Kobo News & Updates: Aura Price Reduction, New Kobo Partnership With Sony & More

The following news was sent to all ABA member stores participating in the Kobo program in the weekly “Kobo News & Updates” newsletter on Wednesday, February 12. For complete details, refer to the newsletter in the Kobo Archive on BookWeb.org.

Kobo Aura Price Reduction

Effective February 1, the original Kobo Aura moved to a new permanent price point of $139.99.

In order to be eligible for the price protection rebate, stores must report their in-stock quantities by April 1. A printout from the store’s POS is best, but if that is not available, booksellers can create a spreadsheet of items sold after February 1. Supporting documentation should be directly uploaded through the Kobo reporting tool. (See the February 12 newsletter for details.)
Note: This price adjustment is only for the original Kobo Aura, not the Kobo Aura HD model.

Kobo Partners With Sony

On February 6, Kobo announced a new partnership with Sony. As part of the agreement, the Kobo catalog will be the new source of eReading content on the Sony Reader and Sony Xperia tablets in the U.S. and Canada. A customer-facing FAQ on the transition is available.

Watch for additional details on how this partnership directly affects bookstore-affiliated accounts in upcoming newsletters.

eMagazine Revenue Share Coming Soon 

Beginning April 1, participating Kobo stores will receive a percentage of sales generated by magazine purchases. DIY and additional details will be available in March. To see Kobo’s magazine offerings, click here.

Valentine’s Day Sales 

Valentine’s Day is tomorrow and Kobo is offering two types of Valentine’s Day promotions to help stores celebrate:

• A content promotion begins on Friday, February 14, and continues through Monday, February 17. This is a publisher-supported promotion with up to 70 percent off select eBooks. No promo code is required; however, stores do need to generate an affiliated link. (See newsletter for details.)
• A device promotion for the Kobo Arc 7HD — a great match for anyone who loves to read and for the panicked significant other on a last-minute quest for a perfect gift.

Pricing details on both promotions can be found in the February 5 edition of Kobo Weekly.

Repatriated Accounts Processed

Kobo has repatriated reported accounts submitted through the Kobo Reporting Tool prior to January 6, 2014. The next list of reported e-mails will be submitted in early March.

Booksellers with questions about using the “Report a Missing Customer” form should e-mail [email protected].