Clara HD out of stock at Kobo's US store!

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

The irony is that Walmart wasn't able to provide good customer support to them, if you recall they weren't able to get shipping information out of Walmart even a week+ out from the order date.

Yes, in this one case that occurred after the virus outbreak.

Prior to this, they were much better. In my case, I ordered on a Wednesday with guaranteed Friday delivery and the Clara showed up on Thursday. And I got shipping information. Others that have ordered Kobos from them reported the same or similar.

It's not all sweetness and light with Walmart. Even before the outbreak, they would regularly run out of the various Kobo models. They don't seem interested in properly stocking them. But the experience of the OP is still outside their norm.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by mirage

Does Walmart have exclusive rights to sell Kobo readers in the US? I'm not counting third party vendors on the Walmart website, eBay, or Amazon. Could BH Photo Video, Best Buy, independent bookstores, Target, Costco, whomever, sell them if they wanted to? Even Kobo itself doesn't seem to have a US warehouse.

We don't know the details of the Kobo/Walmart deal, at least that i'm aware of, however in years long gone you used to be able to find Kobo's in US Best Buys, they're still in Canadian Best Buys. I doubt Walmart has the pull to force Kobo into an exclusivity deal, since they're fighting against Amazon just as much if not more so. And there's no sense in Kobo putting exclusivity into the deal since its their product.

You also used to be able to find them in Borders, when Borders was a thing, and I believe some indie bookstores. Though that was probably on par with Walmarts support, if not less. Understandably so because with the exception of Borders those stores just wouldn't have the ability to devote that much attention to a product that'd hurt them.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by mirage

Does Walmart have exclusive rights to sell Kobo readers in the US?

According to The Verge at least, yes.

Before the Walmart partnership, Kobo had NO US presence to speak of. They were sold in Borders until Borders went kaput. There was a weird partnership with indie bookstores, but in general you couldn't buy a Kobo in the US without ordering internationally.

Walmart seems to have completely blown it, at least to my outsider eyes. I'm sure books aren't a high priority for them (have you seen the average Walmart shopper?), but if they were going to be a serious competitor to Amazon, they should take things seriously.

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

If I were having supply problems I don't think I'd put the product on sale. None of their other readers went out of stock.

The 32GB version of the Forma was out of stock and just recently became available again.

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by mirage

I ordered one the other day at the sale price. I've gotten confirmation of the order with an order number, but no shipping info so far. I hope this isn't as much of a vaporware thing as my $89.96 order from Walmart US was. I was figuring that since it's the weekend, that I might see shipping info by Monday if they're not understaffed to the point where orders take awhile to fulfill.

My experience with Kobo fulfillment (to the U.S.) has been very good. Typically, it takes a day after submitting an order to process before it moves on to shipping (excluding weekends) which is quite reasonable considering the current situation.

[mirage]

Originally Posted by Skydog

My experience with Kobo fulfillment (to the U.S.) has been very good. Typically, it takes a day after submitting an order to process before it moves on to shipping (excluding weekends) which is quite reasonable considering the current situation.

Hopefully, my order will work out that way. If it does, it'll ship tomorrow.

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by mirage

Hopefully, my order will work out that way. If it does, it'll ship tomorrow.

Have you checked your order status online? https://us.kobobooks.com/pages/order-status:

Created > Authorized> Processed> Shipped> Delivered

[mirage]

Originally Posted by Skydog

Have you checked your order status online? https://us.kobobooks.com/pages/order-status:

Created > Authorized> Processed> Shipped> Delivered

I have checked there. Thanks. Created and Authorized are colored red. Processed is mostly red. Shipped and Delivered are gray. So I figure I ordered before they ran out. I'll see if things progress on Monday or Tuesday.

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by mirage

I have checked there. Thanks. Created and Authorized are colored red. Processed is mostly red. Shipped and Delivered are gray. So I figure I ordered before they ran out. I'll see if things progress on Monday or Tuesday.

My guess it will ship Monday. The slowest part of the process is crossing the border once it has shipped. Even so, it's far better than ordering online from Walmart (speaking from experience).

[mirage]

Originally Posted by Skydog

My guess it will ship Monday. The slowest part of the process is crossing the border once it has shipped. Even so, it's far better than ordering online from Walmart (speaking from experience).

The border part is my biggest concern. Once it's through customs, it'll probably get here in a few days. I hope it's not sitting there for a week. Same goes for my order from Indigo, which has already shipped, but still tracks as being in Ontario two days later.

[sundancekid]

Originally Posted by mirage

The border part is my biggest concern. Once it's through customs, it'll probably get here in a few days. I hope it's not sitting there for a week.

I finally ordered a Clara from Indigo, and this was my biggest concern. I just canceled my Walmart preorder that was, like many others, stuck in limbo for weeks. I’m happy to wait, especially for a cheaper price, but not knowing what was going on has been awful. I’m someone who would’ve just driven three hours across the border to buy one in person if I could.

[HLS]

Clara is a good device you will love it. Walmart sucks basically. Their associates know diddly squat about electronics.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by mirage

Does Walmart have exclusive rights to sell Kobo readers in the US? I'm not counting third party vendors on the Walmart website, eBay, or Amazon. Could BH Photo Video, Best Buy, independent bookstores, Target, Costco, whomever, sell them if they wanted to? Even Kobo itself doesn't seem to have a US warehouse.

It appears that just about anybody can sell Kobo eReaders in the U.S., so I don't know what this partnership with Walmart amounted to. At one point Amazon was even selling Kobos ("sold and shipped by Amazon"?).

I'm guessing that you should be okay with your Kobo order – maybe even the Walmart order eventually (if you still have that order in). Looks like Walmart is getting Formas and Libres at the end of the month, so maybe they'll be getting some Claras then as well.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by mirage

I have checked there. Thanks. Created and Authorized are colored red. Processed is mostly red. Shipped and Delivered are gray. So I figure I ordered before they ran out. I'll see if things progress on Monday or Tuesday.

Good luck! Sounds encouraging.

[mirage]

Originally Posted by sundancekid

I finally ordered a Clara from Indigo, and this was my biggest concern. I just canceled my Walmart preorder that was, like many others, stuck in limbo for weeks. I’m happy to wait, especially for a cheaper price, but not knowing what was going on has been awful. I’m someone who would’ve just driven three hours across the border to buy one in person if I could.

Ha! If these were times for travel, I might have already gone to BC to get one, not to speak of enjoying the many other allures of the area. I was fantasizing being there looking at the inventory at Indigo stores. Funny thing is, I'm not really much of a shopper. But pandemics make for atypical activities. I tend to spend more money on doing things than on objects, though I do read plenty, so this lends itself to that, thus my interest.

Originally Posted by rcentros

It appears that just about anybody can sell Kobo eReaders in the U.S., so I don't know what this partnership with Walmart amounted to. At one point Amazon was even selling Kobos ("sold and shipped by Amazon"?).

I'm guessing that you should be okay with your Kobo order – maybe even the Walmart order eventually (if you still have that order in). Looks like Walmart is getting Formas and Libres at the end of the month, so maybe they'll be getting some Claras then as well.

If Walmart has no exclusivity, why doesn't anyone else sell these devices? Is there that little demand in the US? Could be, I suppose, given that Kobo doesn't even have a US physical presence. Amazon has a bunch of people selling covers for them. But maybe they don't sell all that many. Maybe Amazon doesn't want Best Buy selling competitors. But they sell multiple brands of TVs, which they must sell many times more of than they do ereaders.

I'm confident both my Clara and Libra orders, one from Kobo, the other from Indigo will arrive without too much trouble, even if I have to wait another week or ten days. I didn't cancel the Walmart order. Neither did they. Still no ETA on their website like there is for the Libra and Forma. But I don't care at this point. The others are on their way. At least the Libra is. I think I snuck in on time for the Clara. In any case, I'll have something to tinker with and read on. I'll either cancel the Walmart order or return it later once the other devices show up.