Amazon accused of meddling with Hachette sales : Report

Hachette has accused Amazon of delaying shipments “for reasons of their own”, with the Internet retailer delaying the shipment of certain books by a number of weeks. The books span the gamut from new to old, and encompass a variety of different authors.

In a statement to CNN Money and The New York Times, the publisher stated that readers have been sending them “legitimate questions about why many of our books are at present marked out of stock with relatively long estimated shipping times on the Amazon website.” Hachette added that many of their books are readily available in stores and online, so there should be no reason for delays.

However, many of Hachette’s books are not shipping immediately, so Amazon customers are told that their books will ship in “2-4 weeks.” James Patterson’s Alex Cross, Run takes as long as five weeks to ship, while Colbert’s America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren’t could take three weeks. It also doesn’t matter how old or new the books are.

Hachette said that Amazon is keeping low stock of its books “for reasons of their own.”

It’s not clear what specifically has caused Amazon to do this, although the Times notes that the site frequently finds ways to get back at publishers in exchange for deeper discounts or longer time to pay bills.

Amazon, the largest bookseller in the country, hasn’t responded to Hachette’s comments.

Agencies/Canadajournal