> they take on risk when they order books ahead of those sales I think this varies by country, but in the United States most books are "returnable", meaning th

> they take on risk when they order books ahead of those sales I think this varies by country, but in the United States most books are "returnable", meaning that the publisher gives you full credit if you return them. In addition, publishers often don't require payment of the invoice for quite some time after the books have been received. There's little or no risk involved, other than the opportunity cost of not having the shelf space for something else. That's for hardcovers. For paperbacks and periodicals, often the publisher only requires tearing off the front cover and returning that. The bookseller is supposed to destroy the rest of the publication, but unscrupulous ones often launder these so-called "stripped books" through third-party brokers.