DCL Ebook Report, August 2015

By Robert C. Maier | August 13, 2015

The Douglas County (Colo.) Libraries pricing comparison for August is based on the top 25 bestsellers from USA Today’s list (PDF). The lockstep library pricing pointed out by James LaRue in July continues in place, but with one exception: 3M has a lower price for the 25th entry on the list, appropriately titled Naked Greed.

How does that happen if publishers fix the price libraries pay? It’s time for transparency on library ebook pricing from both publishers and distributors.

This blog has maintained a chart comparing the price a library pays OverDrive to the consumer ebook price from Amazon as a ratio. For example, in February libraries paid six times the consumer price for ebooks on the USA Today bestseller list.

January 2015, New York Times, a ratio of 5.7
February 2015, USA Today, a ratio of 6.0
March 2015, New York Times, a ratio of 5.0
April 2015, Digital Book World, a ratio of 5.3
May 2015, New York Times, a ratio of 4.6
June 2015, Amazon Top 20, a ratio of 3.1
July 2015, New York Times, a ratio of 3.4
August 2015, USA Today, a ratio of 4.1 (based on 3M pricing)

ROBERT C. MAIER is a member of the ALA Digital Content Working Group.

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DCL Ebook Report, August 2015

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