Casualties in the "Book War"
You might be happy when you walk into a store and see a potential Christmas gift at a deep discount. But the American Booksellers Association is not, accusing three giant retailers of "predatory pricing." They've asked the Justice Department to investigate.
The group fears these "book wars" could close the book on many small, independent stores, reports CBS News correspondent Hari Sreenivasan.
Book store owner Bob Kutik fears his 60-year-old family business in New Jersey could be a casualty of a price war.
"The Dan Brown book is $30. It probably cost me about $18," Kutik said. "No way I could sell it for $9."
That is exactly what Wal-Mart, Target and Amazom.com are doing. Wal-Mart fired first. It announced that 10 expected bestsellers, which normally sell for around $30 would sell for just $10 if customers order them online and before the books arrive in stores. Internet retailer Amazon.com retaliated, saying it would sell the same books, by authors such as Stephen King and John Grisham, for $9. Then Target jumped in, saying the books would be available for its Web site, for a penny less.
"The objective of Wal-Mart and Target are to turn these books into loss leaders and hope that you fill up your shopping carts with socks, underwear, children's toys, sweatshirts," said Michael Norris, a senior analyst with Simba Information.
Publishers like Simon & Schuster - a division of the CBS Corporation - fear that driving down the retail price of bestsellers, which support thousands of lesser-known titles each year, could devalue the entire business.
"If the consumer starts to perceive that the value of a book is that much lower than the price at we believe it needs to be sold to support all the actors in the publishing industry, beginning with the author, then we're going to have difficulty," said Carolyn Reidy, the president and CEO of Simon & Schuster.
Publishers and book store owners worry that a small group of powerful retailers dominating the market could mean an unhappy ending for readers.
"So if you have only two or three major channels, you're going to have a lot less books, a lot less ideas, and a lot less choices for people," Kutik said.
"And what happens to book stores like yours in the process?" Sreenivasan asked.
"We turn into nail salons," Kutik said.
Kutik hopes the book price was doesn't bring the final chapter - for him.