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Unfortunately we haven't found a great way to price externalities correctly - whether the positive externalities of a local bookshop, or the negative externalit
by CalRobert 6y ago
Unfortunately we haven't found a great way to price externalities correctly - whether the positive externalities of a local bookshop, or the negative externalities of online commerce.
Of course, there are negative externalities to local stores (people demand the right to drive there, for some odd reason, though Portland does better here than most), and positive externalities to online shopping (more efficient distribution, etc.) but regardless we do a terrible job at pricing them.
- qubex 6y agoI live in Milan so the whole shopping-experience thing is still very much a part of my daily life. I realise that it’s different in the world of malls and big-box stores.
- icebraining 6y agoThe Lello bookstore in Porto, Portugal has a lot of visitors just for sightseeing (if you search for photos you'll get why), so they started to charge €3 (~$3.6) for the entrance, refundable if you purchased a book. Still, seems like Powell's experience is all about the books themselves, so that value should be well captured in increased sales.
- CalRobert 6y agoI have never managed to visit Powells without buying a book, which helps!