Slog: News & Arts

RSS icon Comments on Turn That Frown Upside Down

1

Hachette is no great company, either... I'd sooner boycott them any day (and do).

Posted by Simac | August 6, 2008 5:36 PM
2

It does appear that Hachette Livre titles are "out of stock" if one wishes to purchase directly from amazon.co.uk. Also, amazon display links to purchase the used or new volumes from other retailers or individual sellers -- is that a feature many bookstores offer?

Posted by Dan | August 6, 2008 6:18 PM
3

Indeed. Tried to buy a camera from one of their sellers and they canceled the order to make me re-buy at a higher price. Customer service doesn't exist. Fuck 'em.

Posted by karst | August 6, 2008 6:28 PM
4

It's awful easy to be smug about your source of books when you've got an Elliot Bay or Powell's around the next corner.

In lots of parts of America, online vendors like Amazon.com are the only places to get LGBT or alternative literature. Amazon has also quietly become one of the best places for people to get sex toys- err, "marital aids"- in communities that ban the sale of such items.

But, boo big companies!!!

(It is true however that buying from an Amazon vendor doesn't give you the same customer service as buying from Amazon proper, and it's easy to miss the fact that you're really buying something from momandpopsavequipment.com...)

Posted by Big Sven | August 6, 2008 7:11 PM
5

You know, unlike buying from Amazon, when I sent an email to ireadatleastasfarastheladenburgendorsement@thestranger.com it bounced.

You should fix that ....
The Postfix program

: host
mx1.emailsrvr.com[207.97.245.101] said: 550 5.1.1
: Recipient
address rejected: User unknown in relay recipient table (in reply to RCPT
TO command)

And give the JD to PopTart and the $50 to the Fremont Arts Council to fix the graffiti tags on the mural at Bridgeway Ave N ....

Posted by Will in Seattle | August 6, 2008 7:23 PM
6

Cue Amy Kate to defend Amazon (they are local, after all). Or has she left the Stranger?

Posted by quick | August 6, 2008 7:52 PM
7

Hachette are crooks, so good for them.

Posted by Sirkowski | August 6, 2008 8:24 PM
8

There's an even uglier story about Amazon informing all publishers that use print-on-demand (POD) for producing books that the publishers must use in-house BookSurge POD if they want to get the best treatment on the site. POD books can be very high quality these days (not just vanity or odd tomes), and many smaller publishers keep backlists in stock through POD. The Author's Guild, a venerable institution for writers, has a POD program for its members, and their list includes some very fine books indeed that aren't kept in warehouses in large numbers.

The details are involved, but it's a pretty big blow to hundreds to thousands of publishers representing probably tens of thousands of books. My friends, Richard and Angie Hoy of Booklocker, have filed a lawsuit against Amazon in which they spell out the details.

Posted by Glenn Fleishman | August 6, 2008 9:17 PM
9

I guess that means I won't be buying this any time soon:

http://www.vintagepbks.com/gg-images/fr_hunting.jpg

One can however acquire the related and painfully obscure:

*The Capercaillie in Scotland: With Some Account of the Extension of Its Range since Its Restoration at Taymouth in 1837 and 1838 (Paperback)* - in stock at Amazon, one presumes, through the magic of POD (surely this was never published in paperback).

Posted by kinaidos | August 6, 2008 10:15 PM
10

Amazon, Wal-Marting publishing companies now.

Posted by Silverstar98121 | August 6, 2008 10:44 PM
11

That's the way the book business works. If a publisher doesn't give enough discount or co-op to the store, you wouldn't even see that book in the store to buy; so the analogy in the original post doesn't hold up.

Posted by whateva | August 6, 2008 10:51 PM
12

@4 Have you tried customer service from amazon proper? Even worse than the third party support.

There were even some occasions where a brand new copy from amazon came looking like it had been left on a freeway for 24 hours. This is a multinational company not a black market fence.

(oh wait)

Posted by karst | August 6, 2008 11:43 PM
13

Retailers make deals like this all the time. As long as it's not anti-competitive there's little that can be done.

This isn't a valid reason to boycott them unless you're going to boycott pretty much every retailer.

Posted by booji boy | August 6, 2008 11:49 PM
14

That's a smile, not an upside-down frown! Work on that, too!

Posted by gmoney | August 7, 2008 12:13 AM
15

I checked out a handful of Hachette Livre books on the UK site. All had "Add to shopping basket" buttons.

What they didn't have was 1-click turned on.

Namely the ones listed on the front page of this page:
http://www.hachettelivre.co.uk/

Posted by King Rat | August 7, 2008 1:08 AM
16

@11: that's how b&n and borders work, but your local indie bookstore likely has plenty of short discount books on the shelves. as long as some folks out there want that title, it earns a place on the shelves, even if it doesn't have the same margin. gigantor places only want books they make a higher profit on.

Posted by anna | August 7, 2008 1:43 AM
17

@16: then those local indie bookstores must have near-infinite shelf space! Everybody decides their inventory (and prices) somehow.

Posted by whateva | August 7, 2008 7:41 AM
18

I'm sorry, is this Slog or did I stumble upon the booksellerinsider blog? Enough already.

Posted by rjh | August 7, 2008 8:42 AM
19

@18 I disagree. This is a nice change from the usual personal attacks that reign here.

Posted by Will in 98103 | August 7, 2008 8:54 AM
20

Paul, I'm going to boycott advertisers in The Stranger.

Posted by The Shareholder | August 7, 2008 9:11 AM
21


The Amazon "Marketplace" is a great way to shop as well...are they restricting the indie book sellers?

It basically speaks to the downside of "portal" sites rather than each vendor having its own web page, pricing, etc.

Long Tail can snap up and whip Amazon sometimes.

Posted by John Bailo | August 7, 2008 9:26 AM
22

So, when is the next ABA?

Posted by Will in Seattle | August 7, 2008 10:36 AM

Comments Closed

Comments are closed on this post.