02-12-2013, 07:25 PM | #121 | |
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I don't mind supporting local shops, what I have an issue with is being charged well above what can be bought elsewhere (in some cases 150% markup), then get served by a pimple-faced kid with bad attitude treating you like you're an inconvenience to his mobile phone sms sending time. A few weeks ago I bought the latest Wheel of Time. Was $39.95 in the local bookstore. Walked one block away to KMart and there is was, $21.99, same copy. |
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02-12-2013, 07:55 PM | #122 |
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I've explained the direct financial cost to stores under some circumstances. (There's also a direct financial cost to employees who work on commission, too.)
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02-12-2013, 08:00 PM | #123 |
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I do browse in bookstores and occasionally buy a book, but as a present for someone, not for myself.
I pretty much exclusively buy novels in an ebook format. often as I already know the author as I may have read his books or on recommendation or I have read a free preview book by the author online. On more than one occasion I have got the first book free as a a way of pulling me in, liked it and bought the rest of the series. Personally I don't get much out of browsing books in bookstores anyway and never had really, How can you seriously tell what a book is gonna be like by flipping through a few pages anyway? The online experience is much better for me. As long as I avoid the big authors who usually charge more than it costs for the pbook, I will usually get freebies and lots of review/synopsis info etc and it'll be a lot cheaper. I'm used to pay between 99 cents and a few dollars for a book by a self published author now. No way I'm paying $15+ for a book from a big name author. I DO buy pbook gaming books (for tabletop RPGs) and I make an effort to goto our local bricks and mortar gaming store. He's friendly, accommodating, knowledgeable of his products and I'm happy to pay a bit over the odds vs online for that. If I can't get it from there (for example self published independent POD books) Often I an get the PDF for free (legally) and if I like it pay for the pbook version of an RPG to be printed and sent to me. You can't do that in a bricks and mortar bookstore. Personally if a bricks and mortar bookstore tried to charge me to browse, I would leave and never come back and tell everyone I knew about their practice as well in disgust. If bricks and mortar bookstores can't adapt then good riddance, I won't miss them. |
02-12-2013, 08:00 PM | #124 | |||
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02-12-2013, 08:03 PM | #125 |
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No, that's are response to declining sales of books. If you are running a store, and you can sell $100/square foot of floor space in books, or $200/square foot of floor space in something else, it's not a touch decision.
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02-12-2013, 08:25 PM | #126 | ||
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02-12-2013, 09:57 PM | #127 | |
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02-12-2013, 09:59 PM | #128 |
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They can shove that idea where the sun does not shine. I am not paying to browse at any store, period!
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02-12-2013, 10:10 PM | #129 |
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I used to buy books at Waldenbooks because I was able to get 15% off science fiction and fantasy books if I bought $15 or more in books. That was not a problem and I did so. I had a card they gave out way back when that allowed this discount. I didn't have to pay a yearly fee.
One of the problems with B&N is that to get a discount, I have to pay up front. No thanks. |
02-12-2013, 10:19 PM | #130 | ||
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I don't often buy non-fiction books, but I pretty much know what I want before I buy as it's usually a programming reference book or something like that, which comes recommended by a friend, associate or professional on the subject. Barring that, there's plenty of sites online that will give detailed reviews and extracts of pretty much any book you care to read. Quote:
The difference between that and a PDF where if you flip fast through a PDF it has to be loaded into memory is an unnecessary delay. Still, PDFs are great for reviewing whether I WANT to buy an RPG or game or whatever. But if I like it I will definitely want to buy a physical copy. |
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02-13-2013, 12:21 PM | #131 | |
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But in your response to my hypothetical, I guess that person would also say it's less unethical if you browse a store but don't talk to any salespersons, or if you're the only one in the store so the possibility of interfering with a potential sale is nil. I don't know, if that person's opinion leads to arbitrary results when applied to a slightly tweaked scenario, maybe their opinion about the ethics of the original situation is faulty and should be given less weight. |
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02-13-2013, 02:01 PM | #132 |
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What a stupid idea dumb.....
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02-13-2013, 02:10 PM | #133 | |
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I hate flipping through physical pages looking oh so slowly for things now. |
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02-13-2013, 05:24 PM | #134 | |
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02-13-2013, 05:28 PM | #135 |
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What you seem to be pointing to here is the possible economic impact of browsing but not buying. You haven't provided an argument to show that it's an ethical issue.
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