3 ms·
I'm a bit surprised that Amazon said listed "no returns" as one of the differences with ebooks. I have personal experience with their incredibly generous ebook
by fpgeek 12y ago
I'm a bit surprised that Amazon said listed "no returns" as one of the differences with ebooks. I have personal experience with their incredibly generous ebook return policy (right in line with their other generous return policies).
Is this an implicit admission that Amazon is eating the cost of those returns? Or do they mean something specific like the physical infrastructure for returns?
- jmedefind 12y agoWhen I worked at a bookstore we would ship boxes full of un-sold books back to the publishers every month (Mostly consisting of cheap Romance novels). I imagine having to track and handle all of that to be a major cost to publishers.
- pyoung 12y agoI believe I re-call an internet comment (most likely on HN) about how some publishers would instruct bookstores to shred the unsold copies. Apparently it was cheaper than shipping them back and trying to re-sell them somewhere else.
- gknoy 12y agoIs there any way to find out when they're going to do this, so I can offer to buy a few? :D
- mcguire 12y agoAccording to the agreements (that used to be) in place between publishers, distributors, and booksellers, that would be a very serious no-no.
- mhd 12y agoIsn't this why you get the warning in every paperback book about covers being ripped off?
- mcguire 12y agoBoxes of unsold books? Not just the covers? Publishers don't want paperbacks back, they just want proof that the book didn't sell. That was always just the front cover. You may have shipped the books to someone who did the stripping, but I very much doubt the publisher ever saw the text block.
- x0x0 12y agonot returns from consumers; returns of unsold books from a physical store to the publisher