Thursday, May 6, 2010

AND AN ADDITIONAL 10% OFF WITH YOUR MEMBERSHIP CARD: Can someone explain to me how Barnes & Noble makes its discounting decisions? I was in one last night, planning on picking up Innocent, only to find it only marked down 20%, rather than the 30% typical for bestsellers. In contrast, the week's other two big new releases--the Laura Bush memoir and the new Sookie/True Blood book (I tried both the books and the show, and found them pretty much awful)--were already marked down by 30%. I was willing to pay a little more for the convenience of having the book right now, but not nearly 20% more than what Amazon is charging. Innocent probably won't go to #1 (the Sookie books have fans that are too devoted, and Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest and the new Reacher book are probably headed for near the top before the Twlight novella sucks all the air out of the room), but it's going to be a bestseller--why was it singled out for lower discounting?

5 comments:

  1. Awesome, I didn't know there was a new Reacher coming out.  Love those books.

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  2. isaac_spaceman1:10 PM

    Wild ass guess here, but could it be that B&N isn't getting the discount on Innocent that it gets on other books, and therefore doesn't have as much discount to pass on?

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  3. Possible, but it's going to be at 30% once it hits the bestseller list (and Amazon is selling it at 46% off), so seems unlikely. 

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  4. gretchen3:00 PM

    Shot in the dark -- is it possible that B&N has decided that the Innocent demographic is better-off and/or less price-sensitive?

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  5. RandomRanter8:51 AM

    Well, Amazon often discounts things regardless of the break they get from the publisher, figuring they'll make up the loss in volume.  And I've noticed both B&N and Borders usually wait until it hits the list, probably figuring rabid fans will buy now, rather than waiting the extra week.

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