Meadowdale H.S. graduation 2012
Middletown H.S. graduation 2012
Dunbar H.S. graduation 2012
Book Nook provides readers with insights into the world of books. Vick Mickunas takes you into the center of the publishing world with the latest book buzz, book reviews, and exclusive chats with authors..Home > Blogs > Book Nook > Archives > 2011 > December > 07 > Entry
Some bookstores are bummed out with Amazon.com
If you read yesterday’s blog post on how Amazon will pay you 5 dollars to walk out of the store… then you probably are wondering how brick and mortar stores feel about Amazon’s offer. Well, as you might expect, some displeasure is being expressed over it. Here’s more from Publishers Weekly:
“booksellers had even more to worry about because yesterday Amazon also announced a promotion slated for December 10, during the heart of the holiday selling season, that encourages shoppers to use its price check app. By simply checking a price while in a bricks-and-mortar store, Amazon customers get an additional 5% discount (up to $5) off Amazon’s price for a total of three items (or $15) in qualifying categories, which include toys, music, DVDs, electronics and sporting goods. While books aren’t specifically included, a number of sidelines typically found in bookstores are…”
This David and Goliath battle between bookstores and Amazon.com has some booksellers fuming. Here’s more from PW:
“Some booksellers have become resigned that Amazon wants them gone. “Nothing really surprises us much anymore,” says Leslie Reiner, co-owner of Inkwood Books in Tampa, Fla. “A few wonderful California booksellers, Green Apple with their videos and Diesel with the Occupy Amazon buttons, manage to amuse and educate simultaneously. We try to follow that example.” Others are less worried about customer loyalty. “I really don’t think my customers are paying so much attention to all the [Amazon] hype. They are still coming in and seeking human advice and a friendly conversation. So far, Amazon has not been able to do this,” says Valerie Koehler, owner of Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston.
Still others like Kenny Brechner of Devaney Doak & Garrett Booksellers in Farmington, Me., are angry. He calls Amazon’s new price check app “the virtual equivalent of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil gas station strategy” and regards its acquisition of Marshall Cavendish as “a naked move toward vertical monopoly.” For Christine Onorati, owner of WORD Books in Brooklyn, “It’s very hard not to constantly rail against Amazon as the enemy. I believe they are killing small business by undercutting everyone and constantly drilling home the point that price is all that matters. I have never ordered much from Marshall Cavendish in the past, but I will definitely not order anything from them in the future. We have to take a stand however we can. I will also not order any books published by Amazon right now.”
The Occupy Amazon movement?
To read the entire article click Here:
Vick Mickunas
p.s. Follow me on Twitter: @BookNookVick
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: in the Amazone
Tweet
Comments
By Blowfly
December 8, 2011 12:52 PM | Link to this
Another unfairness to add to the pile. Online only retailers are not required to withhold state sales taxes, even though most states require payment of sales tax for online purchases. Those taxes are simply not getting paid. Online retailers that also have brick and mortar operations are required to withhold state sales taxes from their online sales. So, not only do the Amazons of the world have an unfair advantage over in-store purchases, they have the same unfair advantage over the online sales by the same merchants. I have nothing against Amazon, but it’s time to level the playing field.
By jim from dayton
December 7, 2011 5:22 PM | Link to this
Amazon.com and other on-line retailers will get their come-uppance as the USPS cuts back its services and service areas. UPS and other delivery services come with greater cost and will not reach as extensive a customer base. At some point an equilibrium will be reached between brick-and-mortar booksellers and the on-line services—sooner rather than later.
By ohiodale
December 7, 2011 12:10 PM | Link to this
It is only a matter of time before most book stores go out of business. I buy all my books from amazon and have been for years. You cannot hold back technology to save out dated businesses. Yes I feel bad for the displaced workers but this is life.