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> finding a book that wasn't in stock at your local store was a massive hassle and could take months. Or you could just ask your local store to order it for yo
by ectopod 5y ago
> finding a book that wasn't in stock at your local store was a massive hassle and could take months.
Or you could just ask your local store to order it for you and you would have it in a week. It's not like this was an unusual situation.
- ghaff 5y agoThere was a time when that was definitely not the norm. You looked a book up in a big Books in Print volume and an order could take quite a long time to come in. Yes, the situation improved over time with certain big city bookstores and then Barnes and Noble prior to Amazon. But I can certainly remember a time when getting things generally that weren't in local stock took considerable effort and time.
- beezle 5y agoI would be fine ordering from a local store and waiting but not if they are going to charge me full price as if they had to keep stock on the shelves.
- ectopod 5y agoBack in the day (round these parts anyway) books were always full price [1]. Nowadays, I'm not going to pay full price to wait for a week either, but there are alternatives to Amazon. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Book_Agreement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Book_Agreement