A law adopted in December 2021 aims to raise the delivery price of delivery in order to encourage consumers to go to bookstores rather than ordering online.
Le Monde with AFP
The government has chosen a median route between online commerce giants and booksellers on the issue of minimum shipping costs applicable to books. The amount selected is 3 euros for orders up to 35 euros, said the cabinet of the Minister of Culture, Thursday, September 22.
This price is that recommended by the postal regulator, the regulatory authority for electronic communications, positions and distribution of the press (arcep), when launching a public consultation on the subject.
Shipping costs for books can not have been zero since a 2014 law, but Amazon and Fnac systematically fix them at 0.01 euros.
Beyond 35 euros, the ministry decided to maintain the status quo, with a floor of 0.01 euros. The government’s decision must still be sent to the European Commission, which will give an opinion before the law can enter into force.
A law adopted in December 2021 aims to raise the floor price, in order to encourage consumers to go to bookstores rather than ordering online. The legislator left the executive to fix the amounts.
plea of booksellers against “quasi-gratuity”
During the public consultation of ARCEP, Amazon said he was favorable to an amount of 1.49 euros, the price “books and brochures” for a book between 250 and 500 grams to the European Union, the Kingdom -Uni or Switzerland.
The booksellers pleaded against what they called “quasi-gratuity”, advocating a minimum of 4.50 euros, or even more. On the book market, France is distinguished by having been the first country in the world, in 1981, to vote a law imposing a unique price on new books, among other measures to ensure the sustainability of bookstores.