Fixed book price
Also known as: fixed book price law
The Fixed Book Price Act means that publishers must set a fixed price for books they market. This is not a recommended price, but a mandatory price that must be applied everywhere. The purpose of the law is to allow less popular books to be published profitably as well, which should promote a wide and diverse range of books.
The Fixed Book Price Act applies to Dutch-language and Frisian books and sheet music. School books, e-books and second-hand books are exempt.
To make offers possible, the law allows the price of a book to deviate from the fixed book price for a short period of time. Six months after publication the book price may be adjusted by the publisher and after a year the fixed book price may be lifted. The latter is usually decided upon because by then the turnover rate of a book has fallen sharply. This category of books is also referred to as ramsj.
