My Prediction on the Next Domino to Fall.

GtrsRGr8 · 05-20-2017, 12:18 AM

Domino = Ebook retailer's download library.

I suppose that we could make an interesting contest of who it will really be, but I won't go there. Besides, that probably would belong on another thread.

Probably few people on MobileRead have an ebook library with Books-A-Million. Few people probably even knew that it even sold ebooks. Even less would know that it manages a customer library of ebooks ("Download Library . . . visit your Download Library to download and manage all of your eBooks and audio downloads. View Download Library.")

When ebooks took off in popularity, BAM seemed to be pretty much a holdout in embracing them. They pretty much, it seems to me, were committed to the B&M stores. And, amazingly, they have survived with that business model to this day, where others haven't.

I get emails from it, and the rate of its discounts, coupon giveaways, and such like seems to have really escalated in the last 6 months to one year, or so. That is the reason that I think that BAM may be the next domino to fall.

My observation is that businesses start heavily discounting for at least one of two reasons. One, is that it is changing its business model. Companies do that from time to time for various reasons. That's not necessarily a reason for concern. Second, they are in serious financial trouble, need to increase their cash flow dramatically, and need to do it soon. That is definitely a red flag.

If you do have a download library with BAM, I recommend (being a graduate of the University of Hard Knocks, myself) that you download the ebooks (and/or audiobooks, if that applies), to your own device(s).

You can quit your reading here if you want to.

I have a personal interest in BAM and a desire for its success. The company started out as Anderson Book Company, in the town in northwest Alabama where my father grew up.

My father went to the same high school, at about the same time that Anderson did. (But, well . . . . everyone went to the same high school in that town, because there was only one there then!) But Anderson was also about the same age as my father. I don't know if they were in the same grade or if Anderson even knew that my father existed, but my father remembered him.

To my knowledge, Anderson had only one retail store, at least for a long time--it was on the main street in the town, and was called Anderson Book Company. It literally has been there (I think that it's still there!) for as long as I can remember (which is getting to be quite a long time ago now).

However, I think that Anderson was quietly getting into book distribution in a big, big way throughout the years that that store served as their token retail outlet. I remember that Anderson had a very small distribution center near where a first cousin of mine lived. He would go dumpster diving there, as a child, because there were often untold number of paperback books, with their covers torn off (to make them unsaleable for one reason or another). He would show me some of his finds. How cool.

So because Anderson was a local town boy who made good (and there weren't very many of them from that town), and the fact that my father knew the guy who built it, has made BAM a little special to me. Anytime that I could buy a physical book from BAM, years ago, instead of a competitor, years ago, I would try to do so.

I think that BAM's headquarters moved to the Knoxville, Tennessee area, if memory serves me correctly, quite a while back. The small, sleepy town where Anderson grew up and started business was not really on the road to anywhere, and there were much better places in the South to have a distribution center, and carry on other business.

I wish it well.

If there is anyone still around now, thanks for listening . . . .

Cinisajoy · 05-20-2017, 12:33 AM

The covers torn off is to prove to the publishers that the books were not sold. They do the same with magazines. Hence, it is illegal to sell a coverless book because no one has been paid for that copy.

Now as to the next domino to fall will be the 4 2.

GtrsRGr8 · 05-20-2017, 02:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

The covers torn off is to prove to the publishers that the books were not sold. They do the same with magazines. Hence, it is illegal to sell a coverless book because no one has been paid for that copy.

Now as to the next domino to fall will be the 4 2.

I'm dense. What is "the 4 2"?

PandathePanda · 05-20-2017, 03:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

I'm dense. What is "the 4 2"?

The 4/2 is the numbers on the domino

HarryT · 05-20-2017, 05:20 AM

This is not "News". Moved to the "General Discussions" forum.

John F · 05-20-2017, 05:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

The covers torn off is to prove to the publishers that the books were not sold. They do the same with magazines. Hence, it is illegal to sell a coverless book because no one has been paid for that copy.

...

Just curious, but has this been tested in court? I can see copyright applying, but I thought that once garbage is placed on the curb/dump, it is "public property" (from TV crime shows

? So if I am at the dump, and I take some books without covers (our dump allows garbage picking), have I broken a law? When I read it? When I sell it?

pwalker8 · 05-20-2017, 06:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John F

Just curious, but has this been tested in court? I can see copyright applying, but I thought that once garbage is placed on the curb/dump, it is "public property" (from TV crime shows

? So if I am at the dump, and I take some books without covers (our dump allows garbage picking), have I broken a law? When I read it? When I sell it?

I'm pretty sure it hasn't been tested in court nor is it actually illegal to sell (though if the original seller who sent in the cover sells it, it would be considered fraud), but who wants a book with no cover? It has very little resell value.

John F · 05-20-2017, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pwalker8

... but who wants a book with no cover? It has very little resell value.

Someone who wants to read the book. A hoarder. Someone with a buying books without
a cover complex. ...

Cinisajoy · 05-20-2017, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John F

Just curious, but has this been tested in court? I can see copyright applying, but I thought that once garbage is placed on the curb/dump, it is "public property" (from TV crime shows

? So if I am at the dump, and I take some books without covers (our dump allows garbage picking), have I broken a law? When I read it? When I sell it?

Not sure if I has ever been tested. Now yes, you may take all the books you want out of the dumpster. You may read them all you want. No laws broken there.
No one has ever been taken to court because you would have to have proof the new seller, got them out of the dumpster and is reselling them. I know a second hand bookstore that did just that but no one bothered with her because she was selling them for a dime.
Once her sources dried up here, she went to a quarter. (I figure this is for the gas to go to the nearest bookstore dumpster.

But then, that is a most people don't know or care why a book doesn't have a cover especially those that are cheap readers. Cheap as in price they will pay.

Cinisajoy · 05-20-2017, 11:41 AM

At the OP, 42 is always the answer.

fjtorres · 05-20-2017, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John F

Someone who wants to read the book. A hoarder. Someone with a buying books without
a cover complex. ...

Someone who reads anything vaguely interesting and thinks a coverless paperback for $0.25 is worth a look. A local store next to my university campus would put out a box of coverless paperbacks once a month. Apparently the sales managed to cover the employee time spent removing the covers.

Jeff L · 05-21-2017, 10:00 AM

Most books that are not sold can be returned to the vendor (publisher or distributor) for credit.

Mass-market paperbacks cost so little to make (the cost of the physical object not the total cost to produce a book) that no one wants to incur the costs of shipping them back. A large number of those paperbacks are going to be destroyed anyways.

So the publisher prints the barcode on the inside of the cover. That is all they need to apply the credit for the book. The book store strips the cover and sends that back to receive the credit.

4691mls · 05-21-2017, 04:19 PM

My local Books-a-million store closed several years ago. I've been buying ebooks from the online store for a few years and they've always had tons of emails with coupons. Unfortunately none of the coupons ever seems to be good on ebooks.

I always download books I buy from any store as soon as I buy them - I've never understood why anyone wouldn't do this.

GtrsRGr8 · 05-21-2017, 04:41 PM

I had a course in business law back in the very early 80's. I don't think that the following has changed, because it is a very fundamental principle of law (maybe a part of "common law").

If I take a book, for example, and I throw it in the garbage, anyone can come along and take it. It then belongs to him. However, if I am walking down the street with the book, and it accidentally falls out of my hand, and I don't realize it, a person walking behind me cannot claim it as belonging to him. It all comes down to intent. If a person or company discards something voluntarily, then it belongs to anyone who comes along and takes it. If, however, the person or company accidentally loses something, someone coming along and takes it does not own it, it still belongs to the person or company. The old adage "finder's keepers, losers weepers" is not a legal principle.

Now what a person's responsibility is if he finds something of value and does not know who the owner is, I can't answer that. That may vary from state to state, anyway.

So, unless the law has changed (and I very, very, very seriously doubt it), the books that my cousin dug out of the dumpster would belong to him then.

The only way that I see that he could be in trouble is if he was guilty of trespassing. I think the laws vary a little from state to state--I don't know what they are in Alabama. But here in Florida, a person is not considered trespassing unless there are "no trespassing" signs posted. BTW--I never remembered seeing any at this distribution center, which was very close to a major city road. But, I was just a kid, and could have not noticed them.

GtrsRGr8 · 05-21-2017, 05:01 PM

Duplicate. Sorry.

05-20-2017, 12:18 AM	#1
GtrsRGr8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,334 Karma: 27815322 Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Southeastern U.S., ya'll Device: Kindle; Kindle (10.1.1) for PC; Kindle Cloud Reader	My Prediction on the Next Domino to Fall. Domino = Ebook retailer's download library. I suppose that we could make an interesting contest of who it will really be, but I won't go there. Besides, that probably would belong on another thread. Probably few people on MobileRead have an ebook library with Books-A-Million. Few people probably even knew that it even sold ebooks. Even less would know that it manages a customer library of ebooks ("Download Library . . . visit your Download Library to download and manage all of your eBooks and audio downloads. View Download Library.") When ebooks took off in popularity, BAM seemed to be pretty much a holdout in embracing them. They pretty much, it seems to me, were committed to the B&M stores. And, amazingly, they have survived with that business model to this day, where others haven't. I get emails from it, and the rate of its discounts, coupon giveaways, and such like seems to have really escalated in the last 6 months to one year, or so. That is the reason that I think that BAM may be the next domino to fall. My observation is that businesses start heavily discounting for at least one of two reasons. One, is that it is changing its business model. Companies do that from time to time for various reasons. That's not necessarily a reason for concern. Second, they are in serious financial trouble, need to increase their cash flow dramatically, and need to do it soon. That is definitely a red flag. If you do have a download library with BAM, I recommend (being a graduate of the University of Hard Knocks, myself) that you download the ebooks (and/or audiobooks, if that applies), to your own device(s). You can quit your reading here if you want to. I have a personal interest in BAM and a desire for its success. The company started out as Anderson Book Company, in the town in northwest Alabama where my father grew up. My father went to the same high school, at about the same time that Anderson did. (But, well . . . . everyone went to the same high school in that town, because there was only one there then!) But Anderson was also about the same age as my father. I don't know if they were in the same grade or if Anderson even knew that my father existed, but my father remembered him. To my knowledge, Anderson had only one retail store, at least for a long time--it was on the main street in the town, and was called Anderson Book Company. It literally has been there (I think that it's still there!) for as long as I can remember (which is getting to be quite a long time ago now). However, I think that Anderson was quietly getting into book distribution in a big, big way throughout the years that that store served as their token retail outlet. I remember that Anderson had a very small distribution center near where a first cousin of mine lived. He would go dumpster diving there, as a child, because there were often untold number of paperback books, with their covers torn off (to make them unsaleable for one reason or another). He would show me some of his finds. How cool. So because Anderson was a local town boy who made good (and there weren't very many of them from that town), and the fact that my father knew the guy who built it, has made BAM a little special to me. Anytime that I could buy a physical book from BAM, years ago, instead of a competitor, years ago, I would try to do so. I think that BAM's headquarters moved to the Knoxville, Tennessee area, if memory serves me correctly, quite a while back. The small, sleepy town where Anderson grew up and started business was not really on the road to anywhere, and there were much better places in the South to have a distribution center, and carry on other business. I wish it well. If there is anyone still around now, thanks for listening . . . . Last edited by GtrsRGr8; 05-20-2017 at 12:40 AM.

05-21-2017, 05:01 PM	#15
GtrsRGr8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,334 Karma: 27815322 Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Southeastern U.S., ya'll Device: Kindle; Kindle (10.1.1) for PC; Kindle Cloud Reader	Duplicate. Sorry. Last edited by GtrsRGr8; 05-21-2017 at 10:45 PM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Prediction from 2002	wvcherrybomb	General Discussions	8	06-19-2017 01:28 PM
Games kindle Domino 300ppp	doctoralvarez	Kindle Developer's Corner	1	08-13-2016 06:50 PM
What's Your Prediction - $99 Digial Reader	abookreader	General Discussions	54	02-20-2011 12:16 PM
Isn't it f'in great when... (The Domino Men)	Theta Head	Reading Recommendations	0	07-01-2010 09:43 AM
Fats Domino made some great music	spooky69	Lounge	1	04-08-2008 09:56 AM

05-20-2017, 12:33 AM	#2
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	The covers torn off is to prove to the publishers that the books were not sold. They do the same with magazines. Hence, it is illegal to sell a coverless book because no one has been paid for that copy. Now as to the next domino to fall will be the 4 2.

05-20-2017, 05:20 AM	#5
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	This is not "News". Moved to the "General Discussions" forum.

05-20-2017, 11:41 AM	#10
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	At the OP, 42 is always the answer.

05-21-2017, 10:00 AM	#12
Jeff L Zealot Posts: 117 Karma: 584308 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: San Francisco Device: Kindle	Most books that are not sold can be returned to the vendor (publisher or distributor) for credit. Mass-market paperbacks cost so little to make (the cost of the physical object not the total cost to produce a book) that no one wants to incur the costs of shipping them back. A large number of those paperbacks are going to be destroyed anyways. So the publisher prints the barcode on the inside of the cover. That is all they need to apply the credit for the book. The book store strips the cover and sends that back to receive the credit.

05-21-2017, 04:19 PM	#13
4691mls Wizard Posts: 2,776 Karma: 30081762 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: US Device: ALL DEVICES ARE STOCK: Kobo Clara, Tolino Shine 2, Sony PRS-T3, T1	My local Books-a-million store closed several years ago. I've been buying ebooks from the online store for a few years and they've always had tons of emails with coupons. Unfortunately none of the coupons ever seems to be good on ebooks. I always download books I buy from any store as soon as I buy them - I've never understood why anyone wouldn't do this.

05-21-2017, 04:41 PM	#14
GtrsRGr8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,334 Karma: 27815322 Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Southeastern U.S., ya'll Device: Kindle; Kindle (10.1.1) for PC; Kindle Cloud Reader	I had a course in business law back in the very early 80's. I don't think that the following has changed, because it is a very fundamental principle of law (maybe a part of "common law"). If I take a book, for example, and I throw it in the garbage, anyone can come along and take it. It then belongs to him. However, if I am walking down the street with the book, and it accidentally falls out of my hand, and I don't realize it, a person walking behind me cannot claim it as belonging to him. It all comes down to intent. If a person or company discards something voluntarily, then it belongs to anyone who comes along and takes it. If, however, the person or company accidentally loses something, someone coming along and takes it does not own it, it still belongs to the person or company. The old adage "finder's keepers, losers weepers" is not a legal principle. Now what a person's responsibility is if he finds something of value and does not know who the owner is, I can't answer that. That may vary from state to state, anyway. So, unless the law has changed (and I very, very, very seriously doubt it), the books that my cousin dug out of the dumpster would belong to him then. The only way that I see that he could be in trouble is if he was guilty of trespassing. I think the laws vary a little from state to state--I don't know what they are in Alabama. But here in Florida, a person is not considered trespassing unless there are "no trespassing" signs posted. BTW--I never remembered seeing any at this distribution center, which was very close to a major city road. But, I was just a kid, and could have not noticed them.