Evaluation of the Fixed Book Price Act

Any Dutch-language or Frisian-language book sold in the Netherlands has the same price wherever you buy it. This has been enshrined in the Fixed Book Price Act since 2005. This law has two aims: to promote a diverse range of titles and to maintain a finely-meshed network of bookshops. The functioning of the law has been evaluated by research firm Ecorys over the period 2019-2023.

Background

To keep access to books low-threshold, the Fixed Book Price Act was established. This law requires publishers to fix retail prices for Dutch- and Frisian-language books for at least one year. In theory, this fixed price ensures that books are easily available to everyone under equal conditions.

Fixed book prices offer publishers and bookshops more certainty about their revenues. They make more profit on popular books, and thanks to that margin they can also publish less profitable titles. In other words, thanks to fixed book prices, not only bestsellers appear, but also less popular books, making the overall offering more varied.

In addition, price fixing prevents bookshops from having to compete with each other on price, at least not for Dutch and Frisian-language titles. This will protect local bookshops from competition from, for instance, supermarkets and online shops, which could offer books more cheaply because of their economies of scale. This maintains a nationwide network of physical bookshops, where the wide and diverse range of books remains accessible to all.

Key findings

The Fixed Book Price Act is evaluated every four years. Ecorys has evaluated the law over the period 2019-2023. We conclude that the law is effective in maintaining a diverse supply and a fine network of physical bookshops.

Our study paid special attention to the influences of corona pandemic. During the pandemic, the book market changed dramatically. Book sales shifted massively from physical to digital sales channels. Early signs suggest that this shift was temporary and that the book market has recovered and is similar to the period before the pandemic.

Want to know more? Then read our full report (in Dutch) here.