Barnes and Noble Rant!

Ok, so I decide to go to my local Barnes and Noble superstore to buy the MS Press MCITP:EA Cert pack. Now I know I saw it for around $100 dollars (in truth, I just saw a $1-- in Amazon and B&N.com)

Amazon's got it for $144.89.
B&N has it for $155.24, which after membership discount and using my Barnes and Noble Mastercard, comes out to roughly the same deal.

I figure since I'm in the area, I'm pumped about starting to start my MCITP:EA studies, I can pick up the pack and call it a day. This young lady behind the counter then starts saying with the membership and whatnot it's $230 something. I was like wth?! I saw on the website it was a 100 something.

I know that the online pricing on BN is nothing new to you guys, but it really got me thinking as why BN has to be put up for sale. Amazon really is killing them. I seriously used to love Barnes and Noble but after this visit, I really don't need to go to a place that's no better than your local library, except maybe cleaner (and really, not by much...lmao). I have Amazon Prime thanks to WGU, and I think I'll seriously stick with them. I would cancel my branded Barnes and Noble card, but why ding up my credit by decreasing my available credit. I just use them to buy my products on Amazon!

Yeah Barnes and Noble....you suck! Ridiculously at that!! I just wasn't going to pay like 90 dollars more for something I know I can get cheaper, even if I have to wait.

I'm sticking with Amazon for all of my book purchases, even the printed stuff like the MS Press books. I at least thought BN would be competitive on that. But I guess not....yup...no more BN for me!

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Comments

erpadmin

msteinhilber wrote: »

That being said, I also am an Amazon junkie and love my Amazon Prime. But I still support local or brick & mortar companies when I need something right away and have no problem paying the additional cost.

Well, I'm just not paying $90 more just because I can have it today. Most people would agree.

I will say that I was definitely not rude to the young girl in anyway; she was in high school and really didn't know any better, so my anger would have been very misplaced and unwarranted. And like I said, there is a few bucks, and then there is robbery. Most reasonable people would know the difference. Microwarehouse in Paterson is some place A LOT of hobbyists/techs/admins go to for parts. They know Newegg is cheaper, but if they can get it today, they'll go there....but that place is REASONABLE. B&N is clearly not!

Economics 101...I didn't invent it, I just took and passed the class many moons ago.....

msteinhilber

erpadmin wrote: »

Well, I'm just not paying $90 more just because I can have it today. Most people would agree.

I will say that I was definitely not rude to the young girl in anyway; she was in high school and really didn't know any better, so my anger would have been very misplaced and unwarranted. And like I said, there is a few bucks, and then there is robbery. Most reasonable people would know the difference. Microwarehouse in Paterson is some place A LOT of hobbyists/techs/admins go to for parts. They know Newegg is cheaper, but if they can get it today, they'll go there....but that place is REASONABLE. B&N is clearly not!

Economics 101...I didn't invent it, I just took and passed the class many moons ago.....

I agree, I wouldn't pay $90 more either. At that point it becomes a needs evaluation, clearly you are able to wait so it makes sense to. The other day I had an issue with my vehicle, turned out to be a cracked coilpack. I didn't really have the option to limp around for a couple of days on 3 cylinders so I could order one from my typical online vendor for about $90. Instead I had to buy one from the stealership for $190.

On the flip side, maybe it's not B&N you should be too upset with... Microsoft's stated list price on that set is in fact $229.99...

tiersten

msteinhilber wrote: »

On the flip side, maybe it's not B&N you should be too upset with... Microsoft's stated list price on that set is in fact $229.99...

The issue is that B&N online is $90 cheaper than the B&N store

msteinhilber

tiersten wrote: »

The issue is that B&N online is $90 cheaper than the B&N store

They certainly are not the only retailer to do this though. Best Buy has, Harbor Freight does - both of these I recently encountered this with. Even when I was running the PC shop back in the days, we had an online storefront as well and the prices were lower than our retail. I can't say how the other places work it, but in our instance we offered the lower online price because the product was ordered and shipped out as a blind drop ship. It left our distributors warehouse and arrived and appeared as though it came from us directly. In reality, we never once touched the inventory and as a result had a much lower overhead on that particular order.

tiersten

msteinhilber wrote: »

They certainly are not the only retailer to do this though. Best Buy has, Harbor Freight does.

Yeah. I guess in this particular case, the price difference has passed whatever is considered acceptable for the convenience of picking it up in a brick & mortar store against mail ordering it.

I assume that the online price is mostly influenced by the Amazon pricing which is why it is significantly lower than the store price.

Devilsbane

erpadmin wrote: »

Well, I'm just not paying $90 more just because I can have it today. Most people would agree.

I will say that I was definitely not rude to the young girl in anyway; she was in high school and really didn't know any better, so my anger would have been very misplaced and unwarranted. And like I said, there is a few bucks, and then there is robbery. Most reasonable people would know the difference. Microwarehouse in Paterson is some place A LOT of hobbyists/techs/admins go to for parts. They know Newegg is cheaper, but if they can get it today, they'll go there....but that place is REASONABLE. B&N is clearly not!

Economics 101...I didn't invent it, I just took and passed the class many moons ago.....

Few people have an understanding as you do. When I was working at Target, many customers wanted to know why I personally didn't carry the product that they have been using for 10 years. Guess what, I wasn't invited to that meeting. Go write a letter or something.

And I agree, $90 isn't worth the convenience. Same thing that blockbuster is/was going through. It just doesn't make sense to spend $4 or $5 to rent a movie when you can buy it for $20 or pay $10-$20 a month for netflix. Sure blockbuster still had the convenience factor, but then red box came along and killed most of that.

erpadmin

msteinhilber wrote: »

They certainly are not the only retailer to do this though. Best Buy has, Harbor Freight does - both of these I recently encountered this with. Even when I was running the PC shop back in the days, we had an online storefront as well and the prices were lower than our retail. I can't say how the other places work it, but in our instance we offered the lower online price because the product was ordered and shipped out as a blind drop ship. It left our distributors warehouse and arrived and appeared as though it came from us directly. In reality, we never once touched the inventory and as a result had a much lower overhead on that particular order.

With Best Buy and Staples, I can order the item online and then pick the item up from the store either same day or next day (depending on item availability) and still have paid the online price (not the B&M price). You're right; those retailers do the same thing, but at that point, I can order from them online at the store and then pick it up at the store with their online price. I believe I probably could have done this with B&N as well. HOWEVER......

While I am already AT the store, I expect that they weren't going to sell at list price, (that's like buying a car at MSRP....the sucker move....lmao) but close to what was on at their online store. But with my discount and 5% rebate, I would have been paying a lot more. It just wasn't worth it. This is why the online model is working and the B&M model, not so much. Yes, convenience.....huzzah, huzzah!! At the end of the day, I'm trying to save dollars. I'm still better off with Amazon

I, definitely, would not have cared if it was a few bucks difference. But now I know the reason why B&N is getting killed by Amazon and I'm not going to apologize. No one cried for the mom and pop bookstores when B&N, Borders, etc., made them start closing or that Home Depot was killing mom and pop hardware stores (except maybe me....as they were terribly convenient when I needed something for school or the house as a kid). I'm certainly not going to cry for corporate giants.

erpadmin

Devilsbane wrote: »

And I agree, $90 isn't worth the convenience. Same thing that blockbuster is/was going through. It just doesn't make sense to spend $4 or $5 to rent a movie when you can buy it for $20 or pay $10-$20 a month for netflix. Sure blockbuster still had the convenience factor, but then red box came along and killed most of that.

Redbox...from the makers of Coinstar....the company that's behind the both of them are making fortunes upon fortunes. When I go grocery shopping, I always see at least 5 unique people using the Redbox. Usually the movies are crap (b-movie flair), but for a $1 or whatever it is, that's not exactly terrible. Meanwhile Blockbuster will be out of business by the end of next year or most likely be bought out if someone will take on their debt.

Netflix is great though. I did have a Netflix subscription and was always getting 5 movies at a time. I stopped after I moved...but I have a PO Box now, so if they'll mail to it, maybe I'll start it back up again.....hmmmmmm.........

dynamik

msteinhilber wrote: »

They certainly are not the only retailer to do this though. Best Buy has, Harbor Freight does

I don't believe B&N lists their prices as "in-store" prices as BB does though. I don't think there's anything deceptive about what they're doing, and I think this whole discussion has been blown out of proportion.

earweed

Rants going this long is good for some people. We all know why the price is higher at the B&M BN but it seems like the Suggested Retail Price is there mostly to give retailers something to give a discount on not as a goal to set their prices. BN took the SRP ands set that as their price. They make a profit off of their online price and that much more a profit off the SRP. Erpadmin probably would have been okay spending 20 or 30 dollars more but not 90.

dynamik

Sorry, I just don't get the outrage. They've been like this for years; nothing changed suddenly...

Edit: I wouldn't be OK with $20-30 more. That's why I order from Amazon and not throw my money away.

erpadmin

earweed wrote: »

Erpadmin probably would have been okay spending 20 or 30 dollars more but not 90.

Seriously, if that were simply the case, this rant would have never existed. I was never unfamiliar with stores and their online components having different set prices for products, as well as the reasoning behind it. Heck, at B&N specifically they always had fair prices for their books. As time went on, Amazon has simply been killing them, and B&N was forced to compete on their online component. But the source of my rant was if they were going to do that, they could have at least tacked on 20-30 bucks more on some of their items like the cert pack I was going to buy at their superstore. I would have walked out of there with it in hand and called it a day.

But now, as more consumers are being more conscious their wallets, it won't take long for B&N to close shop. I seriously used to love going to B&N and picking up a book (whether it was a tech book or something like The DaVinci Code and start reading it (and buying it to take home). I never went to B&N (prior to last night) without buying something to read. Now, I have a Kindle 2 (and that was free....

God Bless vendor-sponsored contests!) and if I do want a book, chances are it's on there and I can just buy it and it's there fairly instantaneously. Only now, if it's not Kindle-able, instead of running to B&N, I'll just order it from Amazon with the Prime. Most people will end up doing that too.

erpadmin

dynamik wrote: »

Sorry, I just don't get the outrage. They've been like this for years; nothing changed suddenly...

erpadmin wrote: »

I know that the online pricing on BN is nothing new to you guys, but it really got me thinking as why BN has to be put up for sale.

That's probably why I wrote that as part of my initial rant....

The outrage has probably been explained all over this thread by myself and others.

dynamik

It's OK dude. I'm really upset that lattes cost a lot more than regular coffees. We all have our pet peeves; it's not a big deal

Hyper-Me

erpadmin wrote: »

That's probably why I wrote that as part of my initial rant....

The outrage has probably been explained all over this thread by myself and others.

It's just his time of the month or something.

earweed

dynamik wrote: »

It's OK dude. I'm really upset that lattes cost a lot more than regular coffees. We all have our pet peeves; it's not a big deal

You hate the high price of lattes..I hate the godawful price of cinnabons.

varelg

dynamik wrote: »

Sorry, I just don't get the outrage. They've been like this for years; nothing changed suddenly...

Edit: I wouldn't be OK with $20-30 more. That's why I order from Amazon and not throw my money away.

My few recent purchases from amazon with wrong/defective items being shipped and an answer from the seller "will you return the book" however might be an argument why not COMPLETELY rely on amazon. It is not the perfect solution, far from it. But, I ordered books on subject so outdated (Win XP Pro 70-270 exam) not even "fat chance" describes how likely it would be to find them in B&N's bookshelves.

dynamik

varelg wrote: »

My few recent purchases from amazon with wrong/defective items being shipped and an answer from the seller "will you return the book" however might be an argument why not COMPLETELY rely on amazon. It is not the perfect solution, far from it. But, I ordered books on subject so outdated (Win XP Pro 70-270 exam) not even "fat chance" describes how likely it would be to find them in B&N's bookshelves.

Just curious, was that from Amazon directly or from a used book seller? Amazon's customer service has been top-notch in my personal experience. I'm sure the quality of the used sellers varies significantly.

petedude

Holy thread resurrection, Batman!

Responding to Mr. Erp's rant he mentioned elsewhere. . .

I like B&N for some eBooks. Even though their Android reader apps are buggy, they have better prices on some eBooks than Amazon or Kobo.

And as far as long term survival. . . I'd like to think the US could use a nationwide bookstore chain. Those were sad enough days when Borders shut down and Pickwick sold out (you do remember Pickwick, don't you?). Yes, I know eBooks are rapidly replacing print. Thing is, eBooks could never replace all books (coffee table books, for example).

My personal rant about bookstores at the moment would be. . . the lack of them. When I lived in other counties that bordered about 50 miles away from where I'm at, there were plenty of B&Ns (or Borders. . . then) within a half-hour drive. Where I'm at now. . . probably two within a half-hour drive, if that. Sad, sad thing. Bread and circuses, folks. . .

varelg

Lol, how did this topic got picked for revival among many others

Their reader app starts going looney the moment your internet connection drops. For some reason developer (s) deemed the constant sync attempts necessary.
Haven't been in their store in ages. If they (b&n) depended on us IT folks for their survival, they'd have folded long time ago.

Two years after our "predictions" for their demise, they are still around...

erpadmin

varelg wrote: »

Lol, how did this topic got picked for revival among many others

I'm special! LOL. I mentioned it in my PMP thread. Though petedude, your comedic timing is off...had you waited until tomorrow...it would have been exactly two years since I made this thread!

varelg wrote: »

Two years after our "predictions" for their demise, they are still around...

Says who?! As Petedude stated earlier, there used to be a B&N on like almost every block. Fast forward to today, many stores have since closed up shop. B&N is trying to stay alive and relevant because of Nook (which does look like a good device, fwiw.) But their "demise" is very much still pending...at least the B&M stores that are still around throughout the US.

The B&M stores I do go to are becoming more and more like public libraries. They are not enjoying the same success I remember them having from the 90s/2000s pre-ebook reader.

exampasser

Gotta love Amazon Prime

I do wish I could buy perishable food items from them so I wouldn't have to make weekly trips to Walmart.

demonfurbie

almost all my online shopping comes from amazon

and you know the only site google is afraid of is amazon .... so you know they are doing something right

@exampasser you could always give up on that and live on can foods