France plans to impose a minimal supply price of €3 for on-line ebook orders of lower than €35 to degree the taking part in area for unbiased bookstores struggling to compete in opposition to e-commerce corporations, the federal government has mentioned.
A 2014 French regulation prohibits free ebook deliveries however Amazon and different distributors, comparable to Fnac, have circumvented this by charging just one¢. Native bookstores usually cost as much as €7 for delivery.
Laws was handed in December 2021 to shut the 1¢ loophole by way of a minimal delivery price however couldn’t take impact till the federal government had selected the dimensions of that price.
“This can adapt the ebook business to the digital period by restoring an equilibrium between massive e-commerce platforms, which supply nearly free supply for books regardless of the order measurement, and bookstores that can’t match these supply costs,” the tradition and finance ministries mentioned.
They added that France would notify the European Fee of its plan and the minimal supply price would take impact six months after the EU grants approval.
The tradition ministry mentioned the €3 price – which incorporates taxes – couldn’t be circumvented by way of buyer loyalty programmes or joint purchases of books with different objects.
It added that for orders value greater than €35, on-line sellers might nonetheless suggest a one-cent supply price.
“The €3 supply price … is just not dissuasive for ebook patrons and the €35 threshold will favour grouped orders, which is virtuous in environmental phrases,” the ministries mentioned.
Amazon didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The web retail big has mentioned {that a} mounted delivery price would punish these in rural areas who can’t simply go to a bookstore and depend on supply.
Bookshops in France have survived the rise of Amazon because of a 1981 regulation that prohibits value discounting on new books, however they are saying the US on-line behemoth’s potential to undercut them on delivery nonetheless skews the market.
French bookstores affiliation SLF mentioned in a press release on Friday that the €3 price was inadequate, because it means bookstores will nonetheless promote at a loss when expediting books to clients. It referred to as on the federal government to decrease French submit workplace charges for delivery books by bookstores.
Greater than 20% of the 435m books offered in France in 2019 had been purchased on-line and the market share of France’s 3,300 unbiased bookstores has been slowly declining due to competitors from on-line retailers like Amazon, Fnac and Leclerc.
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