for details.
Straight from the source without 1000% price hike
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About the Blogger: Peter Cook leads The Academy of Rock – Keynote events with a difference and Human Dynamics – Business and organisation development, training and coaching. Contact via peter@humdyn.co.uk
Peter Cook - Speaker, Author 
I really don’t think this kind of thing is anything to get excited about. In a free market you can price goods at whatever you like. But if you make a product £3000 when the next stall has it at a lot less, you aren’t going to sell any. I can’t imagine anyone buying at these prices. It’s meaningless, like putting your house on the market for £100,000,000. You can do it, and it does no harm (to anyone but you) because it won’t sell.
Incidentally, why don’t you sell via Amazon Marketplace as well, then you could even more dramatically undercut the price? It’s easy enough to do – and that way you would get your cut.
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I know it’s legal Brian and I accept that most people will not be taken in by the company doing this. I do have a couple of copies on Marketplace but rely on Amazon to do the selling for the most part while I get on with other things. For that, there needs to be some basic trust in the equation.
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Peter – I think the £3000 was just a glitch: it is now £216 (I know still bad). Also you don’t have any new copies listed on Marketplace at the moment: there are only two new copies, which is why the price is so high I suspect. If yours are the ones listed under ‘Collectable’ don’t do it! No one looks there – list under new.
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The company claimed that £3000 was a ‘mistake’ as I wrote to them. They then reduced it to £216 just before I blogged them. Thanks for the advice re collectable
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I really dislike Amazon intensely, and will only buy from them when there is no other choice. I believe two purchases in five years. They are destroying the book business, and I will not read a book electronically.
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I agree Mary – what can a small business do about it tho’. They have monopoly power etc.
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Wow. Not bad! 🙂
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