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Good News for Readers: Latest eBook Pricing Analysis Indicates That Amazon is Winning Its Battle with Traditional Publishers Over Prices

By Stephen Windwalker, Editor of Kindle Nation Daily – Originally posted 9.5.2010

While it has been increasingly clear over the past year that Amazon is dominating the market share and price wars among dedicated ebook reader devices, it is now clear that Amazon is also winning its tug of war with traditional book publishers over ebook pricing.

Amazon is succeeding dramatically in its efforts to bring an ever increasing number and percentage of all Kindle Store ebooks into its preferred price range between $2.99 and $9.99, inclusive, according to our most recent analysis of the overall pricing composition of the Kindle Store catalog and the “Top 100 Paid” spots on the Kindle Store bestseller lists:

  • The total of all ebooks priced at $9.99 and below in the Kindle Store has grown dramatically in the past few months, both as a total number and as a percentage of the whole. There are currently over 616,300 Kindle Store listings at $9.99 and below, which makes up over 84 percent of the total Kindle catalog. These figures are up from 480,281 and 81 per cent on May 29, and even more dramatically from 385,684 and 77 percent on February 25. 
  • For all of the bluster from traditional publishers about the agency model and their alleged need to set ebook prices over $10, the actual percentage of Kindle Store ebooks priced at $10 and up has fallen from 23 percent to 16 percent since the agency model officially came into existence on April Fool’s Day.
  • The percentage of Kindle ebooks priced in the range that Amazon deems the ebook sweet spot has grown from 50.06 percent to 63.47 percent between February 25 and September 5, for a relative increase of over 26 percent.
  • Within that range, the fastest growing Kindle Store price points are those between $5 and $9.98. The percentage of ebooks in this price range has more than doubled since February 25, from 18.1 percent to 37.2 percent.
  • Currently only about 65,700 of all Kindle ebooks — or less than 9 percent of the total catalog — are priced at exactly $9.99. This figure was over 12 percent in February.
  • The pricing composition of the Kindle Store’s list of Top 100 Paid bestsellers has remained static over recent months, with 28 to 30 titles each at price points of $9.99 and $10 to $12.99, 3 or 4 titles in the $13 and up range, and the remainder of roughly 40 percent priced below $9.99. Readers appear willing to pay as much as $11.99 and $12.99 for a small number of ebook new releases each season, but those titles are competing with growing numbers of popular books at lower prices and, according to recent statements by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the publishers who are setting the higher prices are losing overall market share.
Click here to see underlying statistical analysis as of September 5, 2010. Here’s a price breakdown of the aggregate total of 733,499 book titles listed in the Kindle Store as of 3 p.m. EDT on September 5, 2010:

  • 20,621 Titles Priced “Free” (3.21%) – 0 of Top 100 Paid Bestsellers
  • 5,623 Titles Priced from a Penny to 98 Cents (0.88%) – 0 of Top 100 Paid Bestsellers
  • 63,034 Titles Priced at 99 Cents (9.81%) – 4 of Top 100 Paid Bestsellers
  • 66,515 Titles Priced from $1 to $2.98 (10.35%) – 3 of Top 100 Paid Bestsellers
  • 21,689 Titles Priced at $2.99 (3.38%) – 0 of Top 100 Paid Bestsellers
  • 122,902 Titles Priced from $3 to $4.99 (19.13%) – 4 of Top 100 Paid Bestsellers
  • 162,023 Titles Priced from $5 to $9.98 (25.22%) – 28 of Top 100 Paid Bestsellers
  • 63,892 Titles Priced at $9.99 (9.94%) – 28 of Top 100 Paid Bestsellers
  • 8,032 Titles Priced from $10 to $12.99 (1.25%) – 30 of Top 100 Paid Bestsellers
  • 14,485 Titles Priced from $13 to $14.99 (2.25%) – 3 of Top 100 Paid Bestsellers
  • 93,760 Titles Priced at $15 and Up (14.59%) – 0 of Top 100 Paid Bestsellers

Here’s where we stood with the 623,077 book titles in the Kindle Store as of 7 a.m. EDT on June 26, 2010:

  • 20,636 Kindle Books Priced “Free” (3.31%)
  • 5,217 Titles Priced from a Penny to 98 Cents (0.84%)
  • 60,370 Kindle Books Priced at 99 Cents (9.69%)
  • 64,314 Titles Priced from $1 to $2.98 (10.32%)
  • 18,935 Kindle Books Priced at $2.99 (3.04%)
  • 119,484 Kindle Books Priced from $3 to $4.99 (19.18%)
  • 157,562 Titles Priced from $5 to $9.98 (25.29%)
  • 61,153 Titles Priced at $9.99 (9.81%)
  • 8,132 Titles Priced from $10 to $12.99 (1.31%)
  • 14,177 Titles Priced from $13 to $14.99 (2.28%)
  • 93,097 Titles Priced at $15 and Up (14.94%)

Here’s where we stood with the 609,975 book titles in the Kindle Store as of 5 p.m. EDT on June 14, 2010:

  • 20,589 Kindle Books Priced “Free” (3.38%)
  • 5,041 Titles Priced from a Penny to 98 Cents (0.83%)
  • 58,624 Kindle Books Priced at 99 Cents (9.61%)
  • 80,197 Kindle Books Priced from $1 to $2.99 (13.15%)
  • 115,891 Kindle Books Priced from $3 to $4.99 (19.00%)
  • 155,056 Titles Priced from $5 to $9.98 (25.42%)
  • 59,797 Titles Priced at $9.99 (9.80%
    )
  • 8,173 Titles Priced from $10 to $12.99 (1.34%)
  • 14,105 Titles Priced from $13 to $14.99 (2.31%)
  • 92,500 Titles Priced at $15 and Up (15.16%)

Here’s where we stood with the 587,104 book titles in the Kindle Store as of 5 p.m. EDT on May 22, 2010:

  • 20,584 Kindle Books Priced “Free” (3.51%)
  • 4,830 Titles Priced from a Penny to 98 Cents (0.82%)
  • 55,901 Kindle Books Priced at 99 Cents (9.52%)
  • 76,054 Kindle Books Priced from $1 to $2.99 (12.95%)
  • 109,706 Kindle Books Priced from $3 to $4.99 (18.69%)
  • 151,509 Titles Priced from $5 to $9.98 (25.81%)
  • 56,059 Titles Priced at $9.99 (9.55%)
  • 7,700 Titles Priced from $10 to $12.99 (1.31%)
  • 13,803 Titles Priced from $13 to $14.99 (2.35%)
  • 90,958 Titles Priced at $15 and Up (15.49%)

Here’s where we stood with the 511,759 book titles in the Kindle Store as of 9 a.m. EDT on May 7, 2010:

  • 20,601 Kindle Books Priced “Free” (4.03%)
  • 4,857 Titles Priced from a Penny to 98 Cents (0.94%)
  • 53,936 Kindle Books Priced at 99 Cents (10.54%)
  • 73,987 Kindle Books Priced from $1 to $2.99 (14.46%)
  • 101,014 Kindle Books Priced from $3 to $4.99 (19.74%)
  • 91,871 Titles Priced from $5 to $9.98 (17.95%)
  • 54,342 Titles Priced at $9.99 (10.62%)
  • 7,434 Titles Priced from $10 to $12.99 (1.45%)
  • 13,489 Titles Priced from $13 to $14.99 (2.64%)
  • 90,257 Titles Priced at $15 and Up (17.64%)

Here’s where we stood with the 487,715 book titles in the Kindle Store as of 9 a.m. EDT on April 7, 2010:

  • 20,620 Kindle Books Priced “Free” (4.23%)
  • 4,709 Titles Priced from a Penny to 98 Cents (0.97%)
  • 46,360 Kindle Books Priced at 99 Cents (9.51%)
  • 69,846 Kindle Books Priced from $1 to $2.99 (14.32%)
  • 94,891 Kindle Books Priced from $3 to $4.99 (19.46%)
  • 86,924 Titles Priced from $5 to $9.98 (17.82%)
  • 53,705 Titles Priced at $9.99 (11.01%)
  • 7,537 Titles Priced from $10 to $12.99 (1.51%)
  • 13,124 Titles Priced from $13 to $14.99 (2.69%)
  • 90,011 Titles Priced at $15 and Up (18.46%)

Here’s where we stood with the 480,238 book titles in the Kindle Store on April 1:

  • 20,620 Kindle Books Priced “Free” (4.29%)
  • 4,706 Titles Priced from a Penny to 98 Cents (0.98%)
  • 43,993 Kindle Books Priced at 99 Cents (9.16%)
  • 68,807 Kindle Books Priced from $1 to $2.99 (14.33%)
  • 93,706 Kindle Books Priced from $3 to $4.99 (19.51%)
  • 85,612 Titles Priced from $5 to $9.98 (17.83%)
  • 53,124 Titles Priced at $9.99 (11.06%)
  • 5,952 Titles Priced from $10 to $12.99 (1.24%)
  • 14,158 Titles Priced from $13 to $14.99 (2.95%)
  • 89,525 Titles Priced at $15 and Up (18.64%)

Here’s where we stood with about 463,000 Kindle Store titles on March 10:

  • 20,125 Kindle Books Priced “Free” (4.34%)
  • 2,588 Titles Priced from a Penny to 98 Cents (0.56%)
  • 39,095 Kindle Books Priced at 99 Cents (8.44%)
  • 64,105 Kindle Books Priced from $1 to $2.99 (13.84%)
  • 90,580 Kindle Books Priced from $3 to $4.99 (19.55%)
  • 84,055 Titles Priced from $5 to $9.98 (18.15%)
  • 53,697 Titles Priced at $9.99 (11.56%)
  • 5,793 Titles Priced from $10 to $12.99 (1.25%)
  • 13,731 Titles Priced from $13 to $14.99 (2.96%)
  • 89,448 Titles Priced at $15 and Up (19.31%)

And here’s where we stood with about 447,000 Kindle Store titles on February 25:

  • 19,795 Kindle Books Priced “Free” (4.42%) 
  • 3,023 Titles Priced from a Penny to 98 Cents (0.67%) 
  • 36,370 Kindle Books Priced at 99 Cents (8.12%) 
  • 62,275 Kindle Books Priced from $1 to $2.99 (13.9%) 
  • 87,722 Kindle Books Priced from $3 to $4.99 (19.58%) 
  • 81,230 Titles Priced from $5 to $9.98 (18.13%) 
  • 55,269 Titles Priced at $9.99 (12.34%) 
  • 5,139 Titles Priced from $10 to $12.99 (1.15%) 
  • 9,331 Titles Priced from $13 to $14.99 (2.08%) 
  • 87,771 Titles Priced at $15 and Up (19.59%)
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