Amazon offers incentives for independent bookstores to sell Kindles

November 06, 2013|By Andrea Chang

Boxed Kindles await shipment at an Amazon distribution center. (Chris Ratcliffe / Bloomberg )

Amazon.com wants to help out the corner bookstore.

The Seattle Internet giant on Wedneday introduced Amazon Source, a program that enables independent booksellers to earn money from the sale of Kindle e-books -- if they sell Kindle devices and accessores in their stores.

A participating retailer can receive 10% of all revenue from Kindle e-books purchased on Kindle devices sold by the store for the first two years after a customer buys the device.

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Russ Grandinetti, vice president of Amazon Kindle, said the program meant customers no longer had to choose between e-books and their neighborhood bookstore.

"Many customers want to read both digital and print books,” he said. “For many years, bookstores have successfully sold print books on Amazon -- now Amazon Source extends this opportunity to digital."

Retailers that are part of the program have two options: They can either opt to be part of the revenue-sharing deal or they can receive a larger discount when purchasing the devices from Amazon for resale in their stores.

The company also said that if a retailer no longer wants to sell Kindle devices, Amazon will buy back the inventory for up to six months after their first order "with no questions asked."

Several bookstores have already been using Amazon Source in a pilot program, the company said.

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