4 ms·

All the customers are there and the company has perhaps spent more time than any other figuring out how to sell books to people. They're better at it than every

All the customers are there and the company has perhaps spent more time than any other figuring out how to sell books to people. They're better at it than everyone else.

Ma8ee 3y ago
Not all the customers. I actively avoid Amazon since quite a few years back. There are literally dozens of us!
- reaperducer 3y ago
  I was up early one day getting coffee, and saw that one of the book stores in my neighborhood had a line of about 30 people of all ages outside waiting for it to open. I figured it was an event, and had nothing else to do, so I got in line, too. When the doors opened, they all scattered to different parts of the store. So, no author signing or music release. Just people who like books.
  - sva_ 3y ago
    > had nothing else to do, so I got in line, too Are you British by any chance?
    - B1FF_PSUVM 3y ago
      Well, at least he didn't ask anyone what was the event, which is quite proper since they had not been introduced.
  - lacrimacida 3y ago
    Im glad you had a great experience in the bookstore. Unfortunately many bookstores had to close down because of giants like Amazon. Some will stay open but much fewer than before as it becomes a niche rather than a widespread phenomena. I fondly remember spending lots of time in bookstores in the 2000s, it was my favorite pasttime. The experience of browsing books in a bookstore cannot be and will never be produced by the likes of Amazon.
    - ghaff 3y ago
      >Unfortunately many bookstores had to close down because of giants like Amazon. At least around where I live, this wasn't a single-step process. What happened was that big bookstores (both chains and local) started pushing out the mom and pop indies. And then they themselves complained as Amazon in particular ate their lunch. I really did like going into town to do various shopping, in particular bookstore (new and used) browsing, once or twice a month. On the other hand, I can't say I hate instant ebook delivery or a physical copy in a day or two if that's what I want for some reason.
repelsteeltje 3y ago
So not much authors can do. As a consumer, I invest time and money to try buy elsewhere (and boycott Amazon) when I can, but it's not always easy. Also, I'm aware that these kind of Don Quixote boycots seldomly have an impact macro economically. Nevertheless, I keep trying...
- shever73 3y ago
  I’m the same. I haven’t bought anything from Amazon in nearly 4 years. The top spot on my “worst companies in the world” list is usually tied between Amazon, Meta and Nestle. Macroeconomically, it probably makes precisely zero difference, but it makes me feel better to be supporting local shops.
zilti 3y ago
Maybe in the USA, but over here, many book stores are a lot better at selling books (both on- and offline) than Amazon
- dageshi 3y ago
  I read a lot of books. It's pretty much my main source of entertainment. Nobody else came up with something like Kindle Unlimited where you pay a flat fee and read as much as you want instantly. There's entire genres that only exist on amazon that will never appear in a bookstore.
  - felurx 3y ago
    You are describing a library. Those have been around for quite a while. Nowadays, many do have online offers where you can "borrow" e-books. Of course, any library's catalogue is probably smaller than Amazons, but they usually are quite up-to-date with mainstream stuff and have more than you could ever hope to read in any case. Plus you get to have a warm fuzzy feeling for supporting an institution that is really good for your local community :)
    - dageshi 3y ago
      I'd frankly rather just support the author directly. They wrote a book, I'm happy to pay for it in some manner and Kindle Unlimited honestly seems like the fairest possible solution, I as a reader aren't required to buy in advance, I can try it to see if I enjoy it and if I do the author gets paid per page read.
  - tomrod 3y ago
    In my areas we have puli libraries with interlinear loan. Being able to read for pleasure is a wonderful luxury!
    - Kye 3y ago
      I think I would miss PINES if I ever left Georgia. The nearest library is tiny, but I can have any of 10 million books delivered to it. And if the system doesn't have it, they appreciate and respond to requests.
andirk 3y ago
My friend bought a book that was literal gibberish in its thousands of pages. Yes he got a refund. The question still stands, especially among an open source community, WHY is Amazon the defacto? I argue let's stop that

All the customers are there and the company has perhaps spent more time than any other figuring out how to sell books to people. They're better at it than everyone else.

Ma8ee 3y ago

Not all the customers. I actively avoid Amazon since quite a few years back. There are literally dozens of us!

reaperducer 3y ago
I was up early one day getting coffee, and saw that one of the book stores in my neighborhood had a line of about 30 people of all ages outside waiting for it to open. I figured it was an event, and had nothing else to do, so I got in line, too. When the doors opened, they all scattered to different parts of the store. So, no author signing or music release. Just people who like books.
- sva_ 3y ago
  > had nothing else to do, so I got in line, too Are you British by any chance?
  - B1FF_PSUVM 3y ago
    Well, at least he didn't ask anyone what was the event, which is quite proper since they had not been introduced.
- lacrimacida 3y ago
  Im glad you had a great experience in the bookstore. Unfortunately many bookstores had to close down because of giants like Amazon. Some will stay open but much fewer than before as it becomes a niche rather than a widespread phenomena. I fondly remember spending lots of time in bookstores in the 2000s, it was my favorite pasttime. The experience of browsing books in a bookstore cannot be and will never be produced by the likes of Amazon.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    >Unfortunately many bookstores had to close down because of giants like Amazon. At least around where I live, this wasn't a single-step process. What happened was that big bookstores (both chains and local) started pushing out the mom and pop indies. And then they themselves complained as Amazon in particular ate their lunch. I really did like going into town to do various shopping, in particular bookstore (new and used) browsing, once or twice a month. On the other hand, I can't say I hate instant ebook delivery or a physical copy in a day or two if that's what I want for some reason.

repelsteeltje 3y ago

So not much authors can do. As a consumer, I invest time and money to try buy elsewhere (and boycott Amazon) when I can, but it's not always easy. Also, I'm aware that these kind of Don Quixote boycots seldomly have an impact macro economically. Nevertheless, I keep trying...

shever73 3y ago
I’m the same. I haven’t bought anything from Amazon in nearly 4 years. The top spot on my “worst companies in the world” list is usually tied between Amazon, Meta and Nestle. Macroeconomically, it probably makes precisely zero difference, but it makes me feel better to be supporting local shops.

zilti 3y ago

Maybe in the USA, but over here, many book stores are a lot better at selling books (both on- and offline) than Amazon

dageshi 3y ago
I read a lot of books. It's pretty much my main source of entertainment. Nobody else came up with something like Kindle Unlimited where you pay a flat fee and read as much as you want instantly. There's entire genres that only exist on amazon that will never appear in a bookstore.
- felurx 3y ago
  You are describing a library. Those have been around for quite a while. Nowadays, many do have online offers where you can "borrow" e-books. Of course, any library's catalogue is probably smaller than Amazons, but they usually are quite up-to-date with mainstream stuff and have more than you could ever hope to read in any case. Plus you get to have a warm fuzzy feeling for supporting an institution that is really good for your local community :)
  - dageshi 3y ago
    I'd frankly rather just support the author directly. They wrote a book, I'm happy to pay for it in some manner and Kindle Unlimited honestly seems like the fairest possible solution, I as a reader aren't required to buy in advance, I can try it to see if I enjoy it and if I do the author gets paid per page read.
- tomrod 3y ago
  In my areas we have puli libraries with interlinear loan. Being able to read for pleasure is a wonderful luxury!
  - Kye 3y ago
    I think I would miss PINES if I ever left Georgia. The nearest library is tiny, but I can have any of 10 million books delivered to it. And if the system doesn't have it, they appreciate and respond to requests.

andirk 3y ago

My friend bought a book that was literal gibberish in its thousands of pages. Yes he got a refund. The question still stands, especially among an open source community, WHY is Amazon the defacto? I argue let's stop that