Kobo Clara $100 at Walmart

[rcentros]

I don't know why it's on sale now, but it is.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kobo-Clar...bled/848940265

[Raphi'Elohim]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I don't know why it's on sale now, but it is.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kobo-Clar...bled/848940265

It might be on sale for no other reason than class reasons. For instance, people who shop at Target do so because they can't afford Macy's kind of reasoning. Walmart is probably having a hard time getting rid of units. Reading , in America, has traditionally been a middle class thing not the typical Walmart shopper thing. I am living in a middle class neighborhood but I have been to Walmart before.

I used to buy Kobo's until they joined with Walmart which I think was a dumb move for demographic reasons.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Raphi'Elohim

It might be on sale for no other reason than class reasons. For instance, people who shop at Target do so because they can't afford Macy's kind of reasoning. Walmart is probably having a hard time getting rid of units. Reading , in America, has traditionally been a middle class thing not the typical Walmart shopper thing. I am living in a middle class neighborhood but I have been to Walmart before.

I used to buy Kobo's until they joined with Walmart which I think was a dumb move for demographic reasons.

And being available through Walmart changed Kobos exactly how? Because you'd be embarrassed to say you got your eReader at Walmart?

Look, I don't like Walmart for its labor practices. But I would never, ever, clarify reading as a "middle class thing." It's overly hard on the monied classes.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Raphi'Elohim

It might be on sale for no other reason than class reasons. For instance, people who shop at Target do so because they can't afford Macy's kind of reasoning. Walmart is probably having a hard time getting rid of units. Reading , in America, has traditionally been a middle class thing not the typical Walmart shopper thing. I am living in a middle class neighborhood but I have been to Walmart before.

I used to buy Kobo's until they joined with Walmart which I think was a dumb move for demographic reasons.

I think you're overthinking this. Walmart has sold out their Kobo Clara stock several times in the (not quite) a year since they've been carrying them. They go on sale, they go off sale. They run of stock, they get more stock in. I just didn't know what, specifically, triggered this particular sale at this time. Maybe an early "back to school" sale?

As for Walmart... they're another giant corporation, like Amazon. Like it or not, it's the reality in the United States now.

[Raphi'Elohim]

Originally Posted by issybird

And being available through Walmart changed Kobos exactly how? Because you'd be embarrassed to say you got your eReader at Walmart?

Look, I don't like Walmart for its labor practices. But I would never, ever, clarify reading as a "middle class thing." It's overly hard on the monied classes.

Well, I got the idea from two books I read . A book "Class ..." by a Harvard professor Paul Fussell and "The Age of American Unreason" by Susan Jacoby.

Anyway, I am probably overthinking this. Especially, since they are ordered online instead of purchased in store.

[Raphi'Elohim]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I think you're overthinking this. Walmart has sold out their Kobo Clara stock several times in the (not quite) a year since they've been carrying them. They go on sale, they go off sale. They run of stock, they get more stock in. I just didn't know what, specifically, triggered this particular sale at this time. Maybe an early "back to school" sale?

As for Walmart... they're another giant corporation, like Amazon. Like it or not, it's the reality in the United States now.

Maybe, Kobo is gearing up to release a new 6 inch model and Walmart is trying to get rid of them. Anyway, it is probably not important to speculate on why they are doing it, unless you think they are pushing shoddy models, then to just be glad they are doing it.

Anyway, I don't see why teaming up with BestBuy rather than Walmart would have been a bad idea even though Walmart is a bigger corporation.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Raphi'Elohim

Anyway, I don't see why teaming up with BestBuy rather than Walmart would have been a bad idea even though Walmart is a bigger corporation.

Kobo was just part of the Walmart/Rakuten deal.

[tch65721]

Local Walmart isn't putting any effort into selling them. There was no display and the sales people didn't even know they existed. You can find them if you look hard enough but there is absolutely no chance anyone would make an impulse buy.

[haertig]

Has anyone investigated if the Kobo Clara for sale at Walmart is the same (features and quality) as a Clara sold elsewhere? Walmart is well known for pushing their suppliers to lower the features/quality of their offerings for Walmart to sell at lower prices. I've found on at least one occasion that the "same" thing purchased at Walmart vs. as a different store is lower quality at Walmart. Specifically, I can comment on Hanes brand T-shirts. Thin and pitiful when purchased at Walmart, much better if purchased elsewhere. The stories of Snapper mowers and Levi jeans vs. Walmart are well known and documented.

https://www.fastcompany.com/54763/ma...id-no-wal-mart

Sooo, ... is the Kobo from Walmart the same as the Kobo from a different retailer? I don't know. But it's certainly worth investigating before purchasing just because it is cheap at Walmart.

[Mikou]

Originally Posted by haertig

Sooo, ... is the Kobo from Walmart the same as the Kobo from a different retailer? I don't know. But it's certainly worth investigating before purchasing just because it is cheap at Walmart.

I would never have even thought of that as an issue. It might be difficult to prove unless someone has 2 Claras: 1 from Walmart and 1 from another retailer.

What I can say is that I purchased my Kobo Clara via Walmart. All the branding on the packaging (box and the printed info) and the device is for Rakuten Kobo. On the device itself, the copyright/legal info is all attributed to Rakuten Kobo. The only place where Walmart comes up is on a splash screen during startup because the bookstore is affiliated with the device. And the specs are the same, so no reason for me to think that Walmart is anything but a reseller.

ETA: I bought my Clara a couple of weeks before the sale, but I was able to get a price match. This made me extra glad that I bought it.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by tch65721

Local Walmart isn't putting any effort into selling them. There was no display and the sales people didn't even know they existed. You can find them if you look hard enough but there is absolutely no chance anyone would make an impulse buy.

I know. When I read the instructions for the original displays (left lying in the store) there was something about Kobos being expanded into the main floor plan this past April. But none of that seems to have happened. They've hired some contractor to renew the displays once a week and their effort seems less than minimal. The display models I've seen are either broken, or were never set up. It looks like they're happy to sell online. Not exactly the threat to Amazon they touted when this alliance was announced.

[Kindleing]

Originally Posted by haertig

Sooo, ... is the Kobo from Walmart the same as the Kobo from a different retailer? I don't know. But it's certainly worth investigating before purchasing just because it is cheap at Walmart.

I have wondered the same thing because I have read articles about Walmart requiring manufacturers to lower their prices by leaving out normally included accessory items. Specifically, I have wondered whether the Kobos with light bleed issues have come from Walmart, or did some of them come direct from Kobo.

I don't have a Kobo but have been thinking about getting one.
Wally

[teija]

Not on sale yet on Walmart Canada, but I did notice a big back-to-school banner when I went to their homepage.

[Barbara1955]

Originally Posted by Raphi'Elohim

Maybe, Kobo is gearing up to release a new 6 inch model and Walmart is trying to get rid of them. Anyway, it is probably not important to speculate on why they are doing it, unless you think they are pushing shoddy models, then to just be glad they are doing it.

Anyway, I don't see why teaming up with BestBuy rather than Walmart would have been a bad idea even though Walmart is a bigger corporation.

They Were at Best buy several years ago..... slow sales killed that deal.

[teija]

Originally Posted by Barbara1955

They Were at Best buy several years ago..... slow sales killed that deal.

Not entirely... Best Buy Canada still sell Kobo: https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/search?search=kobo