"retailers" entries
EBay Wants You to Buy It Now
EBay is moving into Amazon's territory. Citing reduced consumer interest in online auctions, eBay is refocusing on fixed-price "Buy It Now" products. From the New York Times: Among the changes being announced Wednesday [8/20/08] is a new pricing plan for sellers who offer fixed-price items in eBay's "Buy It Now" format. Starting in mid-September, sellers will pay only 35…
Reinventing the Book and Killing It are Separate Things
Columnist Richard Cohen is overestimating the threat of digital books.
A Broad View of Amazon's Influence
Neil Denny looks at Amazon's positive and negative influences on book publishing's constituencies. From The Bookseller: The web, if not Amazon, can't be uninvented: retailers and publishers need to find ways to make it work for them or they will face an increasingly difficult future. Related Stories: Publishers Beware: Amazon has you in their sights Which Game is the…
Indiana's "Explicit" Law Struck Down
An Indiana law requiring retailers who sell explicit material to register with the state was struck down by a U.S. Federal Court on First Amendment grounds. From the Indianapolis Star: The law would have required anyone who intended to sell sexually explicit materials — which plaintiffs say could have included classic literature, as well as pornography — to register…
Amazon's Road to Profitability: Toll Booths on Your Road to Readers
Profitability pressures are pushing Amazon to become the toll booth that every publisher must go through to get to readers.
Borders Cuts 274 Positions
Borders is cutting 274 jobs, with most of the hit being absorbed by corporate groups within the company's Ann Arbor, Mich. headquarters. From Publishers Weekly: Borders stressed that with a few exceptions none of the cuts came at the store level and a spokesperson said there are no plans to reduce the number of store employees. The cuts represented…