Powell’s says it won’t sell books on Amazon anymore

Post by icebraining » Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 2:48 AM UTC

CalRobert wrote: post #16

qubex wrote: post #3

When I visited the PNC in 2015 I peregrinated all the way from Seattle (WA) to Portland (OR) simply for the joy of visiting Powell’s . I even chose my hotel to be as close as possible (which turned out to be the very hip ACE Hotel, which was another amazing experience). These places may be retail businesses, but they’re also basically priceless experiences that should be viewed as public goods.

Unfortunately we haven't found a great way to price externalities correctly - whether the positive externalities of a local bookshop, or the negative externalities of online commerce. Of course, there are negative externalities to local stores (people demand the right to drive there, for some odd reason, though Portland does better here than most), and positive externalities to online shopping (more efficient distrib…

Post by Frondo » Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 3:06 AM UTC

greenie_beans wrote: post #177

rfreiberger wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to think this way, going with the cheapest method possible but I now try to buy directly from the publisher or local stores. Not only does it hurt the publisher buying from Amazon, it also diverts the funds to produce the next book. Some of my books have been extremely expensive but these are pennies to the value I find in them and how it improves my career.

^^^ can't emphasize this enough. please don't buy from amazon if you have the means to afford the list price for a book. amazon isn't good for the ecosystem of books for a lot of reasons, but in this instance amazon makes publishers lose money. unfortunately publishers have no choice but to sell on amazon. you gotta vote with your dollars here to help sustain quality publishing.

Post by jefurii » Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 3:26 AM UTC

rdtwo wrote: post #187

phobosanomaly wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's my counterpoint. Your argument makes 100% sense in the short-term. In the long run, Amazon's strategically thin margins on technical books will disappear when the other vendors are driven out of business, and books across the board will see a price hike.

But by that point he might be retired on an island somewhere and that extra 100 saved has turned into 300 due to wise investment choices

Post by ivansavz » Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 4:35 AM UTC

larrik wrote: post #123

_Nat_ wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Finally, kids books should be physical, forever. I don't let my kids read on a tablet or other device, ever. That's an interesting position; would you mind commenting on why? That said, if we're talking about things in the long-term, then neither old-fashion books nor tablets would seem relevant. Something like a good neural-lace would quickly obsolete both.

1) It's (likely) better for their eyes and motor development (turning pages is quite the skill to learn to do properly). 2) They outgrow them quickly, and you can move them down to their little cousin or a friend or whoever. 3) No distractions of being on a tablet or having access to apps or the web. 4) Way way cheaper, especially used. That said, I pretty strictly restrict screen time, way more than even I was restr…

Post by getlawgdon » Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 12:18 PM UTC

Red_Leaves_Flyy wrote: post #129

FoomFries wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently ordered an illustrated novel with a rather heavy paperweight - Amazon shipped it in weakly padded envelopes and the corners were banged up. I even bothered to contact their customer service to ship it with better packaging, to no avail on the replacement item. I then ordered 10 of the damn things, to see what the packaging would do. 4 came in one box, 3 came in another, and 3 came in individual poorly padd…

Props for going through the hassle. How bad does Amazonneed to get before the costs of negligence outweigh doing it right the first time? I would think there are dozens of actuaries doing the math, maybe I'm giving bezo too much credit though.