Support your independent bookseller

[msmemory_archive]

But at what price? I'm not sure I'm ready to support my independent bookseller charging me $30 more for a book, plus tax, than Amazon does.

Comments

[aneirin-awenyd.livejournal.com]

I guess it depends on what you want to buy.

Do you want to buy a book? That will be $X, either way.

Or do you want to buy a book and buy into the promise of continued service from your local bookseller? That will be $30 in addition to the purchase of a book.

I don't give to charities but I do spend a little more to buy locally when I can. I think it amounts to the same thing for me - voting with my money. I can vote to save the whales once a year, or I can vote to save the booksellers in increments every time I buy a book. Or I can vote to grow my children by putting the money I saved into nutritious food for them (and that is where it is at right now - the kids are higher on my list than both the bookseller and the whales).

No judgment here - I have the same struggle when I buy books and other things. And added to the equation is the fact that it takes about 2 gallons of gas to go to town and back, which often makes mail-order appear to be the more environmentally attractive option. But only if you can overlook the fact that locally, I use my own cloth bag, but Amazon uses brand-new cardboard boxes and plastic wrap.

Locally, you pay more but get instant gratification...assuming it's in stock...and by mail-order you pay less but you wait. Locally, your money stays in the community but you pay tax...mail-order, no tax, but your money goes out of state.

It is such a complicated conundrum. I am sure I am not helping at all. (Oops.)

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

"Or do you want to buy a book and buy into the promise of continued service from your local bookseller? That will be $30 in addition to the purchase of a book."

The "continued service from my local bookseller" is just not very valuable to me. Not nearly as valuable as the difference in prices most of the time.

For several months now, I've been buying 90% of my new graphic novels via Amazon. I started doing that when I noticed that a book that retailed for $99, Amazon was offering for about $67 -- *more* than a $30 difference. And free shipping, to boot.

Amazon is, in about 1% of cases, more expensive than my local stores. But the average discount is more like 15%, and it sometimes goes over 40%. My book habit is still large enough that that makes a significant difference in my cash flow.