Why you shouldn't support independent bookstores...

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IggysWildRide

Member
Jun 5, 2013
17
80
Yep, time to take a stick to the wasp nest, stir things up a bit. But before you guys swarm on me, hear me out.

I do support indie bookstores…so long as they give me reason to. And by "reason," I mean extra goodies: author signings, readings, etc. Provide a service that isn't available at B&N or Amazon, and I'll gladly hand over the extra cash. Make it worth my wild.

And, no, the "experience" isn't worth an extra $15 bucks for each book. What's more, I don't cave to the 'Oh, but the people working at THOSE bookstores love books. They do it for the love of reading, so we should support them.' Uh, no. I know girls who work at B&N who love to read just as much as anyone. So we should ignore them because they're attached to a big corporation?

Like libraries (where I still go weekly), local bookstores are a part of culture, something that every town should have. But hey, every town should have an arcade too, filled with bulky cabinet games like Super Mario Bros. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Then again, arcade owners couldn't exactly ask Luigi or Ms Pac Man to drop by for a visit, now could they...
 

Sundrop

Sunny the Great & Wonderful
Jun 12, 2008
28,520
156,619
This is why I will always support my local independent businesses first.

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skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
There's merit to your argument, I suppose, and I do shop Amazon when the price is too good to pass up. To demand that small bookstores provide 'goodies' is not productive, though. Most don't have the sales to attract signings/readings by major authors.

What I think might be worth looking into for these owners is forming cooperatives to purchase books. The reason small booksellers' prices are far above a big box store is that they buy in small quantities, and so pay premium prices--not much less than you're paying at the register.

I personally go to the library and troll second hand shops for most of my books.
 

blunthead

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2006
80,755
195,461
Atlanta GA
Yep, time to take a stick to the wasp nest, stir things up a bit. But before you guys swarm on me, hear me out.

I do support indie bookstores…so long as they give me reason to. And by "reason," I mean extra goodies: author signings, readings, etc. Provide a service that isn't available at B&N or Amazon, and I'll gladly hand over the extra cash. Make it worth my wild...
Wild you're at it, why don't you say what you mean? Just kidding. =D I buy all kinds of things online because I enjoy doing so, especially since some things are available only that way, some things are cheaper, and I don't have to be socially acceptable that way. I do bemoan the negative impact big box stores have on independent businesses, and like the idea of spending some of my extra money, which isn't much, supporting mom and pop. But it's the law of supply and demand, and consumers will go where they can spend less. Then I believe they tend to forget about shopping any other way.

Consequently, when a friend suggested we go to a used book store I remembered such places. It was a great time and I bought a pile of books, without caring whether or not I could find them cheaper elsewhere. (Imho, they were very reasonably priced - I would not have bought a bunch, otherwise. Maybe just a bunch). I think such places stay in business due to principle. Enough people believe in certain things enough to decide to afford this or that.
 
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Shasta

On his shell he holds the earth.
And, no, the "experience" isn't worth an extra $15 bucks for each book. What's more, I don't cave to the 'Oh, but the people working at THOSE bookstores love books. They do it for the love of reading, so we should support them.' Uh, no. I know girls who work at B&N who love to read just as much as anyone. So we should ignore them because they're attached to a big corporation?
How about the fact that bookstores create massive amounts of jobs that Amazon never could?

It's a bolster to the economy and your local community.

I think we need to support ANY book store. And you and anyone else who don't agree also need to watch Inequality for All, which is apparently become my new mantra. It talks about this exact thing.
 

carrie's younger brother

Well-Known Member
Mar 8, 2012
5,428
25,651
NJ
How about the fact that bookstores create massive amounts of jobs that Amazon never could?

It's a bolster to the economy and your local community.

I think we need to support ANY book store. And you and anyone else who don't agree also need to watch Inequality for All, which is apparently become my new mantra. It talks about this exact thing.
Just playing the devil's advocate...
Amazon does indeed create a lot of jobs. Maybe more than a whole slew of indy bookstores could ever hope to create. Think about the thousands of people it uses to staff its fulfillment centers. And then all the people who in turn work at Fedex, UPS, etc. delivering what Amazon sells.

Just another way to look at it.
 

IggysWildRide

Member
Jun 5, 2013
17
80
Just playing the devil's advocate...
Amazon does indeed create a lot of jobs. Maybe more than a whole slew of indy bookstores could ever hope to create. Think about the thousands of people it uses to staff its fulfillment centers. And then all the people who in turn work at Fedex, UPS, etc. delivering what Amazon sells.

Just another way to look at it.

:devil: Thank you, advocate.
 

Shasta

On his shell he holds the earth.
Just playing the devil's advocate...
Amazon does indeed create a lot of jobs. Maybe more than a whole slew of indy bookstores could ever hope to create. Think about the thousands of people it uses to staff its fulfillment centers. And then all the people who in turn work at Fedex, UPS, etc. delivering what Amazon sells.

Just another way to look at it.

An economic study was done on that and it's not at all true. Watch the movie!!
 

VampireLily

Vampire Goddess & Consumer of men's souls.
Jul 25, 2013
1,469
8,829
New Jersey
Just playing the devil's advocate...
Amazon does indeed create a lot of jobs. Maybe more than a whole slew of indy bookstores could ever hope to create. Think about the thousands of people it uses to staff its fulfillment centers. And then all the people who in turn work at Fedex, UPS, etc. delivering what Amazon sells.

Just another way to look at it.


agreed..... they opened a new center in New jersey which employed over 2,000 people who needed work here.
 

Autumn Gust

Well-Known Member
Sep 20, 2012
3,360
15,346
I'm a big fan of Amazon because of its unlimited depth. For example: I'm a civil war buff. Over the years I've read all the popular, bestselling, and classic books on the subject. These are the books found at independent and used book stores (and at the public library, for that matter). Now, after more than twenty years of studying it, I seek out dry, dusty tomes :sleeping: :tennis: on very specific and often obscure civil war subject matter. My chances of finding these kinds of books in a "real" bookstore are almost nonexistent. True, I might get lucky on occasion but my study of the subject would come to a standstill because I'd never have access to new material. Amazon will scour the world to find a book for me. Thing is, the books I buy are so non-mainstream, they end up coming from an Amazon private dealer anyway.
 

Grandpa

Well-Known Member
Mar 2, 2014
9,724
53,642
Colorado
i like local bookstores. I like doctors making house calls. I like getting my haircut from Harold, the local barber, who's been running his shop since 1952. I like getting groceries from the corner store. I like calling the travel agent to set up my next trip.

What I like doesn't matter. What is supported by the economies and the realities of the world is what matters. So I will go to the doctor's office, I will go to Cost Cutters when Harold shuts down, I will go to Krogers after the corner shop shutters up, and I can't find my travel agent anymore and will book my own flights online.

And I will keep going to my local book store... wait, that closed up too. Damn. So now and then, I've gone to the Tattered Cover in Denver, which I remember as the best bookstore in the world, but then they moved and downsized, and it's another bookstore.

Sigh. The world doesn't change in obedience to our individual pick-and-choose models.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
..I'm with you G-Paw...my granddad Denny was an MD who MADE housecalls well into the late 60's...I know he was my grandpa, but there was just something extra comforting about seeing the man walk through the door with the well-worn black bag in hand...never could convince him to not leave the damn thing in the car on cold nights, so that his stethoscope wouldn't stun you upon auscultation...