Seeking an idea of how much different vendors pay to publishers and authors.

[Montero]

I do my best to buy new books, not secondhand, so the author and publisher get paid. (Do buy second hand if say a book part way through a series is out of print.)
On Amazon, there is buy direct from Amazon and sometimes buy New from other sellers.
Does anyone know which pays the most to publisher and author? Especially where the other seller is cheaper than Amazon even taking P&P into account?
Any comments on other internet sellers?


FYI My nearest bricks and mortar bookshop is an hour's drive away, hence my using the internet. (I know some people have strong feelings about supporting bricks and mortar, wanted to avoid a sharp turn into that topic if that is OK with folks. )

 

[Mark_Lawrence]

I can only say what vendors pay me (via my publishers), and that is a function of the book type (hardcover, paperback etc) and how discounted the book was when the publisher sold it to them. The more discounted the book is, the less I get. The sale price is probably closely correlated with the discount level, but there's nothing to say the vendor can't buy it at a heavy discount and sell it at full price.

The best way to support authors and publishers with a single sale is to buy direct from the publisher's website. This does of course mean that your sale doesn't push the book up the Amazon (or whatever) rankings list though - and that visibility/the associated recommendation algorithms has an unknown value to it.

 

[Montero]

Thanks.

Gave it an initial look but running into a few hitches. I read paperbacks and quite a lot from Baen and Daw.
Baen sells eBooks direct, but not paperbacks.
For paperback purchases outside the US, Baen directs you to book sellers.

Daw goes to Penguin and you can (in theory) buy from Penguin in the UK, but when I pressed the UK link it took me to the Australian site.... (have to write to them about that).

So if anyone does know anything about the differences taken in percentages between the different sellers...... I do remember hearing at a Con a few years back that WH Smith's for example does have a high take in terms of percentage of cover price. That is a bricks and mortar obviously but made me wonder about standard differences.
Or has the book trade changed enough that a given book seller no longer wants to charge the same rate to everyone?