Online shopping habits disrupted! — Poll warning
As crazy as it sounds, it took me two days to place an order for a book on BN.com. It’s a reference book, so I really wanted the hard copy. Amazon only sold it as Kindle or hardback (for $40). B&N had a paperback version, and it was 25% off. Perfect.
But then there’s shipping. It’s only $4, but the idea of it bugged me so I tried to find another book I wanted to bump my order up to $25. I couldn’t find another book I really wanted enough to spend money on, so I decided to stick with my original order. On Amazon, it’s easy to find a little item or beauty product to get the order to the free shipping min, but not at B&N. But the experience made me think about how ingrained my online shopping habits are, particularly for books.
Where do you like to shop online for books, and why? For reference or research materials I use Amazon, especially when I get a used item with free shipping. When it comes to fiction, I try to buy from publishers, but will often wait till there’s a sale. I used to load up on books at Fictionwise when they had the 40% off sales. As an author, I discovered I got almost no royalties on FW sales, and that was why. People only bought there when there was a sale.
Is price the most important issue? Convenience? I admit to impulse buys on the Kindle. Some publishers, like Silver and Total e-Bound have reader loyalty programs, and All Romance eBooks gives you 1 free for every 10 books you purchase. Or do you like to support your favorite publishers and authors and shop on the publisher site where they get full royalties?
And now, the polls.
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2 Responses to “Online shopping habits disrupted! — Poll warning”
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I was given a Nook, otherwise, I’m sure I’d do more buying from Amazon. I was slow to learn how to use the Nook too, and if it hadn’t been for friends doing the Lend Me option and teaching me how to use it, I suspect it would still be my last choice when it comes to buying books.
As an author myself now, I try to buy direct from the publisher in order to support my fellow authors as much as possible, but sadly, I’m not buying as many books as I used to simply because of lack of time and money.
I’m seeing a slow trend toward reading more again though, as well as starting to buy more books and not necessarily waiting for a sale. Part of it is impatience and the monkey-see, monkey-want mentality. Part of it is realizing how many book titles I’ve forgotten to mark down and never can find or remember again. But the biggest part is a shift in the economy. Maybe other people aren’t seeing changes yet, but my stays are not as tight as they used to be. 🙂 I have a little more discretionary income, while at the same time, a greater need for escapism. Yeah, perfect book buyers mentality there!
I’m with you on the see-now, buy-now! If the book isn’t available when I hear or read about it, I tend to forget. I put things on wishlists and then when I go back I can’t remember why I wanted to read it.
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