RE: Measuring price increases

["Hamaker, Chuck" <cahamake@email.uncc.edu>]

Joe Esposito wrote:

"What is troubling to me about many of my fellow publishers is the
audacious lifting of prices when neither costs nor product enhancements
seem to warrant it."

That is the point Joe. They could, so they did. The differential pricing
in the early 80's gave way to rampant price increases because they learned
they could.  Raising prices was an easy way to increase profits-because at
least in the late 80's and early 90's cancellations did not reach the
levels of the price increases.

I remember one senior publishing exec. saying to a group of librarians at
ALA that the company had over estimated how many cancellations there would
be that year, and priced the potential cancellations in to subscription
prices..the final outcome...they'd had a very good year and libraries
hadn't.

Prices have been based on all sorts of shenanigans. Maxwell used to raise
world wide rates up to the US dollar rate-when the dollar was strong, or
the pound rate when it was strong, then when those currencies weakned
pegged the world wide rate to the DM rate. Had lots expenses in DM's
didn't he??  Guess who used the "but the US price was low so we had to
raise prices"  as a justification to review authorities over a recent
merger review (Pergamon stopped pegging US prices to the highest exchange
rate aftter we exposed the games...)  Oh, and the anti-trust reviewers
bought their story...doh!

Various European STM publishers through the 80's, used currency
manipulation, demanding payment in dollars from the US when dollars were
strong, in DM or whatever when the dollar was weak. When some libraries
used European vendors, they were able to capture real dollar rates,
instead of the fakes. Or told us how much paper had increased (prices
didn't come down when paper decreased)

 Now that libraries can't go to european agencies as often to get a true
guilder or DM exchange rate, no one can really tell what the "base" price
is...

I can give you chapter and verse on Springer's history on that
manipulation-as one example..as can many serial vendors-and there were
many others in the same hit high when the dollars high, hit 'em higher
when the dollar's low.

Now they wonder why most librarians don't believe what these same
companies (at least those that have survived) have to say about their
costs. Been there, done that, and we know that their cost increases and
our price increases didn't dance to the same song.  Why should anyone
believe much about the big commercials with their new song and dance about
how much more expensive the new and improved yada yada yada is...? Or
forced bundling, or not turning on access for six months, but charging for
the "full year" . Ignoring customer and vendor calls.. and on and on.

I think the major commercial STM's have created this crisis not only with
their pricing, but with their attitudes towards their customers- and the
vendors who have handed them the money. Their disregard, their outrageious
price increases...librarians do talk with researchers.

Its just taken awhile to get the gate keepers to pay attention.

Chuck Hamaker