It's indie bookseller day! a celebration and a reminder that
independent bookstores would appreciate your business. The
online behemoth "A-n" doesn't count.

https://bookshop.org is a wonderful portal to look for your
favourite shop and place an order. And.. for the limited few
hours left today, they are offering FREE SHIPPING to
destinations in USA, UK and Spain.


Bookshop.org has an interesting origin. One story is here:

https://www.wired.com/story/books-bookshop-org-thrives-amazon-
world

I compared a few title searches at bookshop.org and A-n, and
the bookshop.org's price was a bit less. Combine that with
free shipping, the result is quite nice.

Your purchase goes to support your favourite bookshop, and
member shops (like mine) benefit from the pool too. ;)

Shameless plug..
My storefront = https://bookshop.org/shop/ashliesbooks

But you can drop by the root site and select ANY shop in your
State (USA), or country (UK, Spain).

Happy reading! ..and thanks for supporting independents.

--- OpenXP 5.0.57
* Origin: (618:500/23.10)

Re: indie bookseller's day
By: August Abolins to All on Sat Apr 29 2023 07:49 pm

It's indie bookseller day! a celebration and a reminder that
independent bookstores would appreciate your business. The
online behemoth "A-n" doesn't count.

I missed it, but it looks lie a promising post. Sort of what Iberlibro used to be before Amacrap bought it and ruined it. Thanks for posting.

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (618:250/24)

Hello Arelor!

** On Sunday 30.04.23 - 06:50, Arelor wrote to August Abolins:

I missed it, but it looks lie a promising post. Sort of
what Iberlibro used to be before Amacrap bought it and
ruined it. Thanks for posting.

It's in bookshop.org 's mandate to NEVER sell to Amacrap (A-n).

We'll see how far that goes. But two years running, and with
greater awareness, the bookshop.org system is doing well.

A-n wants to eliminate the independently minded and any and all
forms of alternative sources.

Meanhile, I've noticed that A-n has had fewer and fewer books
qualifying for their usual "discounts". And, many times I've
seen totally incorrect HIGHER prices. Their retail prices can
be artifically inflated too: eg. a book that is normally $20
retail, they would "list" as $25, and then they would fudge the
"discount" to make it appear that there is a greater discount
than elsewhere - such as at an independent!

I've seen pocketbooks, that I can purchase at the published
price of $11.99, listed at $20+ on A-n.

--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.57
* Origin: (618:500/23.10)

Re: indie bookseller's day
By: August Abolins to Arelor on Sun Apr 30 2023 12:59 pm

Meanhile, I've noticed that A-n has had fewer and fewer books
qualifying for their usual "discounts". And, many times I've
seen totally incorrect HIGHER prices. Their retail prices can
be artifically inflated too: eg. a book that is normally $20
retail, they would "list" as $25, and then they would fudge the
"discount" to make it appear that there is a greater discount
than elsewhere - such as at an independent!

Amazon long term goal is to get rid of sellers altogether. They don't want you to sell a book through them and get a cut anymore. They want to sell the book themselves.

Or the home appliance, or the power drill, or the...

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (618:250/24)

Hello Arelor!

Meanhile, I've noticed that A-n has had fewer and fewer books
qualifying for their usual "discounts". And, many times I've
seen totally incorrect HIGHER prices. Their retail prices can
be artifically inflated too: eg. a book that is normally $20
retail, they would "list" as $25, and then they would fudge the
"discount" to make it appear that there is a greater discount
than elsewhere - such as at an independent!

Amazon long term goal is to get rid of sellers altogether.
They don't want you to sell a book through them and get a
cut anymore. They want to sell the book themselves.

I've noticed at least two publishers that have already relented
to A-n for printing AND publishing. When the books arrive, they
have a "Printed by A-n" stamp on the back page.

My guess is that those publishing houses are feeling some
financial difficulties and are on their way out. Meanwhile,
they probably feel fine just getting a small stipend from
printing and reselling by A-n.

It's a sad commentary.

Or the home appliance, or the power drill, or the...

Yep, that too. If you read the Wired article about the
Bookshop.org creator, his vision was to have a similar solution
for mom-pop hardware shops or any other type of independent
shop.

Meanwhile, A-n is playing dirty pricing tricks online as I
described above. I doubt that A-n "members" even notice,
falsely thinking that A-n *must* be the lowest pricing
anywhere.

Does the Spanish storefront of bookshop.org operate well? Is
the selection pretty good?
--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.57
* Origin: The LOOK of MicroNET https://kolico.ca/ftn/micronet (618:250/1.9)

Hello August,

01 May 23 22:24, you wrote to Arelor:

Meanwhile, A-n is playing dirty pricing tricks online as I
described above. I doubt that A-n "members" even notice,
falsely thinking that A-n *must* be the lowest pricing
anywhere.

Amazon is quite high most of the times with their pricing but between them, Walmart, and other large chains strangling mom-and-pop shops out of existance, out here in the sticks, Amazon is unfortunately the only choice for things. I use eBay when I can but sometimes it's a gamble with them.

-- Sean

--- GoldED+/BSD 1.1.5-b20220504
* Origin: Outpost BBS * Johnson City, TN (618:618/1)

Re: indie bookseller's day
By: August Abolins to Arelor on Mon May 01 2023 10:24 pm

Does the Spanish storefront of bookshop.org operate well? Is
the selection pretty good?

I haven't checked yet because I am overloaded with $work. It is in my todo list.

RE: Amazon. Amazon knows how much money you make per sale of product so they may
decide at any time to call your providers and outcompete you. If you are a seller you
will always be competing with Amazon unless you are a manufacturing house (because
Amazon cannot get your stuff from elsewhere yet).

Competing with your own distribution channel is a losing proposition and the reason I
have passed on a number of business proposals as of late.

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (618:250/24)

Re: indie bookseller's day
By: Sean Dennis to August Abolins on Tue May 02 2023 02:02 pm

Hello August,

01 May 23 22:24, you wrote to Arelor:

Meanwhile, A-n is playing dirty pricing tricks online as I
described above. I doubt that A-n "members" even notice,
falsely thinking that A-n *must* be the lowest pricing
anywhere.

Amazon is quite high most of the times with their pricing but between them, Walmart, and other large chains strangling mom-and-pop shops out of existance,
out here in the sticks, Amazon is unfortunately the only choice for things. I
use eBay when I can but sometimes it's a gamble with them.

-- Sean

--- GoldED+/BSD 1.1.5-b20220504
* Origin: Outpost BBS * Johnson City, TN (618:618/1)

Amazon tends to be on the high price end with non-chinified products. I think that is
deliberate.

Amazon s ranking algos are tailored to show cheap chinesse crap to customers before
good stuff, because Amazon has more probabilities of making more money selling lots of
junk than selling a few good items (this is becasue the way they bill sellers).

If you are a seller, selling some OK-to-good product is hard and you are kind of
forced to set high prices, else Amazon's fees eat your profit.

--
gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (618:250/24)

Amazon is quite high most of the times with their pricing but between them,

>Walmart, and other large chains strangling mom-and-pop shops out of existance
>out here in the sticks, Amazon is unfortunately the only choice for things.
>use eBay when I can but sometimes it's a gamble with them.

Yes, a few years ago if anyone asked me if I'd be an Amazon customer I'd have told them they were crazy but, also living out in the sticks - the nearest
town is 20 miles away and has a population of 7000 - you find yourself eventually not being able to buy a lot of things without driving 80 miles unless you do shop online. Price wise, I would more say, let the buyer
beware. Certain (non-Chinese) things are at a good price and others are
higher than in most stores. Shipping costs can be ridiculous, buy a $5 item
and they want $12 to ship it at times, but if you buy things Amazon carries
you can wait until you have $35+ worth to get free shipping unless you buy
so much that paying for Prime is worthwhile (it never was for me).

Like most things, there is good and bad about it. If it was all bad it
would have gone out of business long ago. Lately though I've been buying
quite a bit through Walmart online. If they have what you want at a good
price you have the advantage of 'often' getting free delivery to your
local store, or to your home if over $35 I believe, and the further
advantage of having a local store you can return it to at no cost if you
don't like it or there's any problem with it. Returning things to Amazon
is usually so much hassle that you end up eating the loss rather than
return it. That said, if you have any problem with a lot of Amazon things
the supplier will often replace or refund without you having to return
the item to them, much dependent on the cost and type of item of course.
---
* SLMR Rob * Cole's Law: Thinly sliced cabbage
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (618:250/1)

Rob Mccart wrote to SEAN DENNIS <=-

Yes, a few years ago if anyone asked me if I'd be an Amazon customer
I'd have told them they were crazy but, also living out in the sticks -

I didn't want to be an amazon customer but I am as well. We don't have
any local book stores left, and for the other things sometimes it's just
easier to click and have it delivered.

Shawn

... I didn't climb to the top of the food chain just to eat vegetables.

--- Talisman v0.47-dev (Windows/x86)
* Origin: Tiny's BBS II = tinysbbs.com:4323/ssh:4322 (618:500/33)

Hello Shawn!

I didn't want to be an amazon customer but I am as well.
We don't have any local book stores left, and for the
other things sometimes it's just easier to click and have
it delivered.

No indies in any of these nearby cities?

Uxbridge, Canada
Webstore: https://bookmanager.com/116158x/

Scarborough, Canada
Webstore: https://bookmanager.com/7600135/
and https://bookcity.ca

Millbrook, Canada
Webstore: https://bookmanager.com/1314149/

Port Hope, Canada
Webstore: https://bookmanager.com/1162411/

Aurora, Canada
Website: https://www.bookwormsco.com

Toronto, Canada
https://adifferentbooklist.com/
Webstore: https://bookmanager.com/1157949/
https://bookmanager.com/1684035/
https://bookmanager.com/7600763/
https://bookmanager.com/8100365/
https://goodegg.ca/
https://bookmanager.com/1158929/
https://bookmanager.com/8100594/
https://bookmanager.com/queenbk/
https://sleuthofbakerstreet.ca/
https://bookmanager.com/8100799/
https://typebooks.ca/
https://www.uoftbookstore.com/


Most of those site are powered by Bookmanager.. which means
they have access to any book you might be interested in and
order it for you.

--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.57
* Origin: (618:500/23.10)

I didn't want to be an amazon customer but I am as well.
We don't have any local book stores left, and for the
other things sometimes it's just easier to click and have
it delivered.

Another fine source for books, primarily discounted versions:

https://bookoutlet.ca/

"We offer free ground shipping on orders over $45 to addresses
in Canada and the United States (including US domestic and
overseas military addresses and US Protectorates). Orders under
this minimum are charged $7.95 for shipping, plus applicable
taxes."

And.. currently they have an additional 25% off their already
low discounted prices.


--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.57
* Origin: (618:500/23.10)

August Abolins wrote to Shawn Highfield <=-

No indies in any of these nearby cities?

None of those citys I want to drive to. :) Gas is
$1.55 a litre. Each of those places take about
an hour to get to. (Depending on traffic for Scarborough
and Toronto of course)

Shawn

... "Mount your horses, men!" "We're not that lonely, sir!"

--- Talisman v0.47-dev (Windows/x86)
* Origin: Tiny's BBS II = tinysbbs.com:4323/ssh:4322 (618:500/33)

Hello Shawn!

None of those citys I want to drive to. :) Gas is
$1.55 a litre. Each of those places take about
an hour to get to. (Depending on traffic for Scarborough
and Toronto of course)

Although a visit to a physical shops is part of the indie
experience, the point was to show their websites. Orders can be
placed online just like anywhere else. Full searches are
availble on their sites. And/or just call them.
--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.57
* Origin: The LOOK of MicroNET https://kolico.ca/ftn/micronet (618:250/1.9)