Amazon to Create First 'Netflix-Style' E-Book Rental Service?
Amazon is considering a Netflix-style service for books, which would potentially make it the first e-book rental service offering premium best-sellers.
The Wall Street Journal reports aid the service will be completely digital and available for free to customers who opt into Amazon Prime, the $79 a year service that offers members unlimited 2-day shipping and Netflix-style movie streaming. The new service would be an extra asset for Kindle owners who already enjoy a wide range of free books that are in the public domain.
However, WSJ says that publishers are not enthusiastic about the idea since they would rather have people buy their books, as opposed to “renting” them. Although Amazon would give publishers a fee for participating in the program, on publishing executive said, "What it would do is downgrade the value of the book business.”
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Commenters on Twitter have also criticized the idea, saying the new service is nothing but a “library.”
@thehartley tweeted, “So Amazon is reportedly creating a ‘Netflix for books.’ Other people might call that a ‘public library with a monthly fee.’"
And @ericabrooke tweeted, “Confused about amazon developing ‘netflix for books.’ don't we already have that? Isn't it free and called ‘the library?’”
However, what sets Amazon apart from a local library is that it is a digital service for e-readers. People can already purchase books instantly on Kindle – but with a Netflix-style service for books, customers will be able to check books out instantly without having to pay for each one individually.
TheNextWeb.com pointed out that other online “book-renting” services, like BookSwim.com and BooksFree.com. But these are for hardcover and paperback books, not e-books. Also, the prices for membership with these services are far more than what Amazon would potentially offer. If Amazon’s service is free with Amazon Prime, then customers get the Prime benefits as well as free e-book rental for what comes out to approximately $6.60 a month.
Booksfree.com, in comparison, currently charges $14.49 per month for two books at-a-time, with more expensive plans for more books at-a-time per month. Bookswim.com starts at $23.95 per month for three books at-a-time.
A new service, 24symbols.com, currently offers e-books to members for approximately $13 a month, but the books are mainly classics that are in the public domain – already free on Amazon – and independent published books, as opposed to mainstream best-sellers.
Amazon has been on a tear in book sales in 2011. In just four years since launching the Kindle, Amazon was able to make its e-book sales surpass combined hardcover and paperback sales in May, according to TechCrunch. The online retailer also said that 2011 has been the fastest year over year growth rate in book sales in over a decade.
