Waterstone's to launch new e-reader

[CommonReader]

Isn't Waterstones that very book chain that refused to sell any ebooks to anyone living outside the UK and Ireland all of a sudden? Despite being well known in continental Europe and having a market there? Instead of churning out their own hardware perhaps they should get the basics right first.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by CommonReader

Isn't Waterstones that very book chain that refused to sell any ebooks to anyone living outside the UK and Ireland all of a sudden? Despite being well known in continental Europe and having a market there? Instead of churning out their own hardware perhaps they should get the basics right first.

Yes, but that was due to geographic restrictions which previously had not been enforced. They aren't allowed to sell certain books to certain countries due to the publishing agreements. WH Smith enforces the same restrictions on ebook purchases now too. Frustrating, I know. There are loads of books that I would like to purchase from the UK ebookstores if it were allowed.

[CommonReader]

Strangely enough kobobooks, Amazon and bookdepository are able to sell many of these books to Germany. I do have some doubts as to the legality of such restrictions within the EU anyway. However, Waterstones were just too lazy to check which books they were allowed to sell and rather enforced a blanket ban.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by CommonReader

Strangely enough kobobooks, Amazon and bookdepository are able to sell many of these books to Germany. I do have some doubts as to the legality of such restrictions within the EU anyway. However, Waterstones were just too lazy to check which books they were allowed to sell and rather enforced a blanket ban.

True. It would be nice if they set their bookstore up to be applicable by country like other sellers have done. If they are serious about selling their own brand of ereader, then expanding to other countries in Europe where they already have a presence would probably be a future step.

[carpetmojo]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

True. It would be nice if they set their bookstore up to be applicable by country like other sellers have done. If they are serious about selling their own brand of ereader, then expanding to other countries in Europe where they already have a presence would probably be a future step.

That's prob'ly a bit over-logical to be practical ....

[carpetmojo]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

True. It would be nice if they set their bookstore up to be applicable by country like other sellers have done. If they are serious about selling their own brand of ereader, then expanding to other countries in Europe where they already have a presence would probably be a future step.

That's prob'ly a bit too logical to be practical ....

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

Selection aside, other than for price-fixed books, Amazon UK is also considerably cheaper than Waterstones. Of the three current Bestsellers and Recommends on the Waterstone eBook page, 3 are cheaper at Amazon and 1 the same price. Of the 4 Man Booker shortlist books, all 4 are cheaper at Amazon. And we aren't talking a couple of pence cheaper, but £3.99 vs £8.96, for the first book on the Waterstone page (Headhunters by Jo Nesbo), although the other price differences are less than that, but still significant.

Although I always buy my books at Amazon when I can, it does occasionally have curious anomalies. Eg, the first 4 books in David Eddings's "Mallorean" series are available at Amazon, but the final book in the series isn't, so I bought it from Waterstones instead.

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by CommonReader

Isn't Waterstones that very book chain that refused to sell any ebooks to anyone living outside the UK and Ireland all of a sudden? Despite being well known in continental Europe and having a market there? Instead of churning out their own hardware perhaps they should get the basics right first.

As others have said, not Waterstones choice but publishers enforcement of georestrictions...

As for others queries about Smiths, most serious readers do not regard them as a book shop any more but more as a gift shop (which is why Waterstones don't want to follow that route) rather than a book specialist.

Originally Posted by CommonReader
Strangely enough kobobooks, Amazon and bookdepository are able to sell many of these books to Germany. I do have some doubts as to the legality of such restrictions within the EU anyway. However, Waterstones were just too lazy to check which books they were allowed to sell and rather enforced a blanket ban.

Strangely enough, Amazon has an outlet called Amazon.de... oh yes, it's a GERMAN Amazon outlet... and Amazon DO enforce geo-restrictions as you can easily find when trying to buy some titles from them and get the answer that they're not available in "your country" but never mind call the local shop lazy but since you probably buy from Amazon then you're just another nail in the coffin causing cost cutting by staff reduction... you can't have it both ways... if you don't patronise an outlet or just use it for title browsing then don't expect them to keep the high staff levels to meet your requirements. Don't worry though, one day soon everyone'll get the ideal situation that we all really want and Amazon will have a total lock on the book market, then see what happens to your bargain prices...

[mediax]

Originally Posted by Ankh

It is my understanding that a regular (smart)phone does not work well as barcode reader.

I scan a barcodes into a variety of apps (but mainly Book Catalogue) on my HTC Sensation (Android) and find it works like a charm.

[avantman42]

Originally Posted by elcreative

Originally Posted by CommonReader
Strangely enough kobobooks, Amazon and bookdepository are able to sell many of these books to Germany. I do have some doubts as to the legality of such restrictions within the EU anyway. However, Waterstones were just too lazy to check which books they were allowed to sell and rather enforced a blanket ban.

Strangely enough, Amazon has an outlet called Amazon.de... oh yes, it's a GERMAN Amazon outlet... and Amazon DO enforce geo-restrictions as you can easily find when trying to buy some titles from them and get the answer that they're not available in "your country" but never mind call the local shop lazy but since you probably buy from Amazon then you're just another nail in the coffin causing cost cutting by staff reduction... you can't have it both ways... if you don't patronise an outlet or just use it for title browsing then don't expect them to keep the high staff levels to meet your requirements. Don't worry though, one day soon everyone'll get the ideal situation that we all really want and Amazon will have a total lock on the book market, then see what happens to your bargain prices...

I think you're being a bit harsh on CommonReader here. I can't see anything in his/her post to suggest that they're an Amazon fan. He/she has criticised Waterstones, but pointed out that several other retailers, not just Amazon, sell to other countries.

I can't see anything to suggest that CommonReader buys from Amazon. He/she might do, but since their profile lists their e-reader as "Sony PRS-650, PRS-300", it seems unlikely.

[Quexos]

Waterstone's American
And all this time I was thinking it was an English bookstore.

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by Quexos

Waterstone's American
And all this time I was thinking it was an English bookstore.

?????

[charleski]

Originally Posted by Quexos

Waterstone's American
And all this time I was thinking it was an English bookstore.

The new owner (Alexander Mamut) is Russian.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Quexos

Waterstone's American
And all this time I was thinking it was an English bookstore.

Waterstones is a British company, yes. What made you think that they were American?

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by avantman42

I think you're being a bit harsh on CommonReader here. I can't see anything in his/her post to suggest that they're an Amazon fan. He/she has criticised Waterstones, but pointed out that several other retailers, not just Amazon, sell to other countries.

I can't see anything to suggest that CommonReader buys from Amazon. He/she might do, but since their profile lists their e-reader as "Sony PRS-650, PRS-300", it seems unlikely.

I was having an irritated dig at commonreader for his criticisms of a store that is currently trying to do its best in a world increasingly dominated by Amazon, one where people use their bookstores as a reference point before buying from Amazon and then criticise stores for being lazy when they can no longer afford to meet his expectations and are legally required to implement geo-restrictions... also Amazon doesn't sell everything to every country, they have individual stores for many countries and, if you try to buy a geo-restricted title from the wrong site, your business will be refused "because it's not available in your country..."