Does Amazon make per-use money off of Libby?
March 12, 2025 11:11 AM Subscribe
I am trying to stop using Amazon as much as possible and want to know how they are reimbursed by Libby for my usage.
I read a lot using Libby through my library and a lot of the time the books are served to me using "send to Kindle" - there's also generally an option to use Libby itself to read, which is what I'm doing right now, but if I can go back to using the Kindle app I would like to, since the reading experience is a little bit nicer. But I don't want to give Amazon any money.
I assume Amazon gets usage data from my Kindle app, but is that all they get? Does Libby pay Amazon some kind of per-use fee whenever I use the "send to Kindle" option? Or do they pay them some kind of standardized/flat fee (maybe per book in the catalogue but not per user? or per library? I dunno) such that my individual usage doesn't make any difference to how much money they get?
I've been told by a librarian that Amazon does not get a cut of the book price itself, but this person is not directly involved in purchasing so might have gotten it wrong.
I read a lot using Libby through my library and a lot of the time the books are served to me using "send to Kindle" - there's also generally an option to use Libby itself to read, which is what I'm doing right now, but if I can go back to using the Kindle app I would like to, since the reading experience is a little bit nicer. But I don't want to give Amazon any money.
I assume Amazon gets usage data from my Kindle app, but is that all they get? Does Libby pay Amazon some kind of per-use fee whenever I use the "send to Kindle" option? Or do they pay them some kind of standardized/flat fee (maybe per book in the catalogue but not per user? or per library? I dunno) such that my individual usage doesn't make any difference to how much money they get?
I've been told by a librarian that Amazon does not get a cut of the book price itself, but this person is not directly involved in purchasing so might have gotten it wrong.
Response by poster: Overdrive pays a licensing fee.
So Amazon gets paid whether I read the book in Libby or use "Send to Kindle"?
posted by joannemerriam at 12:58 PM on March 12
So Amazon gets paid whether I read the book in Libby or use "Send to Kindle"?
posted by joannemerriam at 12:58 PM on March 12
Best answer: Amazon sells Kindles, and also receives data about what you are reading. But the libraries pay Overdrive which pays the publishers. You can read via Libby or buy a Kobo.
posted by Ideefixe at 2:16 PM on March 12 [2 favorites]
posted by Ideefixe at 2:16 PM on March 12 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Here is an article dating from 2011, when the Overdrive/Amazon deal was finalized, listing a lot of concerns with the deal.
It is a pretty good overview of the real concerns - mostly around the data Amazon will be able to harvest about readers, and their ability to profit from resulting sales and recommendations while the libraries gain nothing - but there is no concern specifically about fees paid to Amazon. It seems there are more than enough ways for Amazon to profit from this arrangement without needing a specific fee from Overdrive.
However, no one seems to really have the precise details of the arrangement between Amazon & Overdrive, so it is hard to say for certain. It does appear that there is no specific per book fee going to Amazon, so you can probably rest easy on that account.
posted by flug at 2:52 PM on March 12
It is a pretty good overview of the real concerns - mostly around the data Amazon will be able to harvest about readers, and their ability to profit from resulting sales and recommendations while the libraries gain nothing - but there is no concern specifically about fees paid to Amazon. It seems there are more than enough ways for Amazon to profit from this arrangement without needing a specific fee from Overdrive.
However, no one seems to really have the precise details of the arrangement between Amazon & Overdrive, so it is hard to say for certain. It does appear that there is no specific per book fee going to Amazon, so you can probably rest easy on that account.
posted by flug at 2:52 PM on March 12
but if I can go back to using the Kindle app I would like to, since the reading experience is a little bit nicer. But I don't want to give Amazon any money
As noted above it's hard to say what specific benefits Amazon sees from Overdrive or Kindle app usage (money? data?) But if you'd like to read library books while just disconnecting as much as possible from Amazon there are other options besides Libby and the Kindle app, including any other ereading app or device. If the problem is that not every app can deal with the Overdrive DRM system (the thing that lets you borrow/return books and makes library loans expire) that's easy to solve by just removing the DRM altogether. It does require an extra step of going through your computer, though - as far as I know there's no simple way to do it on your phone or most tablets.
That way you can still borrow/return books, but can read them wherever is most comfortable. In that case Amazon would (I assume) only be involved if the book being borrowed is published through Amazon's publishing programs.
posted by trig at 9:12 AM on March 13
As noted above it's hard to say what specific benefits Amazon sees from Overdrive or Kindle app usage (money? data?) But if you'd like to read library books while just disconnecting as much as possible from Amazon there are other options besides Libby and the Kindle app, including any other ereading app or device. If the problem is that not every app can deal with the Overdrive DRM system (the thing that lets you borrow/return books and makes library loans expire) that's easy to solve by just removing the DRM altogether. It does require an extra step of going through your computer, though - as far as I know there's no simple way to do it on your phone or most tablets.
That way you can still borrow/return books, but can read them wherever is most comfortable. In that case Amazon would (I assume) only be involved if the book being borrowed is published through Amazon's publishing programs.
posted by trig at 9:12 AM on March 13
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take a look at Readers First.
posted by Ideefixe at 11:30 AM on March 12 [3 favorites]