Now customers don’t have to choose between eBooks and their favorite bookstore!
Indie bookstores can now work hand-in-hand with Amazon to confront the changing world of publishing. Bookstore owners often see ebooks and ebook readers as an adversary – and Amazon as the ultimate evil and destroyer of bookstores worldwide. That’s never been the case; without books and bookstores, Amazon wouldn’t exist. To work with bookstores, Amazon has started a new program that offers discounted Kindle hardware and a percentage of future ebook sales to booksellers who sell the hardware.
From Amazon’s site:
How it Works
We created Amazon Source to empower independent bookstores and other small retailers to sell Kindle e-readers and tablets in their stores. We crafted two unique programs with two different kinds of stores in mind, but retailers in select states can choose whichever program they prefer. Through the Amazon Source portal you can order inventory at wholesale prices, communicate with our account management team, and download professionally-designed marketing and merchandising assets to help drive your sales.
Worry-free trial
Not sure whether e-readers or tablets would be interesting for your customers? You can find out by participating in a completely worry-free trial. The first order you place through Amazon Source can be returned within six months. If you decide that e-readers and tablets aren’t the right fit for your store, we’ll buy back any tablet, e-reader or accessory that was on your first order, no questions asked.
Eligibility
To qualify, you must operate a physical retail store (at this time, online sales are not permitted through this program) and be able to provide state resale exemption certificates for each state in which you have a store. Signing up takes just a few minutes, and if you meet these basic requirements we’ll activate your account within two business days.
Amazon offers two programs:
Bookseller Program
We designed this program with bookstores in mind. The Bookseller Program offers a discount on the price of Kindle tablets and e-readers, plus the opportunity to make a commission on every book your customers purchase from their device, anywhere, anytime. With the Bookseller Program, you get a 10% commission every time one of your customers buys an e-book from a Kindle tablet or e-reader that they purchase at your store. This program allows you to give your customers a choice between digital and physical books, offer them access to a wide selection of e-books, and profit from every e-book they buy on their new device, from your store or on the go.
General Retailer Program
We designed this program with electronics stores and other retailers in mind. The General Retail Program offers a steeper discount on the price of Kindle tablets and e-readers, for retailers who are focused more on electronics and general merchandise sales than the ongoing curation, recommendation, and sale of physical and digital books.
Check out the programs and see which is a better fit for your bookstore! You can find out more about the programs HERE.