B&N Complaint

[Hardy]

Disclaimer: My DH works very hard for Barnes & Noble

BN.com and brick and mortar stores are completely separate. There is nothing anyone in the store can do for you about the price difference. They are not being rude by refusing to honor an online price, that is just simply not possible in store. This goes for many large retailers, online and in-store do not match in price.

It is so sad to me to see the mentality so many people have about online vs. b&m store prices. Of course online is cheaper, they have fewer employees and ship directly out of warehouses. It costs a lot more money to operate an actual store and pay their employees a wage. The store cannot afford to sell those books at online prices.

If everyone continues to browse in store and buy online, there will be no more store. There are a lot of knowledgeable employees who love books in these stores. They have quiet places to peruse a large selection of amazing books. Employees will happily order in a book for you if you have a special request, they will help you find or recommend books when you sort of know the author, or just have a general subject idea. No one minds if you sit in there all day long drinking coffee and looking at books, even if you don't buy them (of course we hope you do!). The B&M stores love and appreciate your business and every bit makes a difference. In general, shopping at local stores help your own community through taxes on goods/services, and the attraction of other great businesses...many retailers even donate directly to the community they do business in.

Perhaps saving the extra few bucks here and there is more important to some people, but we do not make a lot of money and I still try my best to support the stores I want to see stick around in my area. I'm not saying I never use Amazon or Walmart or any of those places, but I definitely try to limit it. I hate watching Walmart especially stomp out business after business....people complain when they build yet another one that we don't need, but then show up from day one handing over all of their money because they have a TV $20 cheaper or a bestseller book $2 less.

I know I could save more going online for a lot of items, but I'd hate to see the day where I can't go browse a bookstore and have a cup of coffee, or go to a local pet store with people knowledgeable in what my animals need...or head into an electronics store and have a person tell me what set up suits my needs, a clothing store and try on what I want first...and any of these places are happy to fix any problem and make it right with no hassle.

Just my own opinion, but everyone should know we all vote with our $$$ every day.

 

[KellyNY]

I just visited B&N site.

There are 2 prices, "List Price" and "Online Price".

If you go with Pick Me option, you will see "Important" message at the bottom of the page suggesting that the price may be different at the store.

When you enter your zip code and then click on any store, a new window will open for you to enter info to actually reserve the book and there will be new price right on this window.

So it is not in a small print, it is very visible and therefore very fair IMO.

 

[taaren]

Okay, so I worked for B&N for 10 years, and now work for a library as a technician while I finish my MLIS, so I have to chime in about the book industry.
The simple fact is, they operate on very slim margins. Despite the fact that e-book sales are exponentially growing, and they sold a million Nooks for Christmas, B&N.com is still posting a losses. And they are a separate company from the bricks and mortar B&N, different CEO's, different stocks, (Employees do not get a BN.com discount). Previous posters have done a good job of explaining the whys of both why books in both environments come with the costs that they do - and really to be a participant in such a literate society, its well worth it IMHO.
That $8 paperback? The company is making less than $1 of profit off of it. Should the employee have been rude to you about it? No, but its hard work for wages just above minimum wage, and to hear someone who is upset about the price of a luxury item is rough when most people who work there just want to talk to people about how much they love reading and collect their ridiculously small paycheck and go home to curl up with a good book.
And for your non-gift book needs, if the prices bother you so much, come visit your local librarians.

 

[vicki_c]

I order lots of books from Amazon (well now I read on a Kindle pretty much exclusively for pleasure reading - no nook here!), but we cannot escape the siren call of our local Barnes & Noble! We head there at least 4-5 times a year, I would say.

We love it, and my kids love to read and love to shop there. That is an experience you can't get online. I like to browse the cookbook aisle, have a cup of Starbucks coffee, it's just a pleasant shopping experience for a book-loving family.

We rarely walk out the door without dropping $100-200, so we belong to their club that gives you the discounts and that's worked out really well for us (you pay for that annually, but we make our money back multiple times over during the year). We're willing to pay the higher prices there because we want it to stick around and we enjoy the experience.

I love the convenience of the Kindle, and the speed of ordering things through Amazon - not just Kindle things, but nothing beats a bookstore. Even if it is a big chain like B&N, and not a locally owned one (if I had a better one of those I would go there).

 

[Planogirl]

I'm one of those wackos that sometimes still pays full price for a book from B&N. I enjoy shopping in their stores and once in a while I find a book that I just have to have right away. Usually I just buy books that are on sale or paperbacks though.

I think that the different pricing is fair too. You're dealing with two different worlds.

 

[Disneyhay]

This is why our store is closing. When it is much cheaper to go online and order the same thing it doesnt make sense to spend gas to drive there and pay more for the book. As for paying for the employee that works there, why wouldn't ordering online be the same. You still have to pay for somebody to pack it!

 

[ConnieB]

B&N is so close to going under I'm not at all shocked that they'd do that....but then I rarely shop there because even with my educator discount I found the staff at all the local stores to be surly and rude.

If I were you, I'd not give B&N your business. Why reward them for wasting your time and making you do double the work. When they go under will anyone really even miss them?

 

[kaytieeldr]

Millions of people, ConnieB. Believe it or not, not everyone has a computer or access to one. Some people appreciate bookstores. Sure, you can go to Walmart, even Target, and buy books... IF you're willing to buy one from their paltry selection. They're not that much cheaper than Barnes & Noble or Borders, they're a lot more expensive than those stores' websites. But the selection? Eh.

As for paying for the employee that works there, why wouldn't ordering online be the same. You still have to pay for somebody to pack it!

You're not paying for just the employee that works there. You're paying for all the employees; you're paying for the building, for the taxes, for the utilities, for the upkeep... you're paying for people to stock the shelves, to know the merchandise, to answer questions, to provide personal service, to be able to know what "that purple book by the guy with the silver frame glasses, the one with the bear in the snowstorm" is called, who the author is, and to be able to find or order it for you.

Nobody in the warehouse is doing that. The warehouse isn't stocked the way the store is. Everything is computerized; it's entirely possible (I don't know for sure, I'm just saying it's possible) that a robot arm is selecting and packing your books. A warehouse that processes a million books a day might have the same number of people working in it as a bricks & mortar store that sells 400 books a day.

Didn't ANYBODY see You've Got Mail????????? What happened to The Shop Around the Corner is what's happening to chain bookstores now. I'm saddened - but not not surprised - that so many of you are so complacent about it.

 

[Fyrefly]

I did not realize that my complaints would open up such a can of worms! As things go on the internet, I suppose.

Please understand that I did not mean to cause offense, and I understand that there is a lot of opinions going around about the way stores are going nowadays.

I have been a paying member for at least 6 years, I can't even remember anymore, and I was part of their no-pay member plan before that. I've been picking out books there since I was 4 and in picture books. I get gift cards for there from my whole family every year. So I'm the last person that needs to be told how awesome the experience of a bookstore is! I have been transitioning to Amazon recently for times like when I was at school and had no access to a proper bookstore, and for some of the more oddball books that standard stores don't have. For my thirst for YA fiction, nothing beats browsing at a real store. And since I'm a member I still get better prices for hardcovers and such there. I won't stop shopping at B&N, because I often like to browse and pick new things up, and will pay more for that. But it's beginning to feel like for specific titles I want its more viable to just go online.

So I don't WANT them to go under, I really don't. But at the same time, I can't afford to pay double on my books to subsidize them either. That's really want my rant was about, I suppose. I don't want bookstores to go, but at the same time it really seems like they are driving over the cliff with reckless abandon. I'm not a businessperson, but there has to be something they can do, and I really just wanted to send a letter higher up explaining how upset and sad I am that things seem to be going in this direction, and that I hope some changes can be made that let them remain open and viable.

Maybe that helps explain what my issue is. I'm sorry that I came off as angry purely over the money and the bad treatment. For me its a lot more than this cause it's a store I literally grew up with and I feel like its driving me away.

 

[IDoDis]

Borders will be the first to go under -- and unfortunately, it won't be long from now. Recently their stock dropped below $1 per share. This month they could not pay all of their vendors.

B&N will survive longer, but eventually the B&M bookstore as we know it will no longer be. Books will be read via ebooks or ordered online. B&N will continue with online sales like Amazon if/when their stores have to close because they have the Nook -- an andriod machine that they are selling way under cost and taking a huge loss on so that they can continue to stay in business with their ebooks sales -- something Borders does not have.

Oh, and about online prices vs B&M prices -- We got a new xbox 360 for Christmas and needed an mdi cable. I went to Walmart where the cheapest 6 ft cable was $28.00! Called DH and he checked walmart online and found basically the same cable for $3.98 with site-to-store delivery. That was a HUGE difference for the same product.

 

[santadog]

This is why our store is closing. When it is much cheaper to go online and order the same thing it doesnt make sense to spend gas to drive there and pay more for the book. As for paying for the employee that works there, why wouldn't ordering online be the same. You still have to pay for somebody to pack it!

But there is an advantage to keeping the money in your community. If you buy it at the brick and mortar, you are helping to pay the salary of a local employee, who will (hopefully) spend their money in the community, etc, etc, etc....

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

This is why our store is closing. When it is much cheaper to go online and order the same thing it doesnt make sense to spend gas to drive there and pay more for the book. As for paying for the employee that works there, why wouldn't ordering online be the same. You still have to pay for somebody to pack it!

Let's look at it this way - your local B&N store employs 60 (for example). The B&N warehouse, that is located hundreds of miles away, employs 500 people. When the local store closes, there goes of the jobs of 60 people in your community. Granted, the 500 people at the warehouse will still have jobs, but that won't help the 60 people who will lose their jobs.

The warehouse doesn't have to be pretty - the store has to be. The warehouse, although organized, may not be organized in the same way as the store. Plus, I'm the warehouse employees won't have to stop working every few minutes to answer customers questions.

It's just business...

 

[GinnyEmma]

I buy in the local stores because I love an afternoon in a bookstore. We've had a couple close, and I do not want the ones that are left to close.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I'm sorry, but is no one seeing the irony in all this? Borders and B&N and Books-a-Million gleefully ran independent bookstores out of business for about 20 years.

And now we're supposed to cry when they're run out of business by online bookstores?

 

[kaytieeldr]

So I don't WANT them to go under, I really don't. But at the same time, I can't afford to pay double on my books to subsidize them either.

Understood - and most of the comments here were directed at subsequent posters, not at you .

But I still have to contend you all are looking at the pricing entirely backwards. You're not paying double in the stores; you're paying half online. No, I know it sounds like semantics but it's not. Look at the cover price of any book. That's the price printed on the book, the price determined by the publisher to be the one at which all parties can cover their costs and, okay, maybe make a little (dare I say it?) profit.

A huge online retailer can sell the book for less because as I said above - they're not stocking the books neatly in a retail establishment, or providing the services a store does. It's pretty much computerized, often to the point where your order can be selected and packed by machine. But while they can get it to you fairly quickly, they can't get it to you that same day (well, unless you're in New York City and you order from B&N early in the morning, if they still offer that).

Called DH and he checked walmart online and found basically the same cable for $3.98 with site-to-store delivery. That was a HUGE difference for the same product.

For basically the same product, you mean

 

[kaytieeldr]

I'm sorry, but is no one seeing the irony in all this? Borders and B&N and Books-a-Million gleefully ran independent bookstores out of business for about 20 years.

And now we're supposed to cry when they're run out of business by online bookstores?

It's what we have left. I'd rather have a big box bookstore than NO bookstore.

 

[ConnieB]

Millions of people, ConnieB. Believe it or not, not everyone has a computer or access to one. Some people appreciate bookstores. Sure, you can go to Walmart, even Target, and buy books... IF you're willing to buy one from their paltry selection. They're not that much cheaper than Barnes & Noble or Borders, they're a lot more expensive than those stores' websites. But the selection? Eh.

You're not paying for just the employee that works there. You're paying for all the employees; you're paying for the building, for the taxes, for the utilities, for the upkeep... you're paying for people to stock the shelves, to know the merchandise, to answer questions, to provide personal service, to be able to know what "that purple book by the guy with the silver frame glasses, the one with the bear in the snowstorm" is called, who the author is, and to be able to find or order it for you.

Nobody in the warehouse is doing that. The warehouse isn't stocked the way the store is. Everything is computerized; it's entirely possible (I don't know for sure, I'm just saying it's possible) that a robot arm is selecting and packing your books. A warehouse that processes a million books a day might have the same number of people working in it as a bricks & mortar store that sells 400 books a day.

Didn't ANYBODY see You've Got Mail????????? What happened to The Shop Around the Corner is what's happening to chain bookstores now. I'm saddened - but not not surprised - that so many of you are so complacent about it.

Oh I appreciate bookstores....they're a great way to pass the time.....but don't appreciate paying their ridiculously high prices, so I don't. Cant' even think of the last time I bought something at a B&M bookstore. I'm a major advocate of libraries actually. Although as a homeschooling family we also buy a lot of books....17 full size bookcases so far (plus short ones in bedrooms). But we buy them online, or at the used bookstores (a totally different animal from places like B&N).

And I respectfully disagree with your statement that not everyone has access to a computer.....at least I disagree with it as far as the United States is concerned. Every state/county (and most cities) have a public library system. And while I can't say that I've researched every one of them, so I'm sure some little town is an exception somewhere, but 99.99% of them have libraries which have public computers. We travel a lot by van and stop in local libraries quite often to use their computers (I connect my laptop by tethering to my phone but that's not always the most secure so libraries get our business for secure transactions). Not a single library that we've been to, and some have been tiny single room libraries, have failed to have a FREE public computer (and even that tiny library had 2 computers, most have dozens). If you live local a library card is always free and access to the computer is free as well....if you don't live local, you can usually get a free hour on their computer by asking at the front desk (a few have a small charge for non-locals, but obviously that wouldn't matter as far as ordering books online because you'd be a local). So...if you want access to a computer it is available....if you choose not to take advantage of it that's a different story. Heck, our local library even lets the homeless use the computers.

 

[ConnieB]

Let's look at it this way - your local B&N store employs 60 (for example). The B&N warehouse, that is located hundreds of miles away, employs 500 people. When the local store closes, there goes of the jobs of 60 people in your community. Granted, the 500 people at the warehouse will still have jobs, but that won't help the 60 people who will lose their jobs.
...

Not quite true....it may not help the 60 people that lost their B&M job....but chances are that the warehouse will hire more people because more people will be using the online since the local stores are closing and therefore the online will be busier.

Did you know that Amazon has warehouses throughout the United States? Most people think that Amazon is some behemoth warehouse in one town, but the fact is that they're warehouses are all over the place....including here in our town. A year or two ago several B&M bookstores closed....and Amazon ran a full page ad the next week that they were hiring, lol.

The "experts" predict that there are only 5 more generations of people who will use paper books....that e-books will become the only real choice and paper books will be antiques, like record players. Anyone else old enough to remember when cassettes changed to CDs and 33s and 45s started disappearing like 8tracks? Yes, I'm that old.

I love holding a real book in my hand and haven't made the jump to an ereader yet....not necessarily because I don't like the idea....more because I want one that doesn't have the restrictions the current ones do....but I see the changes I want coming before too long. But honestly, I don't think ereaders will be the future....just like Personal Data Assistants (PDAs) became extincint as the cell phone took over their duties, I think ipads or their evolution will take over ereaders....heck my cell phone (Droid X) has the ability to be an ereader for free...and to download Kindle products (both paid and free) already. Screens a little smaller than my old eyes want for long periods, but even that is improving.

My prediction...B&M bookstores will be gone before my teens graduate....but used book stores will continue to abound until paper books disappear, probably with my great grandchildren. Of course, I won't be around to know if I'm right, lol....and most of you won't either. But it's coming.

 

[kaytieeldr]

The "experts" predict that there are only 5 more generations of people who will use paper books....that e-books will become the only real choice and paper books will be antiques, like record players.

Did you know you can once again buy (new) turntables? A very quick search brought up Target, Brookstone, and Amazon as sources. Sure, it's probably impossible to purchase new media to play - but plenty of people still have the old stuff. Heck, I still have a few albums even though my stereo died years ago!

Don't count out books/bookstores just yet - not even a few generations from now.

 

[Kycha]

Sure, it's probably impossible to purchase new media to play - but plenty of people still have the old stuff. Heck, I still have a few albums even though my stereo died years ago!

Vinyl records are alive and well. A lot of bands that I listen to do limited edition vinyl pressings. And a lot of the classic stuff is being reissued on vinyl. Even Taylor Swift released her latest album in a vinyl version.