As reported on NMA.co.uk today, it’s been confirmed that Amazon has stopped directly selling books on its US site from corporate publisher Macmillan over its insistence to raise the standard eBook price from $9.99 to around $15.

Amazon has already been criticised by parts of the publishing community for making its standard price too high, so this move reflects well on the company for ‘taking a stand’ on behalf of the consumer. A group of Amazon users has been urging others to boycott Kindle books that cost more than $9.99 for some time now. Online, this has the power to influence a lot more people than its 2,200-strong membership base. So is this simply a savvy move by Amazon to placate its detractors?

In the long run, it’s likely that Macmillan’s books will creep back onto the virtual shelves (or perhaps to a fanfare, if the publisher has anything to do with it). Amazon’s statement said that: “We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan’s terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over its own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books.”

This reflects the general consensus of readers of the book publishing news blog Galleycat, with one commenting: “I doubt Amazon is letting the views of 2200 customers dictate a pricing policy that affects millions. If 2200 are unhappy enough to post about it, that means (let’s ballpark it) 2,997,800 are at least neutral enough not to join the conversation.”

Amazon’s initial resilience may be short lived, but it’s unlikely that this will jeopardise its reputation en masse. The timing of Macmillan’s ultimatum is interesting, coinciding with the launch of the iPad (which many say is a direct response to the Kindle). Is Amazon playing its paper-based books sales trump card? Or is Macmillan setting the bar too high? It’s a mixed debate, but it’s uncertain who’ll come out on top. One thing that’s clear is that it’s now Macmillan’s authors and fans that are losing out – and that could backfire on either company.