Quote:
Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks
Publishers do not receive the returns. The cover is ripped off and the book disposed of. It's a HUGE waste, but long ago publishers decided it cost them more to have the books shipped back.
A few years back, B&N was moving about a block in NY. They "returned" all the stock they hadn't sold by ripping the covers off, doing the paperwork as returns and ordered all new stock for the new store. This saved them money because they didn't have to move the books. This was reported because the garbage bins in the back were full of books with no covers.
It's wasteful and stupid, but it is generally the way returns are handled and have been handled for a long time. "Remainders" are sold under a different agreement with publishers to avoid "pulping" as the cover ripoffs are called. The author gets no money from remainders.
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I thought it was only paperbacks that got the covers ripped and hardcovers returned, with some being sold to liquidators and rest destroyed?
