Powell’s says it won’t sell books on Amazon anymore • Hacker News Board

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

#91

Post by _Nat_ » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 1:59 PM UTC

It's always weird to read a story where someone's rooting for something like old bookstores to remain in-business.

The thing's that I don't mind the economic shift nor the format shift. I don't particularly care for bookstores or even old-fashion books; I think electronic media with active content is vastly superior. I look forward to further advances in technology, where the line between static media and computation continues to blur into something far more beautiful.

I appreciate that a shifting economy can be tough on those in sectors that're drying up. I can sympathize with bookstore owners who feel saddened by having to close up shop.

But it feels a little weird to see folks taking a rent-seeking position, arguing that broken windows ought be allowed to keep breaking.

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

#92

Post by AlexandrB » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 2:02 PM UTC

I'm going to take this opportunity to grind my personal axe: Amazon is extremely lazy about shipping books, throwing them into lightly-padded envelopes. Books shipped from Amazon usually arrive with at least minor cosmetic damage and sometimes much worse. For me this is reason enough to avoid buying books on Amazon.

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

#93

Post by jamisteven » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 2:03 PM UTC

Not sure this is worthy of being on HN.

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

#94

Post by kps » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 2:03 PM UTC

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #62

atoav wrote: post #58

Of the last 10 books I bought on Amazon 4 were faulty prints with miscut pages, misaligned pages, misprint pages. Two of them had misprint covers. All of them were sold as new by Amazon itself. I am done with buying books from them

To be fair, this might not be Amazon's fault, it could have happened with any online booksellers, because ultimately the publisher is at fault. For example, Oxford University Press used to be renowned for the quality of its printing and binding, but it has quietly moved many titles to very shoddy digital printing with misaligned pages and a glued binding that fails instantly, and online you just can't be sure whether…

Amazon has been known to ship counterfeit books.

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

#95

Post by Jimmc414 » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 2:03 PM UTC

I support Powell's courage and I am rooting for them, but I'm afraid they have waited too long to make a stand and the only limit to Amazon's power to squash them in the marketplace is Amazon's concern about being perceived as too powerful.

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

#96

Post by DharmaPolice » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 2:08 PM UTC

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #65

ArkVark wrote: post #34

The problem is not Amazon, the problem is local rents. If we encourage mixed-use zoning, ie. 3-5 storey apartment blocks with the ground and first level for commercial and office use, we'll lower rents and reduce commutes.

Many European countries have mixed-use zoning. That still hasn't stopped bookstores from hollowing out -- actual books getting fewer and fewer while most of the stock becomes hipster accoutrements like vinyl records and tea sets -- or closing entirely. The problem is that physical books are just not in-demand and high-margin enough to cover labour costs and rents in this day and age.

The problem is there is just too much variety in books. I've bought a fair number of books from physical bookstores over the past couple of years but they're almost always books I found while browsing. If I go into a bookstore looking for a specific title - unless it's a high profile new release or something common (Jane Eyre or Harry Potter) - they're _really_ unlikely to have it in stock. Sure, they can order it for me but then why aren't I just ordering it online?

This problem impacts smaller shops most of course but even the largest stores can't possibly hope to have more than a small % of every title in stock. That's just a natural consequence of how many books are out there.

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

#97

Post by AlexandrB » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 2:11 PM UTC

_Nat_ wrote: post #91

It's always weird to read a story where someone's rooting for something like old bookstores to remain in-business. The thing's that I don't mind the economic shift nor the format shift. I don't particularly care for bookstores or even old-fashion books; I think electronic media with active content is vastly superior. I look forward to further advances in technology, where the line between static media and computation…

It seems weird to label consumer preferences (liking paper books) that don't align with yours as advocating for rent-seeking. Arguably, selling digital media is the ultimate form rent-seeking, since the marginal cost is nearly zero and you're often paying for "access" to content. At least with paper books you get a physical product (and resale rights) with your purchase.

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

#98

Post by Jimmc414 » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 2:12 PM UTC

_Nat_ wrote: post #91

It's always weird to read a story where someone's rooting for something like old bookstores to remain in-business. The thing's that I don't mind the economic shift nor the format shift. I don't particularly care for bookstores or even old-fashion books; I think electronic media with active content is vastly superior. I look forward to further advances in technology, where the line between static media and computation…

Sometimes you are buying more than just a book and human expertise still has a value. I'll give you an example, I was very pleased to see a local music store flourishing mid pandemic, as I feared they might go under. I purchased an instrument knowingly at a considerable markup because they had a ton of knowledge I needed and I was able to ask many questions. I know that if I decided to go in and ask all of those same questions but then instead of buying it at Art's Music, I decide to find the lowest bidder online, it is only a matter of time before Art and his expertise disappear from the market. I'm afraid there aren't enough people supporting Art to keep human expertise relevant these days. Amazon may provide a very good service now but once all competition is gone what incentive is there to provide the same level of service?

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

#99

Post by larrik » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 2:15 PM UTC

_Nat_ wrote: post #91

It's always weird to read a story where someone's rooting for something like old bookstores to remain in-business. The thing's that I don't mind the economic shift nor the format shift. I don't particularly care for bookstores or even old-fashion books; I think electronic media with active content is vastly superior. I look forward to further advances in technology, where the line between static media and computation…

I disagree. For fiction, at least, used bookstores let you find some obscure stuff for cheap, and a book can pass through many hands and develop its own story along the way. Some of this stuff isn't available digitally.

I don't think ebooks are a definitive gain over physical. For fiction, I like being able to read them on my phone, and I like Kindle's X-Ray and other features on highlight (who is this character again??). Otherwise, books are damn good. For technical books, I vastly prefer paper, though.

The online ebook market is being swarmed by authors gaming the system. The number of them who split their book into a 12-book "series" that all managed to get released in a year, for instance. Tons of shovelware.

There's just also nothing like a good second-hand bookstore, with it's chill vibe and tactile product.

Finally, kids books should be physical, forever. I don't let my kids read on a tablet or other device, ever.

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

#100

Post by _Nat_ » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 2:16 PM UTC

AlexandrB wrote: post #97

_Nat_ wrote: post #91

It's always weird to read a story where someone's rooting for something like old bookstores to remain in-business. The thing's that I don't mind the economic shift nor the format shift. I don't particularly care for bookstores or even old-fashion books; I think electronic media with active content is vastly superior. I look forward to further advances in technology, where the line between static media and computation…

It seems weird to label consumer preferences (liking paper books) that don't align with yours as advocating for rent-seeking. Arguably, selling digital media is the ultimate form rent-seeking, since the marginal cost is nearly zero and you're often paying for "access" to content. At least with paper books you get a physical product (and resale rights) with your purchase.

I suspect that you misread my post as this seems unrelated to what I was saying.

The rent-seeking issue was related to folks worrying about the loss of local jobs due to bookstores closing down. My personal preference for digital media's unrelated to that point.