Amazon's First Bookstore Opens in Seattle

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

No, it isn't effective.
And it is self-defeating. The kind of "high minded" stunt B&N devotes time and effort to instead of fixing their online store. The whine is that Amazon gets *more* exclusive title deals. (As if Apple, Kobo, B&N, etc don't have their own exclusive deals. )

Here's the Guardian take:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/201...-boycott-grows

Here's a more thoughtful take:
http://www.bookbusinessmag.com/post/...books-million/

(Note the date. The three year old rumors were pretty accurate.)

Generally, when companies worry more about hurting their competitors than improving their business it is a sign they've lost the competition.

Thanks for the links. Seems to be an incredibly short-sighted attitude. It appears to me that the likely consequence of them not stocking a book which Amazon sells is that the customer who wants it is going to buy it from Amazon.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Thanks for the links. Seems to be an incredibly short-sighted attitude. It appears to me that the likely consequence of them not stocking a book which Amazon sells is that the customer who wants it is going to buy it from Amazon.

It sounds like shooting one's self in the foot.

I don't like hominy so I won't stock it in my store. That way the hominy growers will be hurt.
Uhm sorry, the hominy buyers will just take all their business elsewhere. So the store not only loses the 50 cents from the hominy but also whatever else the customer might have bought.

Reminds me, I need to pick up a can of hominy because hubby likes it.

[Fbone]

B&N said at the time that Amazon refused to let them sell the ebook (due to exclusivity) therefore B&N wouldn't stock the print editions in their stores. However, you can order them online at the same prices as Amazon. Whether this is just a PR deflection or not, I don't know.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Thanks for the links. Seems to be an incredibly short-sighted attitude. It appears to me that the likely consequence of them not stocking a book which Amazon sells is that the customer who wants it is going to buy it from Amazon.

Complaining about a handful of exclusive titles, they gave Amazon exclusivity over a whole big chunk of the market:

If we look at the Author Earnings reports, what jumps out is that APub titles add up to less than 1% of the kindle catalog but account for 13% of Unit sales. That is a good chunk of change, in the hundreds of millions, that Amazon gets competition-free.

Self-defeating, leaving money on the table like that.
(You don't see Microsoft forgoing the hundreds of millions they make from Office for Mac just to punish Apple, do you? Money is money, wherever you can earn it.)

And that might just be part of the logic behind Amazon Books; some people won't go online to buy from Amazon? Well, maybe they'll go to the new store.

No customer left behind...

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Fbone

B&N said at the time that Amazon refused to let them sell the ebook (due to exclusivity) therefore B&N wouldn't stock the print editions in their stores. However, you can order them online at the same prices as Amazon.
Whether this is just a PR deflection or not, I don't know.

Outright lie, actually:

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/29/a...l-with-ingram/

Amazon Publishing is continuing to broaden its distribution channels, as the New York-based imprint has formed a partnership with Ingram Content Group that will make the company's e-books available to competitors such as Apple, Barnes & Noble and Kobo.

It took a couple of months to finalize the deal with Ingram but the books have long been available to anybody willing to list them. They were never intended to be exclusive to Amazon.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Outright lie, actually:

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/29/a...l-with-ingram/



It took a couple of months to finalize the deal with Ingram but the books have long been available to anybody willing to list them. They were never intended to be exclusive to Amazon.

Wasn't it just the ebook that was exclusive?

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Outright lie, actually:

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/29/a...l-with-ingram/



It took a couple of months to finalize the deal with Ingram but the books have long been available to anybody willing to list them. They were never intended to be exclusive to Amazon.

My apologies. I was referring to Kindle exclusives.

http://smile.amazon.com/Kindle-Exclu...rd_i=154606011

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Fbone

My apologies. I was referring to Kindle exclusives.

http://smile.amazon.com/Kindle-Exclu...rd_i=154606011

No apologies needed.
(And to be clear, it is B&N that has been lying.)

Amazon does do exclusives, just as everybody else except maybe Google, but the titles they publish aren't. Not by policy or in actuality.

By now some indie bookstores quietly stock their books and all will special order them if you insist. (Though why anybody would insist instead of ordering from Amazon...)

The ironic thing about Apub is that by all author accounts they are closer to the mythical old-school publishing houses of myth and movies than any of the NYC publishers have been since the 80's, when the multinationals took over. They treat authors more as partners than as serfs and they actually listen to their concerns. And act on them. They're still tradpub but they aren't anywhere near as predatory as the Manhattan Mafia.

[fjtorres]

Local writer stops by the Amazon store:
http://stacyclaflin.com/2015/11/05/s...-amazon-books/

Pics and observations.

Interesting nuggets:

We confirmed this at the register. No cash accepted. The Amazon Books experience is as close to online shopping as possible.

Or do you have ideas? Jot them down. Or tell someone. They’ll write it on a sticky note.

And some things they didn’t have.

No POD (Print On Demand) Kiosk
QR Codes to purchase ebooks online

That last one is too good to pass up: I can see Amazon adding it.
Also, tying the store with the Matchbook effort.

Big reveal is the no cash policy.
Not sure how long that can last...

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Big reveal is the no cash policy.
Not sure how long that can last...

They can't let you pay with cash, how would they track your purchase history

[Fbone]

The New Republic article says employees are being paid $18/hr plus benefits. That's above the $15/hr minimum wage.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Big reveal is the no cash policy.
Not sure how long that can last...

Interesting. I don't that would be legal for a B&M store in the UK. Cash is "legal tender" and I'm pretty sure that a business has to accept it.

EDIT: I'm wrong . That does surprise me; I was under the impression that cash had to be accepted, but seemingly not!

[GA Russell]

As I recall, cash is "legal tender" in the US. That means that when you offer it, the seller must accept. It is illegal to refuse to accept cash as payment.

Any American lawyers here want to disagree?

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

As I recall, cash is "legal tender" in the US. That means that when you offer it, the seller must accept. It is illegal to refuse to accept cash as payment.

Any American lawyers here want to disagree?

Not a lawyer, but here is one link: http://azlawhelp.org/viewquestions.c...&sc=34&qid=231

Here is the basic idea according to them:

It is technically illegal to refuse legal tender (cash) for services already rendered, though it is not illegal to refuse it for services not yet rendered.

[Cinisajoy]

I could find nothing in the Washington law help.
The previous link was for Arizona.