(no subject)

[ivyfic]

You probably know that there are more than a million pre-orders for Harry Potter on amazon. Bet you don't know that amazon won't make a penny off them. I find this freaking hilarious. Harry Potter is so popular that everyone knows it will sell like crazy. Which means that every retailer has been trying to ensure that they get all those sales, which means that they've discounted the price to the point where nobody's making money off of it. Cause if you could get it for half off in one store, why would you got to a store that was only 40% off?

Ah, economics run amok.

Comments

[edgehopper.livejournal.com]

Ah, loss leaders. I'm curious as to how much money bookstores actually make trying to use Harry Potter as a loss leader...

At least they'll make money on the HP collected series and HP merchandise.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I don't understand--if they don't make any money off of it...what are they hoping to make money on?

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

Customer loyalty, ancillary purchases.

I'm wondering how much the publisher is making, too. Cause when store's discount like that, it's usually because the publisher is selling at a discounted a price, which also means that the royalty earnings are discounted. It's like it's pouring rain and everyone's holding a seive.

[gryphonrose.livejournal.com]

That's actually not true. The publisher may still be getting the same price on each book--the store is discounting on their end, which means their profit margin shrinks. And Rowling will still get a fortune, because her royalties are based on the publisher profits alone, plus there won't be any returns (or very very VERY few). The only people taking a loss here are the stores, and as you said they're hoping to make that back in the long run through customer loyalty.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Good for the people just standing around with mouths open, I guess...

[cubby-t-bear.livejournal.com]

Ah ... oversupply. Only, with most books, you have to wait til they hit the discount rack. Harry Potter seems determined to start there.

[tirtzah.livejournal.com]

I've heard this before but I still think it is insane. They are basically hoping to make money off of people coming into the store to buy the book also buying other things. It's completely nuts. I guess Scholastic is still making money hand over fist though. Crazy....