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[tinyjo]

I can buy Cloud Atlas for 3.73 on Tesco.com. That can't be making any profit, surely?

Comments

[tinyjo.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see. So there is profit but it's not much. I guess you're right - Tesco are using a different business model to Borders so it does make sense.

And yes, this does mean those full price books you buy are sold at a massive profit, but how do you think all those books that aren't sold immediately are paid for, eh?

The eternal connundrum. It's the same with music. I get irritated when they charge me £4.99 for a single but that's the only way they can afford to have tonnes of singles that flop I guess. It's a balance to be struck between pricing things so people will try them out and covering your losses on the flops with profits on the best sellers.

[bugpete.livejournal.com]

If I remember rightly, the end-of-the-day (can't remember if it's net or gross...) profit after all costs were deducted for a high-street Waterstone's was about 7-9% even when the books were supplied at 35-55% discount, and this was in the days before mass discounting to customers.

It gets more interesting at Amazon where they sell what a high street bookseller would call "bread and butter" titles at silly discounts purely to get people in - they then make theirt real money on all the stuff the high street can't stock which they sell at full price.

(I really should write a book about this...)