Re: Wellcome Trust report

["Sally Morris \(ALPSP\)" <chief-exec@alpsp.org>]

The answer to Fred's question is very simple.  The reason we have not seen
lots of publishers dropping their prices by 20-25% is that their customers
have not yet allowed them to drop the print versions.  When all our
customers are happy to move to electronic-only (given the two main
obstacles, archiving and VAT) then I am sure publishers will make the move

It's not a matter of the particular customer dropping their print copies,
as Fred suggests, but rather of the print edition being abandoned
altogether - the costs don't fully go away until you do that.  I think a
price reduction of 5-10% for customers who decline the print edition of a
journal available in both formats is quite common.

Sally

Sally Morris, Chief Executive
Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers
E-mail:  chief-exec@alpsp.org

----- Original Message ----- 
From: ""FrederickFriend"" <ucylfjf@ucl.ac.uk>
To: <liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2004 6:30 AM
Subject: Re: Wellcome Trust report

> A simple question: if, as Sally says "most of the saving would be due to a
> move to on-line only", why have publishers not offered libraries a 30%
> discount or even a 25% discount if they dropped print? Is it because of
> the difference Sally points to between cost and price - i.e. the
> publisher's price is not being lowered to reflect the savings in cost by
> going on-line?
>
> Fred Friend