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Amazon has probably completely automated the process. Without knowing whether the book will sell 1 or 100,000 copies they can automatically switch between print

Amazon has probably completely automated the process. Without knowing whether the book will sell 1 or 100,000 copies they can automatically switch between print-on-demand and printing runs. They can do this because they can ship from any warehouse to your door. They can send the initial short printing run to a single warehouse and then scale up if necessary. A bookstore relies on having enough copies available at every store, so they would need to at a minimum ship and shelve some copies to all their large branches.

killjoywashere 8y ago
> A bookstore relies on having enough copies available at every store The bookstore syndicate could collaborate with a third-party, like alibris.
- wolfgke 8y ago
  > > A bookstore relies on having enough copies available at every store > The bookstore syndicate could collaborate with a third-party, like alibris. This is exactly my line of argument and the reason why I wrote "Why doesn't the bookstore syndicate [...]". A single bookstore clearly cannot manage this on its own. The bookstore syndicate, on the other hand, has much more options available.
  - lozenge 8y ago
    Either they are selling online only like Amazon, or they need to print and ship books to hundreds of retail stores. Whether they are a bookstore or a bookstore syndicate makes no difference.
    - killjoywashere 8y ago
      The stores can cast themselves as warehouses, print one copy and see if it sells either in-store, or online through Alibris. If yes, print 2, warehouse at 2 other stores (which can incidentally be "warehoused" on display shelves). If sold, print 4. If sold, print 8. O(n^2) up to some point then switch to linear or O(log(n)) growth. Eventually, your last run will print.
clintonb 8y ago
On-demand printing is one way to get around the inventory problem. Harvard Book Store[0] has offered this service for at least seven years. [0] http://www.harvard.com/clubs_services/books_on_demand/ http://www.harvard.com/clubs_services/books_on_demand/

killjoywashere 8y ago

> A bookstore relies on having enough copies available at every store The bookstore syndicate could collaborate with a third-party, like alibris.

wolfgke 8y ago
> > A bookstore relies on having enough copies available at every store > The bookstore syndicate could collaborate with a third-party, like alibris. This is exactly my line of argument and the reason why I wrote "Why doesn't the bookstore syndicate [...]". A single bookstore clearly cannot manage this on its own. The bookstore syndicate, on the other hand, has much more options available.
- lozenge 8y ago
  Either they are selling online only like Amazon, or they need to print and ship books to hundreds of retail stores. Whether they are a bookstore or a bookstore syndicate makes no difference.
  - killjoywashere 8y ago
    The stores can cast themselves as warehouses, print one copy and see if it sells either in-store, or online through Alibris. If yes, print 2, warehouse at 2 other stores (which can incidentally be "warehoused" on display shelves). If sold, print 4. If sold, print 8. O(n^2) up to some point then switch to linear or O(log(n)) growth. Eventually, your last run will print.

clintonb 8y ago

On-demand printing is one way to get around the inventory problem. Harvard Book Store[0] has offered this service for at least seven years. [0] http://www.harvard.com/clubs_services/books_on_demand/ http://www.harvard.com/clubs_services/books_on_demand/