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Local bookstores have a new weapon in the fight with Amazon

forbes.com

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Re: Local bookstores have a new weapon in the fight with Amazon

#11

Post by retsibsi »

jobigoud wrote: post #9
WalterBright wrote: post #8

By far most of the books I buy are from thrift stores, and the sales the public library does. It's not unusual for me to come home with a shopping bag full of books.

I used to do this a long time ago but now I find that picking books like this, semi-randomly, isn't a good use of time. Reading a book takes time and there is already more interesting content than I can consume. This means if I choose carefully I can spend all my reading time reading the most interesting/useful books possible, instead of being constrained to whatever the thrift store happens to have at this moment.

I think this is mostly true for me, but I wonder if the best approach involves a little bit of the 'semi-random' too. The internet is an amazing way to discover books and authors, and I feel like I'm exposed to a pretty eclectic mix, but I assume my discovery process is biased in some unhelpful ways. The payoff of discovering an entirely new (to me) and excellent author can be pretty great, perhaps even more so if their work is completely different from most of the stuff I read -- so maybe a bit of unguided exploration in unfamiliar territory is worthwhile, even if it's mostly unproductive? (Either way, I bet someone has analogised this process to some well-studied class of CS problem, and drawn interesting but practically dubious conclusions!)

Re: Local bookstores have a new weapon in the fight with Amazon

#12

Post by toyg »

This could potentially enable what I always thought the final model will look like: you go into a store, find the book, point an app at its store-specific barcode, and you get it physically delivered or saved as ebook - the store makes a percentage but prices can still be competitive with Amazon, and everybody is happy. If you really want to take the book home on the same day, an extra fee is added (to pay for traditional stocking costs).

You could even do it without custom barcodes, just with some geofencing or wifi identification. At worst, with a dedicated touchscreen device in-store.

Alas, i’ve repeated this idea everywhere for years and nobody in the industry seems to have latched on it yet, so maybe something I don’t know about the industry makes it unviable ️

Re: Local bookstores have a new weapon in the fight with Amazon

#13

Post by dredmorbius »

jobigoud wrote: post #9
WalterBright wrote: post #8

By far most of the books I buy are from thrift stores, and the sales the public library does. It's not unusual for me to come home with a shopping bag full of books.

I used to do this a long time ago but now I find that picking books like this, semi-randomly, isn't a good use of time. Reading a book takes time and there is already more interesting content than I can consume. This means if I choose carefully I can spend all my reading time reading the most interesting/useful books possible, instead of being constrained to whatever the thrift store happens to have at this moment.

Have an idea of the books you want to buy, and know roughly what the selection of such places is -- champaigne tastes in a brewpub won't fly, but if there are popular books or topics you may find, take advantage of the opportunity.

And examine books for mildew before buying. Though freezer + baking soda treatment does work.

Re: Local bookstores have a new weapon in the fight with Amazon

#15

Post by acdha »

jobigoud wrote: post #9
WalterBright wrote: post #8

By far most of the books I buy are from thrift stores, and the sales the public library does. It's not unusual for me to come home with a shopping bag full of books.

I used to do this a long time ago but now I find that picking books like this, semi-randomly, isn't a good use of time. Reading a book takes time and there is already more interesting content than I can consume. This means if I choose carefully I can spend all my reading time reading the most interesting/useful books possible, instead of being constrained to whatever the thrift store happens to have at this moment.

Internet arbitrage caused quality to tank about a decade ago: any time there’s a sale, note the people cruising through checking prices on their phones so they can pick the books with significant resale value (the used bookstore owner probably does this too, if they’re still in business).

Re: Local bookstores have a new weapon in the fight with Amazon

#16

Post by thewhitetulip »

Stores just can't carry that many books.

I haven't used amazon since a few years but when I was looking for a book, I ultimately had to order online. No option.

What would've been best is go to a store and they'll deliver ur book at your home in the evening if they don't have a copy handy

Till the happens stores will find it hard to compete with Amazon who does essentially that

Re: Local bookstores have a new weapon in the fight with Amazon

#17

Post by mdorazio »

toyg wrote: post #12

This could potentially enable what I always thought the final model will look like: you go into a store, find the book, point an app at its store-specific barcode, and you get it physically delivered or saved as ebook - the store makes a percentage but prices can still be competitive with Amazon, and everybody is happy. If you really want to take the book home on the same day, an extra fee is added (to pay for tradit…

I don't see how this can be cost competitive. You would have to add a percentage on every purchase high enough to cover the entire overhead of the store, including property and employees, while at the same time maintaining a large enough selection to get people into the store instead of going online in the first place. There's also no guarantee that people won't do what they do today, which is browse in the store and then go straight to Amazon on their phone to save money instead of using your scan approach.

Re: Local bookstores have a new weapon in the fight with Amazon

#19

Post by mumblemumble »

thewhitetulip wrote: post #16

Stores just can't carry that many books. I haven't used amazon since a few years but when I was looking for a book, I ultimately had to order online. No option. What would've been best is go to a store and they'll deliver ur book at your home in the evening if they don't have a copy handy Till the happens stores will find it hard to compete with Amazon who does essentially that

Usually not "no option." I frequently use Amazon's app to look up an ISBN, and then bring it to my neighborhood bookshop and ask them to order it for me.

The only time I've ever had to order from Amazon is when I'm trying to get something that just isn't distributed in the USA, or is only being sold by, in effect, scalpers. e.g., last year I got a box set shipped to me from Europe for ~70€, where US-based sellers wanted more like $300.

(Even there, I suppose I could order from Fnac or somewhere instead, but Amazon seems to fare better at getting through US customs.)

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