End of postage at 1 cent for books, Amazon the first hit


Alexander Boero

September 23, 2022 at 2:10 p.m.

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books books © © Perfecto Capucine / Pexels

© Perfecto Capucine / Pexels

With the ARCEP proposal in hand, the government decided by setting the minimum pricing for shipping costs for books purchased online at 3 euros, following the authority’s recommendations.

Less than a year after the promulgation of the “Darcos law”, which provides for the end of free or almost free delivery costs for books, the government ratified, on Friday, September 23, the new pricing applicable to books purchased online, on sites like Amazon. The latter has until now offered symbolic book delivery costs, at only 1 euro cent.

Shipping costs set at 3 euros up to 35 euros of order

The Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire and the Minister of Culture Rima Abdul Malak have accepted the proposal of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications, Posts and Press Distribution (ARCEP) regarding the minimum pricing of book delivery charges.

The price of the delivery service will be raised in the coming months to 3 euros (including tax) for any order of books whose total amount is less than 35 euros. ” This minimum pricing does not apply to orders withdrawn from a retail bookstore, bookstore or other », Specifies the State, which therefore only refers to books purchased online and delivered to your home or to a pick-up point. In the event of an online purchase and withdrawal from a bookstore, the shipping costs remain zero, regardless of the amount of the purchase of new books.

Minimum delivery rates for ARCEP books © ARCEP / Clubic

© ARCEP, then revised by Clubic

Since 2014, these shipping costs could no longer be zero, and this overly restrictive obligation therefore did not prevent Amazon or FNAC from automatically setting the shipping costs at… 0.01 euro.

The happy medium between the wishes of major platforms and those of booksellers

The government therefore followed the recommendation of ARCEP which suggested this price of 3 euros, considering that it does not appear to be a deterrent for buyers. As for the threshold of 35 euros, this “ promotes the grouping of orders, a virtuous gesture in terms of ecological transition “, adds the Ministry of Culture.

This price of 3 euros is a happy medium between what Amazon demanded and what the booksellers wanted. The American e-commerce giant, for example, said it was ready to impose an amount of 1.49 euros for delivery, while bookstores demanded a minimum amount of 4.50 euros.

The Darcos law and the future delivery amount correspond in any case more to the spirit of the Lang law of August 10, 1981 on the single price of new books, in the sense that they establish a kind of equity between the major platforms in online and bookstores.

Note that the new rate will not be applied immediately. France will first notify the European Commission of a draft order (simply for opinion). The minimum pricing of 3 euros will then enter into force only 6 months (at the latest) after publication of the decree. It will therefore probably be necessary to wait a few more weeks before strict application.

Source : Ministry of Culture



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