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Simon & Schuster is the latest publisher in the UK to introduce a refined agency model for e-books on Amazon.co.uk.
The publisher came to an agreement with Amazon UK late last week after negotiations with the company. This morning (29th April) S&S UK’s e-book prices on the Amazon website are no longer followed with the message “this price was set by the publisher".
The prices for S&S Kindle titles have fallen marginally following the agreement. Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker is being sold for £5.88, when previously it had been retailing for £6.99. The e-book of Total Recall by Arnold Schwarzenegger is now selling for £9.50 on Amazon.co.uk, whereas before it was selling for £9.99.
At the beginning of April, Hachette and HarperCollins also agreed a refined agency model with Amazon.co.uk following the European Commission ruling that the original agency publishers had to terminate their current agency agreements, and come up with new terms.
Publishers Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Holtzbrinck, Apple and HarperCollins offered to terminate ongoing agency agreements and give retailers freedom to discount e-books, subject to certain conditions during a two-year period, last December, following an antitrust investigation by the European Commission into concerns about price-fixing.