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basschick · 03-08-2013, 08:58 PM

i wouldn't pay a cover charge to go into a bookstore, any more than the average person would pay a cover charge to go into their local grocery store. keep in mind that while costco charges $55 a year (or $110 for the premium membership), their prices are lower, so if you shop there minimally, you'll save more than the cost of the membership.

it seems that harper collins' plan is to charge a door charge yet keep charging full price for books and offering no incentives. i've never seen this work with any business, and btw, most bars that charge a cover have live music.

bookstores that wanted to charge a door charge could at least include free coffee or hot chocolate, discounts, memberships or something. i'd like to see bookstores offer something i care about - authors that interest me in store, free ebook version of every book bought there, 1 free book after buying 4 books at regular price. or how about expedited special orders? i can get any book in print from amazon in 2 days. i don't mind waiting a little longer for brick and mortar stores, but our local store used to quote 2 weeks, and most of the time the book never arrived.

bookstores could at least try and offer something more than the same old failing business model, which in the case of our local defunct chain stores seemed to be "create a poor floorplan that makes listening to authors or getting from section to section uncomfortable and difficult, never have every book in stock in any series, have customers order in books that never arrive, charge more for gifts, DVDs and anything other than books than any other store in the area. have LOTS of floor space taken up by sale books that never sell 'cause no one wants to read them. make the bathroom unavailable to those of us who spend hours browsing to spend hundreds of dollars - especially hazardous if you buy coffee or waters while you browse, since now you'll have to leave to use the bathroom, and in that kind of emergency, you can't wait in line to buy anything! then the stores whine and complain that the problem is the internet". amazingly that this business model didn't work

03-08-2013, 08:58 PM	#258
basschick Wizard Posts: 1,096 Karma: 4695691 Join Date: May 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	i wouldn't pay a cover charge to go into a bookstore, any more than the average person would pay a cover charge to go into their local grocery store. keep in mind that while costco charges $55 a year (or $110 for the premium membership), their prices are lower, so if you shop there minimally, you'll save more than the cost of the membership. it seems that harper collins' plan is to charge a door charge yet keep charging full price for books and offering no incentives. i've never seen this work with any business, and btw, most bars that charge a cover have live music. bookstores that wanted to charge a door charge could at least include free coffee or hot chocolate, discounts, memberships or something. i'd like to see bookstores offer something i care about - authors that interest me in store, free ebook version of every book bought there, 1 free book after buying 4 books at regular price. or how about expedited special orders? i can get any book in print from amazon in 2 days. i don't mind waiting a little longer for brick and mortar stores, but our local store used to quote 2 weeks, and most of the time the book never arrived. bookstores could at least try and offer something more than the same old failing business model, which in the case of our local defunct chain stores seemed to be "create a poor floorplan that makes listening to authors or getting from section to section uncomfortable and difficult, never have every book in stock in any series, have customers order in books that never arrive, charge more for gifts, DVDs and anything other than books than any other store in the area. have LOTS of floor space taken up by sale books that never sell 'cause no one wants to read them. make the bathroom unavailable to those of us who spend hours browsing to spend hundreds of dollars - especially hazardous if you buy coffee or waters while you browse, since now you'll have to leave to use the bathroom, and in that kind of emergency, you can't wait in line to buy anything! then the stores whine and complain that the problem is the internet". amazingly that this business model didn't work