endymion said:

What the shit does that have to do with ass?

Imago said:

The beach is full of ass

This will make even more turn up

OK, I know this sounds insane, but Wal-mart cut it's prices on 10 brandnew book titles to $10 a couple weeks ago to compete with Amazon.

Amazon then lowered it's prices on those titles to $10 to match Walmart.

Target fallowed suit.

Then Walmart slaced the prices several times to arrive at a price at $8.98 a book for those brandnew hard cover powers.


The problem I have with this is that it's forcing smaller companies, and mom and pop shops to lower prices on the same titles to prices they already can NOT afford. It's hurting the small guy.


I admit, I *love* the concept of a hard cover book for less than $10, but this affects the small guy much more so than it helps out the big box stores.

ZombieKitten said:

that is a fucking AWESOME idea! seriously...no sarcasm here. That's what imma do this year. Get everyone a bookstore gift certificate. Might be problematic in the states though...there's not many "book only" stores. They all slang CD's, software, coffee and any number of items that would inject loopholes into the point of the gift.

babynoz said:

I'm not talking about audio books. We use electronic books. Kindle for iphone and read them that way.So there's still the whole ritual of settling into bed to read.
Except the book doesn't weight 3 pounds and hit you in the face when you fall asleep.

But I tend to be a slow and impatient reader with books sometimes, I might try some audio books. Never have.
[Edited 10/21/09 11:27am]

I really think I would enjoy managing a Borders bookstore.

By Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 10/22/2009 4:30:00 PM
In a letter sent to the antitrust division of the Department of Justice Thursday, the board of directors of the American Booksellers Association requested that the government begin an investigation into what the organization believes is the illegal predatory pricing policies being carried out by Amazon, Wal-Mart and Target in selling 10 hardcover titles for as low as $8.98. The ABA requested a meeting with officials as soon as possible, arguing that left unchecked, the predatory pricing policies “will devastate not only the book industry, but our collective ability to remain a society where the widest range of ideas are always made available to the public.”

The letter charged that the big box retailers are using predatory pricing practices to “attempt to win control of the market for hardcover bestsellers.” By selling books below cost, Amazon, Wal-Mart and Target “are devaluing the very concept of the book. Authors and publishers, and ultimately consumers, stand to lose a great deal if this practice continues and/or grows,” the letter stated. Furthermore, the letter noted, the companies involved in the price war are not engaged primarily in selling books, yet their fight could result in the entire book industry becoming collateral damage.

The letter added that the price war over hardcovers was precipitated by Amazon’s decision to price e-books at $9.99. “We believe the loss-leader pricing of digital content also bears scrutiny,” the letter stated.

The ABA took action on this today:


http://www.publishersweek...03525.html

RodeoSchro said:

would U hire me. I love alphabetizing and reading.

BobGeorge909 said:

I certainly would. At the highest possible pay rate, too.

The ABA took action on this today:


http://www.publishersweek...03525.html

Efan said:

WOW.

What companies like Wal-mart, Target, and Amazon don't own up to is that by pricing something so low, they actually hurt the manufacturer and wholesaler. Yall should google how the Walmart relationship with Vlassic pickles worked out. Vlassic agreed to sell a 1-gallon pickle jar at Walmart for $2.98 which was unheard of at the time. Although the items were very popular, Vlassic started to lose money on their items because the profit margin was so low, and because pickel companies don't make money off their larger items--they make money off of smaller jars of specialty pickels---sliced, spears, etc. The Wal-mart Gallon pickle jar actually caused consumers to stop buying those other pickle jars off the shelves of other stores as well as their own stores.
Although not 100% the reason for Vlassic's bankruptcy a couple years later, it was a contributing factor. Vlassic tried to get Wal-mart to raise the price but just a few cents, but Wal-mart wouldn't. They threatened Vlassic by saying that if Vlassic didn't want to offer the deal, plenty of other companies would. The problem with this is that Walmart was so huge, that this would have hurt Vlassic considerably---Walmart was giving them a choice between slavery and instant bankruptcy.

All big box companies now employ the same tactics. They've so efficiently damaged local competition in communities that they are able to do this with ease.

I don't believe we can legislate the problem--this only damages the economy. I do believe that we can, as citizens, support smaller mom and pop and local operations whenever possible and ensure competition based on values other than "is it the cheapest deal.". How about values like, do they give me good service? Do they care about me as a customer? Am I helping my community?

.
[Edited 10/23/09 8:11am]