Forum - View topicNEWS: Online Book Sales Poised to Overtake Brick-and-Mortar Stores
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DeathScytheRuler
Posts: 103 |
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Its all about availability, especially for manga. My local bookstores were focused on what was popular as opposed to having a wide selection. They'd have 8 copies on the shelves of every volume of Naruto but only half a dozen scattered copies of the other less poplar series (too many to list/remember). I'd have to special order some series because they wouldn't even stock it when it came out.
If I went over to Amazon, I could find pretty much everything I was looking for and get it cheaper. Amazon is selling most volumes of Negima and Fairy Tail (for example) for less than $8 each while B&N is selling them for $9-$10 each (online) or $11-$12 each (in store). |
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Tenbyakugon
 Posts: 800 Location: Ohio, United States |
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I still purchase my books from brick-and-mortar store chains, online though as opposed to buying them directly from storefronts in those chains. My go-to place is Books-A-Million!, being that their customer service is FANTASTIC, I cough up $20 each year for free one-three-day shipping (they're pretty good about two days
 ) with constantly e-mailed coupons, and their online store is around 33% cheaper on average than their storefronts. I'm pleased to help out the underdog in this market. Sure, they've become number two for brick-and-mortar bookstore chains in the U.S., but they're still relatively unknown and they haven't gone public on the U.S. Stock Exchange, which I can give some respect to. I would spend just a little less at Amazon, I'm sure, however $20 for free shipping each year is much cheaper than $99 each year. And Amazon is turning into a second Wal-Mart, if not then definitely threatening the monopoly that Wal-Mart has been trying to accomplish for years now, which I can't at all appreciate. Amazon has every right in the world to be its own business, but it has no such right to threaten that right for others.
If RightStuf offered such a free shipping deal, I'd be very tempted to switch to them. Last edited by Tenbyakugon on Sat May 18, 2013 12:44 am; edited 2 times in total |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14889 |
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So bookstores will be one of the first to go, shops replaced by warehouses instead. It's cheaper to maintain a warehouse than a comparable store, and a few warehouses than maintaining many neighborhood stores (warehouses don't need to be near you when they can just mail it to you and much less overhead; for ex: shops need to be in each of your expensive neighborhoods if they want to sell to you, but a single warehouse can be in boondocks faraway state to do the same thing). A shop can't stock everything (only the ones they think will sell in that neighborhood getting better priority), but a warehouse can, or if it's not in that warehouse, another warehouse can mail it to you (a shop can't do that - people are there to pick things up, not wait).
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Sheleigha
 Posts: 1674 |
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If there was a bookstore around, then I would still go B&M shopping... Borders was everywhrere in my area and the only local Barnes and Noble closed due to its competition. There's now none around here, so either I travel almost an hour, or I shop online (and gas prices don't help).
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poonk
 Posts: 1490 Location: In the Library with Philip |
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I stopped buying manga in B&M stores (aside from the odd sale like, ahem, when the local Borders went out of business) years ago because, as others have noted, they just didn't have the titles I wanted. A million copies of Bleach & Naruto, yes. The latest BL (sometimes marked "explicit" & shrinkwrapped *gasp*) or other smaller non-shonen/shoujo titles, sorry, gotta special order that. Well if I have to order it I can do that myself and save the trip to the store, since between manga, DVDs, and other merch I can always find enough at RightStuf to get to the free shipping amount for the US (>$50).
I really don't want to see real bookstores close though. I wish the stuff I normally buy was popular enough for them to regularly stock but it's just too niche, so online I must go. |
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configspace
Posts: 3717 |
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Amazon Prime is great. They have same day delivery in some places where their warehouses are. The locker idea is also good for people who can't receive at home or at work.
Even Barnes and Noble online is better than their B&M stores, both in price and selection. Barnes and Noble's B&M stores always use the MSRP, minus the 10% member's discount. Rightstuf is sometimes problematic for manga. They have a large selection and good prices, but hardly keep anything in stock! I did buy the entire 20th Century Boys manga series when it was on sale at Rightstuf as a package deal, so they are good for those kinds of deals I can see a use for B&M stores only for specialized stores. Tech book stores, Japanese book stores, etc. Or B&M shops that sell other things and their related books. |
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ConanSan
Posts: 1818 |
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And where's Light Novels, the one place where a lack of nessesity of a physical copy could really help take those costs down?
Stuck back in japan, of course. |
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IkariGendo
Posts: 102 |
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Or maybe LNs previously haven't sold well enough and considering the amount of text, translating novels is that more expensive and the risk simply isn't worth it. And I have the feeling most LN fans don't really care about quality and are happy reading bad translations from chinese online.
I'm pretty sure printing crap doesn't cost all that much more than releasing digital, given the initial cost of licensing, translating and editing. I believe it's what Vertical recently said on their tumblr. |
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sunflower
 Posts: 1080 |
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I don't get why B&N wants to sell Nook, if esales are what's flourishing. I have a B&N 10 minutes away but haven't been in one in years since I no longer buy paper novels, except for the rare keeper and gifts. But I've bought 7 ebooks from them in the past few weeks.
And when I want to buy paper books for my mother, I buy them online and have B&N ship them. It's much easier than me going to the store and buying them and packing them and dealing with the post office. Really, browsing book stores for me is a thing of the past. It's kind of shame, but I've learned to browse in other ways online. It's so much easier to zero in on a type of book I want to buy. A B&M store just doesn't supply the services I want anymore. |
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Soundmonkey44
 Posts: 1243 |
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Sad, but easy to see why, i'll admit I buy most of my Books & Manga off of Amazon. *Still get my monthly comics & graphic novels at my local comic shop* But yeah, I can see why online stores are doing better then Brick & Mortar. Still I would hate to see B&M Book shops go extinct I really should try to visit a Barnes & Noble this summer.
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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Why bother? You won't get anything on sale assuming it's even in the store, they're removed all of the chairs and tables in the store aside from the cafe, half of the floor is/was taken up by Nook crap, and there's nary an employee to be seen. At least, that's my B&N experience after Borders closed down, and thus all reason for that B&N to pretend to care. Without someone keeping you in check, you left yourself go.
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streexanime
Posts: 78 |
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As much as I would like to support my brick n mortor stores, I've had too many issues getting my local branches to even order in items I want. There is a good 30 or 40 of us in the area who get similar books and they all report the same problems.
I've talked to others as well who don't order similar things. They have the same issue. Management orders them in and then sends them back to the distributor and/or fails to put items on hold. If it's not what corporate-based demographics research says will sell, they won't carry it. I'm left using Amazon and RightStuf. It took me roughly 3 months to even convince the one book store branch to carry the last Artemis Fowl book. |
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marcos torres toledo
Posts: 269 |
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The big problem is you need a credit or debit card to by books online from B&N and Amazon I due wish I could use a check or money order. It's slower by easy on the bank account they offer you no choice unfortunately.
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Mr. sickVisionz
 Posts: 2175 |
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Welcome Reality
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Chagen46
 Posts: 4377 |
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Seems likely.
I was in the mood for learning Ancient Sanskrit, but couldn't find the grammar I wanted anywhere--till I hit Amazon and found it in seconds, and ordered it from California. Michael Coulson's Teach Yourself Ancient Sanskrit is now in my backpack. I feel like I'm gonna be making a lot more purchases on Amazon and other sites instead of going to bookstores for old/obscure books. Only problem is having to wait. |
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