Hardcover Books at Paperback Prices

With the nation’s biggest mass merchants competing to deliver the latest mass market titles for the holidays, the prices of select hardcover books have fallen below what most people expect to pay for a lowly paperback. Add in free shipping (as Amazon.com and Walmart.com have done for some popular titles) and books are shaping up to be the bargain gift of the season.

Of course, not everyone will be thrilled to find ex-Alaska governor Sarah Palin ‘s literary debut, Going Rogue: An America Life, under the tree. But it’s cheap: only $8.98 at Walmart.com. That’s 69% off the list price! Amazon lists the Palin missive at $9 and throws in same-day delivery (or FREE two-day delivery for pre-orders when customers sign up for a trial of Amazon Prime, its $79-per-year membership program) in seven major cities. Target, the nation’s #2 discounter, is matching Walmart’s offer (actually it’s charging a penny more) on the same 10 titles.

With Amazon, Walmart, and Target locked in a price war, one wonders how low some book prices can go. Indeed, Walmart.com is offering 10 titles (including John Grisham’s Ford County, Stephen King’s Under the Dome, and Barbara Kingsolver’s The Lacuna) for less than nine bucks. (If you haven’t heard of these books that’s because they haven’t been published yet.)

While this is great news for bargain-hunting Steven King and Sarah Palin fans, independent bookshops and their trade association, the American Booksellers Association (ABA), are crying foul, accusing the discounters of engaging in “predatory pricing.” They are urging the US Department of Justice to investigate the online price war, which they fear will have “catastrophic” consequences for locally-owned and smaller bookstores. (Mass market hardcover books are among the most expensive books for publishers to bring to market and their sales are vital to the health of both publishers and booksellers.) By making loss leaders out of bestsellers, the ABA maintains the mega-retailers are selling the books at far below cost, losing up to $8.50 on each book. “The entire book industry is in danger of becoming collateral damage in this war,” says the ABA.

It’s no secret that booksellers are already in dire straits. Indeed, giant Borders Group flirted with bankruptcy earlier this year, and market leader Barnes & Noble is closing the book on its smaller B. Dalton chain and shuttering other stores. As for the independent chains, they are vanishing from the retail landscape as fast as Palin can write a 432-page book.

By robbing bookstores of lucrative hardcover sales during the crucial holiday retail season, this online price war may be the event that finally breaks the spine of the book industry.

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