|
Bookstores, especially small independent bookstores, need to be able to return books to offer customers an attractively large selection. This is established wisdom.
However, I believe the abuse of the policy as described in the article (returning the books before 90 days is up so they don't have to pay, and then reordering the books a few days later; in other words, gaming the system to keep the books for free until they sell) started with the big chains, which is why they can maintain selections that are not merely attractively but astonishingly large, putting smaller bookstores out of business and making the practice even more widespread.
Publishers and booksellers need to take a long, hard look at their retail model and make changes. That includes provisions for selling ebooks.
|