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 [5]. 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 [6]. (See the February 12 newsletter for details.) [5]
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 [7]. 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 [8] 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. [9]

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 [10].

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] [11].