Hardcover list prices are pretty much pegged at $24 in the USA, ever since word went out within Borders (or was it B&#38;N?) about eight years ago to stop buying hardcovers with SRP over $24.<p>Yes, Tesco (in the UK) and WalMart can and do demand discounts up to 70%. I have heard hearsay reports (I can't cite sources, due to confidentiality) of Amazon demanding 80% discounts off ebooks from British publishers -- which is why they only launched Kindle in the UK about three months ago: nobody would take them up on it.