It's official -- You can only loan a book out once.

[Daithi]

I asked the following question on the Barnes & Noble eBooks Help Board

Can you only loan a book once and once only?

The FAQ says, "You can lend many of your eBooks one time for a maximum of 14 days." Does this mean you can only loan the book out once, PERIOD, and once you have loaned out a book you can NEVER loan it out again, even after the 14 day loan period expires?

I received the following response

Kristine_S Administrator
Re: Can you only loan a book once and once only?

Yes, that's correct. You can loan each eBook (providing the publisher allows this) one time only, for a period of 14 days, to any B&N eReader-supported device, including nook, Mac, PC, iPhone, iPod Touch, and BlackBerry. During this time you cannot read the eBook yourself. Hope that helps, and thanks for your question.

I canceled my order for a Nook. (Ok, that didn't sound right, maybe that's why marketing gave it that name. Who in their right mind turns down Nook?) For me it came down to

1. No Lending
2. Higher Book Prices
3. No Folders/Tags

[desertgrandma]

See heres the thing. People who don't come to boards like ours, who don't do their research, are going to see only "you can lend your books!".

Boy........are there going to be some upset people out there........

[Shaggy]

It sounds to me like they misunderstood your question (or didn't pay attention while reading it). I think what their response is saying is that you can only loan it once at a time, which should be obvious. That's not what you asked though.

What concerns me is this part... "You can loan each eBook (providing the publisher allows this)". Hands up everyone who thinks any publisher will allow it.

[avwh]

Still no other clarification on this?

I agree w/ Shaggy - not sure the responder understood the Q (b/c he didn't really answer it).

Talk about overselling a feature if it is really just once, ever (although maybe that's what it takes for most publishers to allow lending at all?).

[Daithi]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

It sounds to me like they misunderstood your question (or didn't pay attention while reading it). I think what their response is saying is that you can only loan it once at a time, which should be obvious. That's not what you asked though.

What concerns me is this part... "You can loan each eBook (providing the publisher allows this)". Hands up everyone who thinks any publisher will allow it.

I had the same feeling as you Shaggy, because I asked this question on their blog first and got a similar response. Then they posted to their blog to ask question on their board, so I re-posted the question and tried to make it crystal clear what I was asking so that there would be no wiggle room. There were over a dozen other posters on that board asking that this question be answered. After it was answered there was a lot of disgruntled posters as well, and no revision of the answer by the Administrator. So at this point, I have to believe that the answer truly is that you can only loan a book out once, just like they have stated twice now (three times if you include their FAQ).

[daffy4u]

You can loan each eBook (providing the publisher allows this) one time only, for a period of 14 days

"one time only" seems pretty clear to me.

[kindlekitten]

that's just


stupid

[Madam Broshkina]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

that's just


stupid

Well I am kind of disappointed by this revelation but I do not think it is stupid. From a business stand point it would not make sense to allow unlimited lending of books. One could probably get a group together of about 26 people and decide what book each one would buy and organize a lending schedule where each would share their books. Conceivably one could read for a whole year with only buying one book from Barnes and Noble (assuming one reads one book every 14 days.) This is still a good deal for maybe two people getting together and coming up with their own plan of lending. Now if publishers severely restrict the books that can be shared it is a different story altogether.

[scveteran]

I really don't see the problem. Are you planning on making your own public library where you buy a book and then provide it to everyone around the world for free?

Kind of sounds like the people who place every song they bought to the internet.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

"one time only" seems pretty clear to me.

Right, one time only for 14 days. Then after those days are up one time only for a different 14 days.

I guess we will have to wait a month and really see.

BOb

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by scveteran

I really don't see the problem. Are you planning on making your own public library where you buy a book and then provide it to everyone around the world for free?

I agree... I don't see it as a big deal. Also, it's not like you need to lend it to your wife or kids, you would just share an account with them.

BOb

[Gideon]

I think it's a big deal. The main thing I'm hearing about the Nook is this 'I can lend my books' business. I'd sure want to know this means I can lend my book, ONCE.

[scveteran]

Originally Posted by Gideon

I think it's a big deal. The main thing I'm hearing about the Nook is this 'I can lend my books' business. I'd sure want to know this means I can lend my book, ONCE.

That you can lend a book at all, is big business. Not the fact that there is a limit on the number of times. At least IMO. After all, Kindle doesn't allow lending at all. Nor am I aware of any other reader that allows lending.

Being able to lend more than one time seems wrong to me.

[avwh]

I'll only be satisfied with a "one time loan" if it means all ebook publishers sign on to allow it - which they SHOULD, since it's not really going to hurt sales, with that limitation.

[eGeezer]

I randomly priced a few titles, e-book vs p-book, and the prices were the same -- $7.99US. I don't think anyone is surprised at that. But the point is that if I buy these as p-books (whether for $7.99 at BN, $5.99 at Fred Meyer, or $2.99 at Half-priced books), I will be able to loan these things out, or give them away, about five times when they will fall apart.

I can't see too many folk purchasing e-books at p-book prices, but if they do because "Well, at least i can loan them out", they are gonna be less that pleased to find they can only loan them once. Period.

E-books don't wear out, so I can understand the logic over limited loaning. On the other hand, their dream of everyone convincing their friends to dump their Kindles and Sonys (and Hanlins of various flavors) in favor of the Nook is gonna fall short if, indeed "1 book 1 loan forever" is true.

Of course, loaning books would not normally be the primary reason for purchase of an e-book reader, but the feature is certainly an attention-getter, and most people don't react well to "ha ha, tricked you" when it involves their own money.

For those for whom it is important, let's hope that once the product is actually in the hands of the consumer we find "1 book 1 loan forever" is merely a misunderstanding in communication.