Amazon Customers Could Receive $3 Refund On Select Kindle Books

customers who purchased an e-book between April 1, 2010 and May 21, 2012 could receive a refund for nearly $4. This is a result of the legal action that was taken against

and five book publishers who were accused of colluding to raise prices. Apple has fought the charges since the say they were filed, but the book publishers --

Simon & Schuster,

HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Hachette Book Group --

. As part of the settlement, publishers will have to return money to customers who were thought to have overpaid for an e-book. According to

, customers will receive an estimated $0.73 to $3.82 for select Kindle books. These numbers are reportedly higher than Amazon's previous estimate. Customers will not receive their refunds right away, however. The settlements still need approval, and the courts may not make a decision before December. When the decision comes, Amazon will notify its customers that the automatic return credits have been applied.

Amazon may be against an Apple-led price hike, but it has no qualms about reducing its own discounts for physical books. In July,

reported that Amazon has greatly reduced the number of discounts it offers on online. This is due to the sharp decrease in competition. With consumers slowly leaving

,

and other traditional booksellers, Amazon has fewer reasons to lower its prices. Last month Amazon.com endured a

that took the site down for

. Unlike the Amazon Web Services issue last Christmas -- which crippled

-- this outage only prevented consumers from shopping. In preparing for the third-generation Kindle Fire (which could be unveiled this month), Amazon has repeatedly offered

on its current line of tablets. The company is

to be building a smartphone, but it is not yet known when the unconfirmed device will be released. Disclosure: