No more in-app purchases for Comixology? At first I didn’t care, because I always purchsed my Comixology comics through my local comic book store’s website (that way a local shop gets a cut of my purchase).
But there is bad news behind Amazon killing in-app purchases on the popular comics reading app. It signals that Amazon doesn’t care about the comic book industry. They only care about money.
In-app comixology purchases = good for the comic book industry.
An anonymous author wrote an opinion piece to comicsbeat.com pointing out that in-app purchases helped the comic book industry by making the purchase of comic books super-easy. The casual comic book person would be more likely to buy something in the app rather than having to go out and seek the comic book on a website or physical store. “Getting comics into the hands of people whose goal was never to make that purchase is the only way the industry could grow. The Comixology app fill that role in a high visibility way when the iPad was new any and everyone was desperate to put these new devices to some unique use.”
In-app comixology purchases = 30% of cost to Apple
The author explains, “With the removal of in app purchases from the Comixology app this function of facilitating casual purchases is now gone. Customers have to once again make the decision to buy a comic, and go to a place designated for that purpose and that purpose only.”
Amazon strictly wants to make money. More money. Comixology is a platform they acquired not to help the comic book industry. Instead Amazon bought Comixology to help themselves.
If you enjoy comic books, give the entire 982-word letter a read. This seriously makes me reconsider using the Amazon-owned Comixology app any longer.
Amazon wants you to buy your comics directly from them. Nothing surprising about that. Why allow brick and mortor stores to make sales via in-app that can now come through amazon?
Great point, Curtis. That’s exactly what Amazon is doing: they want the sale for themself. They don’t want comic book stores to do well. They don’t care about the comic book industry. They only care about how Amazon does. They only care about themselves.