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Borders is Going Down

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  • I don't know if I would. Even deep discounts wouldn't beat used bookstore prices, and Borders' have had weak, ass-old stock by and large for a long time now. Do you really need a crappy coffee table genero-history book?
    I'd probably pillage any manga/graphic novels that are on huge discount that I've been holding off on and pillage any crafting/knitting books in stock.
  • It depends if the prices go below Amazon levels or not. I remember when Media Play went down, many prices didn't drop that significantly. By the time the prices were low enough to be worth it, the remaining stock was all crap nobody wanted. Even $5 is still too much for an old Photon DVD.
  • Big artist books. You know those huge ones that have like, an artists entire works, or an entire movement in a single volume? The ones with full page color prints and stuff? Yeah. I'd be on those like a starving bird of prey on a fat fanboy passing out in the street because of the heat at Otakon.
  • Big artist books. You know those huge ones that have like, an artists entire works, or an entire movement in a single volume? The ones with full page color prints and stuff? Yeah. I'd be on those like a starving bird of prey on a fat fanboy passing out in the street because of the heat at Otakon.
    They're probably still cheaper on Amazon. Every liquidation I've seen in the past rarely goes down below the %50 off mark, and that's only after most of the good stuff already got bought at %20 or %40 off. Amazon sells a lot of stuff at that discount level every single day.
  • That's why you go in with a smart phone with a bar-code reader and compare prices....
  • That's why you go in with a smart phone with a bar-code reader and compare prices....
    Or stay home and play games.
  • Or stay home and play games.
    Well that's what I will do probably (I have enough books).
  • Audiobooks > regular books.

    You can pirate audiobooks. Technically you can pirate ebooks too but unless you've got an e-reader who wants to do that?
  • I don't know if I would. Even deep discounts wouldn't beat used bookstore prices, and Borders' have had weak, ass-old stock by and large for a long time now. Do you really need a crappy coffee table genero-history book?
    I'd probably pillage any manga/graphic novels that are on huge discount that I've been holding off on and pillage any crafting/knitting books in stock.
    Yeah, we'd go straight for the knitting books! Those bitches be expensive, yo.
  • Audiobooks > regular books.

    You can pirate audiobooks. Technically you can pirate ebooks too but unless you've got an e-reader who wants to do that?
    To be fair, if you get a Kindle, I think you can download a free book a day, it's just by random choice.
  • You can get a pile of free audiobooks from Audible if you abuse their free promo system.
  • Audiobooks > regular books.

    You can pirate audiobooks. Technically you can pirate ebooks too but unless you've got an e-reader who wants to do that?
    To be fair, if you get a Kindle, I think you can download a free book a day, it's just by random choice.
    There are a lot of books for free, both pre-1923 stuff and stuff the authors don't want to charge for for whatever reason.
  • Audiobooks > regular books.

    You can pirate audiobooks. Technically you can pirate ebooks too but unless you've got an e-reader who wants to do that?
    To be fair, if you get a Kindle, I think you can download a free book a day, it's just by random choice.
    You CAN pirate audiobooks and eBooks. However, this is really, really bad for the author because it cuts into their sales numbers and the publisher will often decide it's not worth publishing more books from that author. If you're going to consume the book, pony up the minimal amount it costs and encourage the publisher to keep publishing.

    Also, Audiobooks through Audible.com are super cheap and contribute to the sales numbers. That's the way to go.
  • You CAN pirate audiobooks and eBooks. However, this is really, really bad for the author because it cuts into their sales numbers
    It won't cut into the sales numbers if you weren't going to buy the book otherwise. If I pirate something, it's because I am not willing to pay what they are charging, and I believe that is the case for most people. Audible is horrible, not because they charge, but because of its DRM. You buy an Audible book, and you can't listen to it on any device you want at any time without some hacking and cracking. As long as the illegal experience is superior to the legal experience, it's going to be really hard to convince people to pay. If you pay you should get more than what pirates get, not less.

    Also, Audible does charge an obscenely high amount of money. $7.50 for a book? Are you kidding me? For 50 cents more per month, Netflix gives you every movie there is. If Audible were every audiobook for $7.50 a month, I would be on it like butter on bread.

    But you know, this argument has been going on for 15+ years, and the pirates are still winning, so whatever.
  • Stealing things makes me feel like a big man.
  • Am I the only one who still uses the library?
  • My mom does.
  • edited February 2011
    Oh, I knew that. We use it together. The bathrooms in particular.
    Post edited by Walker on
  • Scott, Audiobooks usually cost significantly more than paper books. They have to pay the person who does the reading and the person who does the tech work. Considering that a 25-hour audiobook usually costs $30-$40, and I can get it on Audible for $12, it is super cheap. A Netflix move lasts maybe 2 hours, and you have to watch it. A 25-hour audiobook goes onto my phone, can be listened to anywhere easily, and entertains me for far longer. PLUS, I can do something else while listening, like cook or knit. Just because you are a lazy bum who has no productive hobbies doesn't mean everyone else is the same.

    I know too many authors who have been dropped by publishers despite their popularity because of ebook pirating. If you weren't going to buy it anyway, then don't read it at all. That line is an excuse that people use to justify their actions, and is rarely completely true. If I am not willing to spend $8 on a book, I'm sure as hell not going to put in the time to read it! If it's worth reading or listening to, it's worth paying for.

    The pirates ARE winning. That's the problem for the publishers. I'm not saying you shouldn't do it because it's illegal. I'm saying that if you like an author and you want to read more stuff by them, you should buy the damn books.
  • Arrr, we pirates always win. We win because we're drunk on internet-rum.
  • Stealing things makes me feel like a big man.
    Except that it isn't stealing.
  • YOU WOULDN'T DOWNLOAD A CAR
  • Only because a light cycle would be so much better.
  • Thanks Pangloss that definitely needed clarification.
  • Audiobooks usually cost significantly more than paper books.
    But not more than movies to make. How can they justify charging so much for an audiobook (author's time plus readers' time(s)) when a movie employs hundreds of people and costs many many millions of dollars to make? That I can watch, on-demand, for a flat monthly fee, almost any movie ever made that I care to see (and for the same fee, get a DVD if the movie happens to not be on-demand), yet I can't get the same for less or even equal money of audiobooks or ebooks, is ludicrous.
    I'm not saying you shouldn't do it because it's illegal. I'm saying that if you like an author and you want to read more stuff by them, you should buy the damn books.
    My buying used books from out-of-the-way second-hand shops (like the one in Wildwood) or from the Amazon used market affords the authors the exact same money that pirating said books does. Not to justify piracy (I don't pirate many things), but the economic impact of secondary book sales is negligibly different from the impact of book piracy.
  • edited February 2011
    How can they justify charging so much for an audiobook (author's time plus readers' time(s)) when amovieemploys hundreds of people and costs many many millions of dollars to make?
    There's no box office release for books. That's how.
    My buying used books from out-of-the-way second-hand shops (like the one in Wildwood) or from the Amazon used market affords the authors the exact same money that pirating said books does.
    Used book sales don't rise to the level of eBook pirating. If pirating was at the same scale as used book sales, it would not cut into the publisher's sales numbers significantly. Your point, while factually accurate, is not applicable because the scales of the two activities are so drastically different.
    Post edited by Nuri on
  • (and for the same fee, get a DVD if the movie happens to not be on-demand)
    It's 2 dollars more.
  • There's no box office release for books. That's how.
    Also the economics of scale. WAY less people buy audiobooks so the price has to be higher to recoup expenses.(and fund their decadent parties)
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