From B&N: Why there are no B&N member discounts

[rhadin]

I recently wrote B&N customer service and asked the following questions:

1. Does my membership discount apply to ebooks purchased at BN.com's ebook store?

2. Does my B&N Mastercard discount apply to ebook purchases?

3. If I purchase the Nook, will I get a member's discount on the purchase?

4. Does the member discount apply to accessories for the Nook?

5. Does the B&N Mastercard discount apply to to purchase of the Nook and/or Nook accessories?

A little while ago I received the following response:

Dear Customer,

Thank you for your inquiry regarding applying discounts to nook and eBooks.

Discounts, who doesn't like to use them, especially today? But sorry, nook is priced really fairly, we can't let additional discounts be applied and there's no member discount on accessories.

However, Barnes & Noble members can get FREE Expedited Air Shipping if they pre-order today! This is a limited time offer, so for more information about this promotion, please visit:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/offers/index.asp

Because our eBook prices are deeply discounted from the Publisher?s List Price, the Barnes & Noble Member's discount is not available on the purchase of digital content (including but not limited to digital books, magazines, and periodicals); certain digital devices; downloadable Audiobooks in MP3 or any other format.

We hope you find this information helpful and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Sincerely,

Herman
Customer Service Representative
Barnes and Noble
http://www.bn.com/

I still do not know if I would get the 5% discount one gets by using the B&N Mastercard but I assume I would because the only requirement is that the purchase be made at B&N.

[jaxx6166]

Sounds like a bunch of shiesters. Sure. Everything is "deeply discounted" when you consider the bloated, inflated prices that publishers charge retail.

But, I'm pretty sure that when stores agree to purchase content they do so in bulk for a massive discount. And said discount is then passed on to the consumer via "Member Discounts" and Amazon being Amazon and stuff.

And the "Deep Discounts" are pretty much a joke compared to other places. $9.99 for hard covers at Amazon versus B/N's "discounted 30% + 10%" = $15.99 for the same one usually.

Sigh.

[kezza]

This is very disappointing. On some level I can understand why they wouldn't allow discounts on the device itself, these things are usually sold at a loss as it is. However, accessories? Please, those things are soooooooooo overpriced. As for the eBooks, if their prices were lower I'd agree. But since they currently charge more than Sony and Amazon for most books, and other ebook stores (eReader.com included) routinely give "membership" discounts of at least 10%, I call BS on BN.
I'm not a member, but if was one I'd be fuming. What a way to alienate your most loyal customers at a time when you really need them the most. B&N diehards are the people who are going to want this device, are willing to dedicate themselves to the B&N ebook store.
I hope they come to their senses.

[avwh]

The ONLY way I'd guess they'll reconsider is IF they see B&N club members NOT buying the Nook when it's available.

[eGeezer]

Well, the reason I've never become a BN member is cuz 10% discount on ANYTHING is as good as no discount at all -- especially when you have to pay a membership fee to even qualify which means you gotta buy a LOT of stuff at 10% off to get the membership fee back before you even get to start "saving" on prices that are higher than the local department store.

This is just another reason I can be glad I"m not a member.

Doesn't mean I won't buy the Nook once I see people reactions when they actually have one in their hands, but it won't be for the ebook prices.

[rhadin]

eGeezer, I've been a B&N member for years. At first i resisted for exactly the reason you state. But then I did the math based on my purchasing history and realized I'd save several hundered dollars a year by being a member.

The discount is 20% on all adult hardcovers; 10% on paperbacks and other items. If a book is already on sale, say a bestseller is already marked 30% off, I get another 10% on top of the 30% discount.

I buy 25+ hardcovers a year from B&N and none are bestsellers; most are special orders. So the 20% begins to add up. For the casual reader who buys a couple of paperbacks a year, it isn't worth joining, but if you buy a lot of books at B&N it doesn't take long to earn back the cost of membership -- especially at current book prices.

[=X=]

Because our eBook prices are deeply discounted from the Publisher's List Price, the Barnes & Noble Member's discount is not available on the purchase of digital content (including but not limited to digital books, magazines, and periodicals); certain digital devices; downloadable Audiobooks in MP3 or any other format.

Search B&N and compare their eBooks to their paperback books and you'll see both are $7.99 (deep discount hmmmm)

Originally Posted by rhadin

eGeezer, I've been a B&N member for years. At first i resisted for exactly the reason you state. But then I did the math based on my purchasing history and realized I'd save several hundered dollars a year by being a member.

The discount is 20% on all adult hardcovers; 10% on paperbacks and other items. If a book is already on sale, say a bestseller is already marked 30% off, I get another 10% on top of the 30% discount.

I buy 25+ hardcovers a year from B&N and none are bestsellers; most are special orders. So the 20% begins to add up. For the casual reader who buys a couple of paperbacks a year, it isn't worth joining, but if you buy a lot of books at B&N it doesn't take long to earn back the cost of membership -- especially at current book prices.

Actually his point was he shops around and I'm sure he is not opposed to going to compditors to get a better deal.

Buying from Borders and/or Amazon will save much more money than B&N even with the Membership discount.

Becoming a Borders Reward member (FREE) I get a coupon to save 40% on a book purchase each month on top of other coupons.


=X=

[eGeezer]

Originally Posted by rhadin

eGeezer, I've been a B&N member for years. At first i resisted for exactly the reason you state. But then I did the math based on my purchasing history and realized I'd save several hundred dollars a year by being a member.

The key is "my purchasing history". My own personal purchasing history is that I probably haven't purchased 25 hardcovers since I started buying my own books over 40 years ago.

Anyway, since I never found a BN membership of interest for pback purchases, I'm just saying I find it even more worthless (to me) with no ebook discount. Perhaps they fully intend for that to change once they see how Nook sales go.

If I were to buy a Nook, and a BN membership would give me what I consider a reasonable price on "pback" edition ebooks, then that would be attractive.

I get that hardcover edition (tree or e) books cost more for a variety of reasons, whether they are best sellers or not. But once its in an ebook reader, a "hc" edition and a "pback" edition don't look any different.

Maybe they keep the "pbook" editions at $7.99 to make the $9.99 "hc ebook" pricing more attractive -- which it is if you like to read books as soon as they are published.

But $7.99 for an ebook when the pback edition costs the same and I can get the pback from other sources for $4-6 (provided I don't pick it up at used book store) just isn't going to attract me to anyone's dedicated wireless ebook store.

I fully intend to find an ebook reader under my Christmas tree, but a wireless tether at the current tethered ebook prices just doesn't make the tethering a selling point. On the other hand, its not something that would cause me NOT to choose the tether, as long as Library books are an option, too.