Musing Monday...

 These weeks go by so fast!
Yes, it is Monday, so let's get Musing!!
As always, hosted by MizB at  Should Be Reading...

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Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…
• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

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There was an article in Shelf Awareness this week, in fact, a special addition with just this article on Saturday, that discussed an issue that caught my eye. It is something that book readers and book buyers should be aware of.
Did you see it?
It is about my old friends at the Great Evil Amazon and a little game they seems to be up to...

"Yesterday Amazon.com quietly began discounting many bestselling hardcover titles between 50% and 65%, levels we've never seen in the history of Amazon or in the bricks-and-mortar price wars of the past....
The discounts are far below the usual 40%-50% range sometimes offered by Amazon, warehouse clubs and other discounters and are more typical for remainders than frontlist hardcovers. In some cases, the hardcovers are priced below the Kindle editions.
... "It's an open declaration of war against the industry," said Jack McKeown, president of Books & Books Westhampton Beach, Westhampton Beach, N.Y. Like several people familiar with Amazon's move, he speculated that Amazon has been "emboldened" by the Justice Department's victory against five major publishers in the e-book agency model case as well as Wall Street's acceptance of continued losses by Amazon for now in the expectation of retail domination--and major profits--eventually."

Yes, they lose money in the last quarter and Wall Street is not concerned about their future.
Why is that?
It reminds me of the ploy of drug dealers. At first the drugs they sell you will be very cheap, free even, until you are roped in. And then once they got ya..and drove the competition off the street corner...then they hit ya with the real price.

Am I a hypocrite? Don't I buy from them?
Well, yes I do. But in my defense, I have little choice book wise. There are no independent bookstore around here, not even a Borders or a Barnes and Noble.  I do buy all my e-books from B&N online as a bit of a protest, even though I read all my e-books on my iPad now.
Price is important to me in everything I buy, and often Amazon is the cheapest.

But I will say it again...the growing place of Amazon in the book world is more than a little worrying. {Did I mention their buyout of Goodreads?} Hey, I don't mind them or any company doing well, but to now be in the position to be able to take a loss for a bit in order to undercut the competition, maybe drive them out of business... make me sit up and take notice.