Wednesday Midday Links: Amazon increases purchase limits; SFR If You Like; EU orders VAT cut
Publishing NewsAmazon / book prices / sales tax / SFR32 Comments
Crushed via louisabate
Amazon increases free shipping minimum order to $35, pushes Prime membership as an alternative – Right before the holidays too! Engadget reported that for the first time in a decade, you have to order $35 worth of stuff in order to qualify for free shipping unless, of course, you have a Prime membership.
Price of ebooks to plunge as EU orders cut in VAT – EU voted to cut the VAT from 20% to 0 on ebooks. Print books are VAT free but ebooks had a 20% VAT. Undoubtedly this will enrage I hate ebooks Scott Turow and I hate literature Noel Gallagher amongst others. “Experts said abolishing the rate could cut the price of an ebook by £1 or more if firms such as WH?Smith and Amazon pass on the savings. Books are considered to be an essential contribution to society and, along with other products such as children’s clothing, receive the favourable VAT rating. “ This is Money
Discover New Sci-Fi Romances With “If You Like…” – Enjoy reading SFR? Heather Massey is putting together a numer of “If You LIke Author A, you might like Author B” THE GALAXY EXPRESS
Sainsbury’s e-books PG Tips promotion – Sainsbury a UK supermarket, is marketing ebooks by offering one free ebook to those who buy two PG Tips tea packets.The idea is to get people to visit the Sainsbury website to download the ebook. The Bookseller
Baen eBooks Are Now Available via the Nook Store – Baen ebooks have made it to the Nook bookstore. You can now buy Baen books direct from its site, at Amazon and now with your Nook. It’s cheaper to buy the bundle of 6 direct from the site at $18 than spending $6 individually per book. The Digital Reader
Well, I might need to stock up on tea…
And that is great news about VAT.
Thanks for the shout out! When you and Sarah discussed the concept in your 9/25 podcast, it made the proverbial light bulb go off in my head. I appreciate the inspiration very much!
Darnit, I drink PG Tips but I’m in the US. If I was in the UK I would be really tempted by that sale.
As I use Amazon mainly for Kindle eBooks the Prime membership still is not worth it. Last time I checked the lending library selection did not have many books I wanted to read and even if they did you only got one a month. If they want to push their Prime membership so much maybe they could give Kindle users more perks.
@batgrl – amazon is having 10% coupon on pgtips right now. I am not the tea drinker (or buyer) in my household, so I can’t tell you if that translates to actual savings. The tea cupboard is pretty full though.
@Amanda: I originally got Amazon Prime just for the free shipping but have been really happy with the streaming video content you get as part of the program.
Amazon UK has free shipping on many/most items with no purchase minimum. I don’t know why it’s different from Amazon US.
@Kate Hewitt: My guess is because the US is huge and shipping across the country is a pretty big endeavor.
@Kate Hewitt:
Amazon UK altered their free shipping policy a few weeks back.
Orders that include books, DVDs, Blu-rays, music, video games and software products qualify for Free Super Saver Delivery with no minimum spend threshold. For all other products, a minimum total spend of £10 is required.
was debating about placing an order at amazon for some upcoming releases, guess not now as I was having trouble making it to $25 for free shipping, $35 is too much & prime isn’t worth the price to me. Guess I’ll be going to b&n more often for physical books.
Prime works great for me, both for ordering and for the huge selection of streaming media (and the $79 per year is cheaper than a monthly Netflix streaming charge). If I had any spare reading time, I’d also be taking advantage of the Prime ebook lending feature (I wonder if any Turow books are in the library…oh, never mind).
@Jane:
I think that the postal service in the UK might be more subsidized?
@AH@badassbookreviews: Maybe but it could just be logistics. Delivering to one land mass compared to the other is just huge. If your country is the size of say, Indiana, then delivery isn’t going to be a big cost:
Amazon Prime has turned out to be totally worth it for me. I was surprised to find out how much I like it and I wouldn’t freak out if they raised the annual price another $10 or so.
The best thing for me is that I have seven siblings and that means lots of nieces and nephews. I can have Amazon ship gifts directly to them. The parents seem totally fine with how I’m doing it. It saves me shopping time, wrapping the gift and then shipping it to on to the kid.
I’ve done the KOLL since it started though I often find getting through my TBR list slows down the borrowing.
Streaming has turned out to be a bigger deal for me than I even thought. Once I gave it a try, I was hooked on how great it worked. My watchlist is starting to resemble my TBR list.
Not in the EU but I think that is great news about VAT. I could never understand why digital was somehow different than print for tax purposes.
Amazon Prime has more than paid for itself, just in shipping advantages alone. Convenience, convenience, convenience.
Books are considered to be an essential contribution to society … hence the favorable VAT rating. *sigh* We’re too busy banning them here to think along those lines. Plus, some local counties are looking at taxing food at grocery stores, because, of course; why would we think food is essential?
@batgirl
Wouldn’t it be cool somebody in the US would offer a free pack of PG Tips with the purchase of two ebooks?
I don’t know if this is the right place to post this (or if it’s even appropriate) but I just loved this post today on All About Romance entitled “The Beginner’s Guide to Writing New Adult” by Jenna Harper.
http://www.likesbooks.com/blog/?p=10966#more-10966
Disappointed to hear about Amazon. Prime isn’t worth it to me since I don’t shop that frequently, I have enough e-books/books to last me a lifetime, and I rarely watch movies (my sisters use my Netflix subscription more than I do). Guess my infrequent shopping at Amazon is going to become more infrequent since I have difficulty getting even $25 let alone $35.
I find as I age I get more stuff from Amazon. I never liked shopping; now I can do it from the convenience of my home. I get printer ink, books for my sons, gifts for friends and their children and lots more that I can’t think of right now.
Every year my Prime more than pays for itself. It’s gotten to where I can’t stand the thought of shipping charges. :-) (And I question the math used for some of those charges.)
Prime is a bargain for me. I don’t have the time/inclination to shop around for stuff anymore, especially if multiple stores might be involved. And with the 2-day shipping (or faster) I can usually get things delivered quicker than if I shopped in stores. All told, it’s easier on my wallet, my body, my car, my schedule, etc.
Since I don’t own a tv, the video streaming is great for me, too. (I’ve never borrowed an ebook, so I can’t speak for that.)
@Bamaclm I’m with you. Add in that I can’t get my shampoo locally, or my hand cream, or my anti-chafe, and I live in a major metroplex! Between Prime & Subscribe and Save, so many things are a lot easier and cheaper.
Heck, I get my bras and slippers cheaper on Amazon, and I can’t get my slippers locally anymore. Printer ink is ridiculously cheaper.
And I adore streaming video! Especially since I got a Roku.
Dog food delivered to your door.
Granted I picked up my prime membership this year at student discount, I think I will need to renew at regular price. Things are so tricky to find around here and I don’t drive, so going store to store is a pain when going with a friend. I was just looking for a dust pan that didn’t require me being a contortionist to use (apparently the long handled ones are a thing of the past). Found one on a local retailer site (but only available online), .11 higher than Amazon and over $5 for shipping! For a dust pan! I said “Oh. No. No, no, no…prime at Amazon.”
Chapters tried it a couple of yrs ago. It only lasted about 6 mths.
Chapters could never offer something like Prime – shipping in (and out) of Canada is ridiculously expensive.
Amazon UK trialled a deal where they delivered free books/CDs/DVDs to Australia if the minimum order was 25GPB. We spent so much money because it made the products really cost effective. The postage is the killer. But obviously it cost too much because they stopped the trial. (and I stopped buying from Amazon UK – too pricey).
I’m a huge fan of Prime. I renew it every year as my birthday gift to myself. I can get many different gluten free items there that I can’t find in Chicagoland. For example, I have a hard time finding certified gluten free cornmeal locally and the other day I got four 24 ounce packages for around $10.
I mostly read ebooks, now, so the only paper books I tend to buy are for my toddler nephew. It’s easy to send him little surprises in Florida when all I have to do is click a button, versus packing something up and making it to the post office. (My post office is literally two minutes from my house. Prime is still easier.) (Or maybe I’m just lazy.)
I am Amazon Prime member. I was with Netflix but Prime is cheaper and also has the free shipping and KOLL. The value is much better to my mind. I find myself purchasing more now through Amazon saving time and money.
I’m not that much of a online reader to be honest
but your sites really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and
bookmark your website to come back later. All the best
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