Amazon.com has been under fire since it decided to go into the used book business back in 2000. Publishers and industry experts are concerned that they’re losing revenue as consumers flock to buy cheap secondhand copies. “Used books are to consumer books as Napster was to the music industry,” says publishing consultant Lorraine Shanley. “The question becomes, ‘How does the book industry address its used-book problem?’ There aren’t any easy answers, especially as no one is breaking any laws here.” There’s no real mention of brick and mortar used book stores, which may not be considered a threat because of their low profile. There’s also no mention of library used book sales, which may sound ridiculous to mention, but the whole issue is really about publishers [thinking] they’re getting ripped-off, so why would they care if it’s for a good cause?
Perhaps much of it all has to do with the fact that no one is reading anymore … Read all about it. [requires free registration]
Used books
With this kind of flap, no one could sell anything they’d purchased, and our land fills would be overflowing and the poor would be hurt even more. No used cars. No used houses. No used appliances. Why should only publishers get the break? Then they’d stop donations to charities because that would hurt sales of new items.