Jeff the Great Lowers E-Book Prices

At Christmas I became the proud owner of an Amazon Kindle. I am an avid reader so I was excited to finally own an e-reader. I've found myself reading more than ever before. I buy a new book the minute I finish the last.

I am in love with my Kindle.

Apple recently announced their tablet computer, the iPad. With the iPad, Apple will launch an e-book store that iPad users can use to wirelessly purchase books....similar to how I currently buy books on my Kindle.

Amazon charges $9.99 for most e-books. Publishers don't like it but Amazon is such a powerhouse in both print and digital sales, they have gone along with the pricing. Apple says that they will either allow for higher pricing or let the publishers decide pricing on their own (honestly, I am not sure which of the two). Either way, publishers have come out saying that $15 is their preferred price for most popular books. Fifty percent or $5 more than what Amazon charges. Publishers are using the Apple announcement as leverage against Amazon to raise prices.

I believe that publishers are wrong and consumers will not pay $15 for digital books. Increased competition typically leads to lower prices, but in this case publishers want to use more competition to deliver higher prices to consumers.

You'll notice is that the best seller list for the Amazon Kindle includes many free books. As I write, the #2 best selling Kindle book is the free, public domain version of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The 4th best selling Kindle book is a 25 cent book on how to use a Kindle. Numbers 6 and 12, more freebies. In fact, the top 10 list includes only 1 book in the $9 range. The rest are free, $8, $5 or less.

When looking at the current best selling print books, we find more evidence showing that a $15 pricing plan wont work. As I write, the current #1 best selling print books is Food Rules: An Eater's Manual for $5. The Kindle version is also $5, where it is ranked 7th. The #2 best selling print book is $9.56 (Kindle version for $8.55). In fact, of the top 15 selling print books, not a single one sells for $15 or higher. Why would e-book buyers pay $15 for a less-tangible version of a book they could buy a print version for less and retain the ability to keep, lend or re-sell?

The Barnes and Noble e-book store for their reader, the Nook, is even more telling. The best selling e-book at Barnes and Noble is Dear John for only $4.39. Number 2, $4.99. Just like Amazon, most of their best selling e-books are well under $9.99, not to mention the $15 that major publishers say they want to charge.

So how is it that we get more competition in both hardware and online stores but the publishers expect us to pay less? Don't expect me to start spending more money than I would spend purchasing a physical book. If that's the case, my Kindle will become a newspaper reader, blog reader and free book reader. I'll go back to reading books in print.

Jeff the Great Applauds UPS

So last Christmas I had a horrible experience with UPS. So bad that the local NBC news affiliate interviewed me for their evening news! I couldn't have been more disappointed with the lack of customer service and general business smarts from this massive company.

This year it is only fair that I tell the world how they redeemed themselves with me and went above and beyond to save Christmas (okay, maybe thats an overstatement)!

As I had done last year, I ordered a Christmas gift from Amazon.com. Due to a longstanding issue with the Post Office, we have a PO Box and I requested that the gift be shipped there (as I ALWAYS do when ordering via Amazon). Turns out that I was actually ordering from a separate company than Amazon, while still on the Amazon site. No biggie, I do that all the time.

Well, the company shipped my order via UPS to a US Postal Service PO Box. Newsflash, UPS doesn't deliver to their competitor and I don't blame them! I emailed the retailer and they swore that UPS would deliver to my PO Box. Nope, sorry....they don't.

Well, 2 mornings ago I recieved a phone call from UPS. They had my package in the local distribution facility but needed a different address. They said if I called back they could take care of it without having to send it back to the retailer (worst case) or have me drive 20 miles to pick it up from their warehouse (best case). I called back, Mike at the Tualatin UPS facility was awesome, and my package was delivered to my house in time for Christmas.

That was exactly the type of simple customer service that makes people so happy. Good work UPS, my faith in you is restored. Thanks for making my business important to you. Merry Christmas to all.

Jeff the Great Wonders about Amazon.com

I absolutely love Amazon.com, I try to buy as much from them as possible. I buy books, music, electronics and so much more.

One of the things that Amazon.com is known for is their recommendation engine. They look at your past purchases, items you've recently browsed, items you've reviewed and so much more to recommend other purchases to you. This concept really works in the favor of both the consumer and Amazon.com. They get more sales and we get products that make sense for us. Win, win.

I noticed today when visiting Amazon.com that they had some new suggested items for me. I viewed a gyroscopic air mouse the other day and this is what they are now telling me:

I looked at a $150 mouse for my computer and I should now look at a case of PowerBar's and an electric razor? Come on Amazon.com, it wouldn't be that hard to limit this type of recommendation to at least the same general category!

I have a bunch of other ideas on how Amazon.com can further improve their recommendation engine but I'll save them for another blog post (or for when they hire me).

-Jeff the Great