Amazon Japan Raided by JFTC

[Coligny]

Ehmmmmmm

They mention several times the "kindle unlimited" service.
It's a subscriber part of the kindle store where you pay a monthly subscription and access all the "unlimited" books to read without more charges.

I'm not sure they speak aboot deletion from the regular kindle store...

[Takechanpoo]

The story is they deleted between 12 and 15 books. No reason was given. I suspect that they were probably offensive, no one even downloaded them or they were fake japanese history. It was only a few books tho. Then when the publisher complained that they were taken down Amazon decided to say fuck you and took down all their e-books (over 1,000)

quite the opposite
amozon promised part of publishers to pay fees in proportion to the downloads but the customers downloaded those about 10 books of kodansha than initially envisioned and then fucking amazon unilaterally deleted them. and kodansha got angry.
this kind of arrogant things happen when only one company has a predominant power in market.

and looks like wuchinchonchan believes worthy-to-read books is equal to sold-well books. its chinchonly interesting

[matsuki]

I still don't understand...sounds like the publisher had employees make accounts and then went wild downloading their own publications to artificially increase consumption/compensation...then got caught and had their shit deleted??

[wuchan]

The story is they deleted between 12 and 15 books. No reason was given. I suspect that they were probably offensive, no one even downloaded them or they were fake japanese history. It was only a few books tho. Then when the publisher complained that they were taken down Amazon decided to say fuck you and took down all their e-books (over 1,000)

quite the opposite
amozon promised part of publishers to pay fees in proportion to the downloads but the customers downloaded those about 10 books of kodansha than initially envisioned and then fucking amazon unilaterally deleted them. and kodansha got angry.
this kind of arrogant things happen when only one company has a predominant power in market.

and looks like wuchinchonchan believes worthy-to-read books is equal to sold-well books. its chinchonly interesting

Not sure what you are getting at. Perhaps you are showing your total incompetence when it comes to reading English, again.

[wuchan]

Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Amazon Faces Publishing Dispute in Japan Over Book Subscriptions
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-04/amazon-faces-publishing-dispute-in-japan-over-book-subscriptions

The web retailer pulled more than 1,000 titles from Kodansha Ltd. over the weekend amid negotiations with Japan’s largest publisher over their contract and the books included in the service.Kobunsha Co. said 550 items were cut. As many as 180 publications from Shogakukan Inc. are no longer being offered; the company said Amazon had sought to reduce the fees it shares.

Amazon sought to renegotiate its contracts with Kodansha, Kobunsha and Shogakukan in September, and amid discussions decided to remove their titles from Kindle Unlimited.

more gold:

A representative for Shogakukan said that it was protesting Amazon’s moves because they “don’t properly consider readers and create anxiety for authors.”

matsuki may be on to something. Amazon is really good with data and metrics. It seems like they realized that certain higher priced books were being download more frequently and made the cut to protect their bottom line. There is a line in that article where the publisher is whining about contracts but knowing how Amazon works there was most definitely a clause that allows them to remove items that don't meet certain profit margins. Japanese companies have been known to try to force employees to buy their products to artificially inflate sales (cough toshiba, cough). The fact they pulled the books mid negotiation possibly shows that the Japanese side wasn't willing to play ball, dug in and said "but this is Japan!!!!".

Another example of how J-inc just doesn't get it when it comes to proper open market business? Looks that way to me.

[Takechanpoo]

inside chinchon brains, promises exist to be broken.

複数の出版関係者によりますと、アマゾンと一部の出版社との間では、多く読まれた作品には一定の期間、通常よりも利用料を多く払う契約になっていたということです。

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/2016100 ... 31000.html

[wuchan]

inside chinchon brains, promises exist to be broken.

複数の出版関係者によりますと、アマゾンと一部の出版社との間では、多く読まれた作品には一定の期間、通常よりも利用料を多く払う契約になっていたということです。

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/2016100 ... 31000.html

lol NHK.

[matsuki]

matsuki may be on to something. Amazon is really good with data and metrics. It seems like they realized that certain higher priced books were being download more frequently and made the cut to protect their bottom line. There is a line in that article where the publisher is whining about contracts but knowing how Amazon works there was most definitely a clause that allows them to remove items that don't meet certain profit margins. Japanese companies have been known to try to force employees to buy their products to artificially inflate sales (cough toshiba, cough). The fact they pulled the books mid negotiation possibly shows that the Japanese side wasn't willing to play ball, dug in and said "but this is Japan!!!!".

Another example of how J-inc just doesn't get it when it comes to proper open market business? Looks that way to me.

My guess is a shot in the dark but there is something missing from all the articles and seeing as how Amazon isn't coming out with reactionary statements, it's just business as usual for them. My guess is it revolves around what I suggested (especially seeing as how their account seems to have been cancelled...violation of some sorts) or maybe the opposite...maybe they didn't like their compensation terms when it came to Amazon's yomihoudai set up and complained enough that Amazon said "fuck it" and removed their content rather than waste their time catering to or fighting with them.

[Wage Slave]

I agree we are speculating on the basis of very little information. And I wouldn't assume at this stage that Amazon are fine upstanding corporate citizens standing up to an outdated, dishonest and restrictive traditional Japanese company. Given Amazon's business practices it could yet be a case of an honorable if a little old fashioned company standing up to a tax dodging, amoral, market manipulating, labour exploiting bully. We will see, but Tacky may be right on this one. Or at least more right than wrong for a change.

[Russell]

It is a well-known practice of Amazon that they put publishers under pressure, re-negotiating contracts such that Amazon gets a bigger part of the slice. It happens outside Japan too.

It's one reason why I try to minimize my buying at Amazon (the other reason being their tax dodging and labor practices).

[matsuki]

Sounds like there was some sort of "until the end of the year" special payment agreement with the publishers to initially have their works listed in their new yomihoudai service and (through nefarious means or not) the works viewership quickly exceeded the budget set aside for the agreement with each specific publisher...so the works have been removed. If there really is nothing sketchy on the publisher's side, Amazon dun goof'd at forecasting demand and what rate they set the payments at...but Amazon also seems to be claiming the yomihoudai service is only a small subset of their library with rotating titles so who knows?

I think I've mentioned before but I sell on Amazon...it's quite a pain in the ass and yes, you get the feeling you're bowing down to Amazon-sama to work with them. On the other hand, this squeezing of sellers and delivery services makes it a pretty good deal for customers.

[GargoyleTS]

https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/10/0 ... s-in-japan

Where I read about it. Actual article is on WSJ behind a paywall. Gist is Amazon did indeed fuck up. Amazon hit their budget for royalty payments and wanted to renegotiate the contract after only the first month had passed.

The fuckup really is Amazon offered to pay a full royalty if only 10% of a title was read. That seems awfully low for a culture that reads a lot.

[Coligny]

If you include the number of idol picturebooks (that also fraudulently overlap) it was downright stupid from amazon. (Screen cap anyone ?)

Bought the Yua Aida kindle gravure ebook thing. Half of them are the same with a different page organisation (landscape rotation therefore previous 2 'pages' pictures become only one)

[matsuki]

https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/10/04/1441207/amazons-kindle-unlimited-is-a-victim-of-its-success-in-japan

Where I read about it. Actual article is on WSJ behind a paywall. Gist is Amazon did indeed fuck up. Amazon hit their budget for royalty payments and wanted to renegotiate the contract after only the first month had passed.

The fuckup really is Amazon offered to pay a full royalty if only 10% of a title was read. That seems awfully low for a culture that reads a lot.

I don't use this service but browsing customer complaints on the eigo-side of things, the all you can read service only offers a small, revolving selection of the entire library...so yes, the offerings are small and change. Many users don't seem to think the service is worth it. (But it could be business as intended) Another possibility is these offerings were just bait to get an initial wave of subscribers upfront and then scale back the library. Or it could be Amazon deciding to pull the plug on the super popular titles earlier than expected...but why pull the entire offerings from each publisher? My guess is still some sort of gaming of the system...only 10% read being necessary? As Coligny pointed out, there are tons of picture-based books and "re-released" BS that could cause them headaches as is. Then there are small, throw away titles, created with the sole intention of milking Amazon. Anyhow, it's happened on the eigo-side of things so not hard to imagine it happening in (all employees must buy ★☆★) Japan.

[legion]

Threadjack

Talking of publishing does anyone know if Warau Salesman is still being printed on dead tree

Got a sudden urge to read it, they ran the anime on TV the other night and it reminded me of how much I want to drink in an overpriced bar late on a rainy night in the center of the urban sprawl

Has to be dead tree, all this digital shit is too crap for me

[wagyl]

Threadjack
Has to be dead tree, all this digital shit is too crap for me

Publisher info https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%AC%91 ... 5.E5.A0.B1

Leads you to http://www.chuko.co.jp/search.php?name4 ... 8=&x=0&y=0

Not really that much more effort than finding a clip on youtube....

[legion]

did you watch the clip tho?

DONNNNN!!!!!

Looks like it is print, whether it is in stock remains to be seen, I could buy on line but I always prefer bricks and mortar when possible. Certainly not from Amazon, who treat their own staff terribly, maybe Tsutaya, who used to rent videos to gaijin when nobody else would.

Be interesting to contrast the original comic version which originated in the late 60s with the anime, which placed itself in bubble Japan.

WO～HOHOHOHOHOHO～～～～～～～～

[FG Lurker]

Sometimes, it's also the service companies who make life complicated for the shop-owners with ominous "rules"

Example: Arkbark.net

arkbark_screenshot.jpg

Source...

An NPO will likely have to put up with shit like being bullied and subjugated by the likes of PayPal, but a shop-owner might just show them the stinky finger, and rightly so.

That's actually not PayPal's fault, it's a Japanese regulation issue. Japanese regulations do not allow PayPal to process person-to-person "gift" transactions or to process donations. They also limit sellers to a maximum of $10,000 per item sold.

[inflames]

Sometimes, it's also the service companies who make life complicated for the shop-owners with ominous "rules"

Example: Arkbark.net

arkbark_screenshot.jpg

Source...

An NPO will likely have to put up with shit like being bullied and subjugated by the likes of PayPal, but a shop-owner might just show them the stinky finger, and rightly so.

That's actually not PayPal's fault, it's a Japanese regulation issue. Japanese regulations do not allow PayPal to process person-to-person "gift" transactions or to process donations. They also limit sellers to a maximum of $10,000 per item sold.

The paypal issue is that they can't do it with the license they have issued. Not sure on the exact details, but Paypal simply has the Japan office of their Singapore subsidiary registered here.

Paypal are idiots anyway - their employee "Yumi" told me my account couldn't be verified as my period of stay was under 90 days (uhh, no it wasn't dumbass, and stop using a fake name).

[Grumpy Gramps]

Haha, according to PayPal, I have a fake number on my monkey-card and can, therefore, not be verified, either

[FG Lurker]

That's actually not PayPal's fault, it's a Japanese regulation issue. Japanese regulations do not allow PayPal to process person-to-person "gift" transactions or to process donations. They also limit sellers to a maximum of $10,000 per item sold.

The paypal issue is that they can't do it with the license they have issued. Not sure on the exact details, but Paypal simply has the Japan office of their Singapore subsidiary registered here.

Right, it's a regulation issue as I said. They aren't a full bank and do not wish to be a full bank, so there are limits on what they are allowed to do.

[Grumpy Gramps]

Hmm, makes me wonder; should I buy new or used?

screenshot.jpg

[legion]

Threadjack
Has to be dead tree, all this digital shit is too crap for me

Publisher info https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%AC%91 ... 5.E5.A0.B1

Leads you to http://www.chuko.co.jp/search.php?name4 ... 8=&x=0&y=0

Not really that much more effort than finding a clip on youtube....

I tacked it down in Kinokuniya, was an interesting project, I don't normally frequent Japanese bookshops, the hierarchy of manga was obvious. Some guys get their own section, some are consigned to being part of a genre. Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro is still a powerful presence.

And Warau Salesman is fascinating, as story telling and as social comment. Sometimes I love this city.

[Russell]

History repeating itself...

Amazon's Japanese headquarters raided by nation's regulator

Amazon’s Japanese headquarters in Tokyo have been raided by the country’s fair trade watchdog on suspicion of violation of antitrust regulations.

The Japanese Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) said on Thursday that Amazon Japan was being investigated after allegations that the company improperly asked suppliers to shoulder part of the costs of discounting their products on the retail site. Amazon Japan said Thursday that it was “fully cooperating” with JFTC, but declined to comment on the details of the allegations.

Local media the Asahi Shimbun daily reported that the firm may have demanded suppliers pay a “collaboration fee”, measured as a percentage of the selling price of the product. The Kyodo news agency, citing unnamed sources, said the fees were to cover discounting.

Public broadcaster NHK reported that Amazon told suppliers it would stop working with them if they did not pay the fees.

The JFTC declined to comment.

Amazon Japan has faced regulatory scrutiny before. In a recent antitrust probe, which involved raids on Amazon’s Tokyo offices in 2016, the JFTC found the firm had required suppliers sell items on Amazon Japan at the same or lower price as any listings they may have on on other platforms.

Japan’s antitrust law prohibits a firm from abusing a superior bargaining position to illicitly make a business partner accept unprofitable trade conditions.

The JFTC ended its probe in June after Amazon Japan agreed to drop the practice.

Amazon has been operating in Japan since 1998, with its Amazon.co.jp store front opening in 2000, making it one of the first of the US retail firm’s international expansions. Amazon Japan follows the model established by the firm’s US site, including its Marketplace where third parties can list and sell goods through Amazon’s storefront.

The firm has offices in the Japanese capital and in Osaka, as well as 13 fulfilment centres and five Prime Now warehouses for its same-day delivery services. The company last year reportedly agreed to pay up to 40% more to domestic delivery service firm Yamato, which said its workforce was struggling to keep up with rising demand for package delivery.

Link

[matsuki]

Amazon is a bitch to sell through but you can list your shit on Amazon as a third part seller without whatever discounts they are asking for.

Local media the Asahi Shimbun daily reported that the firm may have demanded suppliers pay a “collaboration fee”, measured as a percentage of the selling price of the product. The Kyodo news agency, citing unnamed sources, said the fees were to cover discounting.

Public broadcaster NHK reported that Amazon told suppliers it would stop working with them if they did not pay the fees.

They definitely ask for the pricing structure to allow for Amazon to still make money and sell for less but consumers win with the best pricing and if it's like described here:

Japan’s antitrust law prohibits a firm from abusing a superior bargaining position to illicitly make a business partner accept unprofitable trade conditions.

Illicitly make you accept unprofitable trade conditions? It's real simple, you don't sell on Amazon if it's not reasonable. Is this where we hear about the Amazon-mafia shaking down companies with the Yaks?

Sounds like the usual cartel-style price fixers just have their panties in a twist....

[wuchan]

Sounds like the usual cartel-style price fixers just have their panties in a twist....

Pretty much this. If Amazon were a Japanese company this wouldn't be an issue.

[Russell]

Sounds like the usual cartel-style price fixers just have their panties in a twist....

Pretty much this. If Amazon were a Japanese company this wouldn't be an issue.

You could be right.

That said, I do not like Amazon's predatory policies, and most of the time Amazon is not the cheapest anyway. I usually find better deals at Rakuten, or directly at the shop's web page, like Monotaro, Yodobashi, etc.

[matsuki]

Sounds like the usual cartel-style price fixers just have their panties in a twist....

Pretty much this. If Amazon were a Japanese company this wouldn't be an issue.

You could be right.

That said, I do not like Amazon's predatory policies, and most of the time Amazon is not the cheapest anyway. I usually find better deals at Rakuten, or directly at the shop's web page, like Monotaro, Yodobashi, etc.

At the end of the day you can always just not sell on Amazon?

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[Russell]

Sounds like the usual cartel-style price fixers just have their panties in a twist....

Pretty much this. If Amazon were a Japanese company this wouldn't be an issue.

You could be right.

That said, I do not like Amazon's predatory policies, and most of the time Amazon is not the cheapest anyway. I usually find better deals at Rakuten, or directly at the shop's web page, like Monotaro, Yodobashi, etc.

At the end of the day you can always just not sell on Amazon?

I don't sell anything on Amazon, but I get your point.

That said, they don't behave like gentlemen. I read about some suppliers selling some product well on Amazon, only for Amazon to make an own version of the product at a discounted price after they analyzed the sales of that supplier. It does not sound right, because they abuse their position as janitor of the sales site.

[matsuki]

Sounds like the usual cartel-style price fixers just have their panties in a twist....

Pretty much this. If Amazon were a Japanese company this wouldn't be an issue.

You could be right.

That said, I do not like Amazon's predatory policies, and most of the time Amazon is not the cheapest anyway. I usually find better deals at Rakuten, or directly at the shop's web page, like Monotaro, Yodobashi, etc.

At the end of the day you can always just not sell on Amazon?

I don't sell anything on Amazon, but I get your point.

That said, they don't behave like gentlemen. I read about some suppliers selling some product well on Amazon, only for Amazon to make an own version of the product at a discounted price after they analyzed the sales of that supplier. It does not sound right, because they abuse their position as janitor of the sales site.

That sounds pretty messed up, you sure it was actually Amazon doing that though? I've seen numerous stories of Chinese companies analyzing trends and knocking off all kinds of things...forcing the original seller to constantly battle the knockoffs on Amazon. (They were trying to get Amazon to streamline the process of having the counterfeit/knockoff products removed)