US Book stores - Page 2

Hellmark · 07-23-2011, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pinecone

I know one reason I bought at B&N more than Borders. The rewards program.

B&N picked up the very good B. Dalton reqards program when they merged/bought. Which I think came from the old Walden Books. Discounts on every purchase.

Borders had some wierd thing of having to have paper coupons (in this age) that they emailed to you (dumb). And they couldn't look up my account from my phone number, because they made a system that did not keep the area code???????

Just plain stupid.

You got rewards other than from borders with the Borders Rewards. I got gift certificate to restaurants before for not even half their normal cost (cool getting a $40 gift certificate for $15-$20), plus other things too. Plus if you didn't bring in the printed out coupon, they could look up what was available to your rewards account, having the coupon just made it faster.

Also, didn't you have to pay for the B&N rewards? Borders was free.

mldavis2 · 07-23-2011, 02:50 PM

The closest bookseller to me of any kind is 25 miles away (Books-A-Million), with nothing in my small town of 15,000 people. It costs me two gallons of fuel (say, $10) just to go look around and return home. With that $10, I can buy an eBook online.

So I would expect booksellers to die in smaller markets, with a few mega-stores specializing in hard-cover display books surviving in bigger cities. I've supported them as well as I can in recent years, but I'm now giving many of my books away to the local library.

You can still buy buggy whips, too, but you have to look for 'em.

linux_author · 07-23-2011, 04:57 PM

if i buy a book, i buy from my local library - after walking through the front door, there are 10-foot long, floor-to-ceiling shelves on both sides, filled with hard backs, paperbacks, and magazines for sale ($1 hard back, $0.50 paperback, $0.25 magazine)... interestingly, a number of books are of recent vintage!

Pinecone · 07-23-2011, 06:18 PM

Unfortunately, for books, a B&M store is MUCH easier to quickly scan and find things that may be of interest. Someone needs to come up with an easier way ot presenting things for sale online. It is very tedious.

Tony1988 · 07-23-2011, 10:07 PM

With the demise of many bookstores, one can expect ebook sales to get even more popular and prices to remain the same. The one thing about ebooks is there is no reason to clearance or put them on sale. Which is good news for publishers and bad news for consumers.

VydorScope · 07-23-2011, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony1988

The one thing about ebooks is there is no reason to clearance or put them on sale. Which is good news for publishers and bad news for consumers.

Not true. Sales are still a tool to pull in customers. My first ebook right now is on sale on Amazon, and many others are with it. EBook stores like to say stuff like "2500 books under $3!!" Sales are advertising, and advertising here is here to stay.

sadievan · 07-23-2011, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VydorScope

Not true. Sales are still a tool to pull in customers. My first ebook right now is on sale on Amazon, and many others are with it. EBook stores like to say stuff like "2500 books under $3!!" Sales are advertising, and advertising here is here to stay.

Agreed. I have bought books from authors I never heard of or would have bought from after getting a book free. I found I liked the book and bought more from the author.

Carol

Tony1988 · 07-23-2011, 11:03 PM

Maybe from obsure authors or books that have been out for a very long which you can get extremely cheap. What Im talking about is paying close to new hardcover price in ebook format, for newer books that go into paperback after a year.

I have picked up many hardcover books that are a year or two old for $5 while the paperback is $6.99. Plus many newer popular paperbacks go on sale for buy 2 get 1 free frequently. Most of the ebook prices on the same book is always much more when these types of sales go on for hardcopy.

Though it doesnt really matter to me because I didnt get an ereader to buy books cheap. I was just throwing it out there.

Pinecone · 07-25-2011, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hellmark

You got rewards other than from borders with the Borders Rewards. I got gift certificate to restaurants before for not even half their normal cost (cool getting a $40 gift certificate for $15-$20), plus other things too. Plus if you didn't bring in the printed out coupon, they could look up what was available to your rewards account, having the coupon just made it faster.

Also, didn't you have to pay for the B&N rewards? Borders was free.

Every time I asked about checking what was in my account, I was told they could not do that, I had to bring in the coupon. Brilliant, email a coupon to print out to bring into the store to scan.

Yes, B&N does charge an annual fee, but I normally make that fee back when I renew the purchase I was making at the time.

Pinecone · 07-25-2011, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hellmark

You got rewards other than from borders with the Borders Rewards. I got gift certificate to restaurants before for not even half their normal cost (cool getting a $40 gift certificate for $15-$20), plus other things too. Plus if you didn't bring in the printed out coupon, they could look up what was available to your rewards account, having the coupon just made it faster.

Also, didn't you have to pay for the B&N rewards? Borders was free.

Every time I asked about checking what was in my account, I was told they could not do that, I had to bring in the coupon. Brilliant, email a coupon to print out to bring into the store to scan.

And they coulld not look up my account without my account number. With B&N I just use my phone number.

Yes, B&N does charge an annual fee, but I normally made that fee back when I renew the purchase I was making at the time.

pidgeon92 · 07-25-2011, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pinecone

Unfortunately, for books, a B&M store is MUCH easier to quickly scan and find things that may be of interest. Someone needs to come up with an easier way ot presenting things for sale online. It is very tedious.

For me it's exactly opposite. Often when I look up a book on Amazon, I find another half-dozen books under the Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought that I am interested in reading. My wish list runneth over.

07-23-2011, 11:03 PM	#23
Tony1988 Guru Posts: 718 Karma: 4033862 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: sony prs-350	Maybe from obsure authors or books that have been out for a very long which you can get extremely cheap. What Im talking about is paying close to new hardcover price in ebook format, for newer books that go into paperback after a year. I have picked up many hardcover books that are a year or two old for $5 while the paperback is $6.99. Plus many newer popular paperbacks go on sale for buy 2 get 1 free frequently. Most of the ebook prices on the same book is always much more when these types of sales go on for hardcopy. Though it doesnt really matter to me because I didnt get an ereader to buy books cheap. I was just throwing it out there. Last edited by Tony1988; 07-23-2011 at 11:12 PM.

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07-23-2011, 02:50 PM	#17
mldavis2 Coffee Nut Posts: 410 Karma: 298350 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Missouri Device: Kindle 3; K4PC; Calibre	The closest bookseller to me of any kind is 25 miles away (Books-A-Million), with nothing in my small town of 15,000 people. It costs me two gallons of fuel (say, $10) just to go look around and return home. With that $10, I can buy an eBook online. So I would expect booksellers to die in smaller markets, with a few mega-stores specializing in hard-cover display books surviving in bigger cities. I've supported them as well as I can in recent years, but I'm now giving many of my books away to the local library. You can still buy buggy whips, too, but you have to look for 'em.

07-23-2011, 04:57 PM	#18
linux_author Connoisseur Posts: 99 Karma: 55044 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Gulf of Mexico Device: Nook Touch, N800	if i buy a book, i buy from my local library - after walking through the front door, there are 10-foot long, floor-to-ceiling shelves on both sides, filled with hard backs, paperbacks, and magazines for sale ($1 hard back, $0.50 paperback, $0.25 magazine)... interestingly, a number of books are of recent vintage!

07-23-2011, 06:18 PM	#19
Pinecone Guru Posts: 902 Karma: 1660722 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Maryland Device: PRS-650, PRS-600, PRS-350	Unfortunately, for books, a B&M store is MUCH easier to quickly scan and find things that may be of interest. Someone needs to come up with an easier way ot presenting things for sale online. It is very tedious.

07-23-2011, 10:07 PM	#20
Tony1988 Guru Posts: 718 Karma: 4033862 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: sony prs-350	With the demise of many bookstores, one can expect ebook sales to get even more popular and prices to remain the same. The one thing about ebooks is there is no reason to clearance or put them on sale. Which is good news for publishers and bad news for consumers.