AAARGH! "Choosing the Blue" is hard!

[MostlyLurks]

Two Books at blue Barnes And Noble: $41.69

Exact Same Two Books at the blue-ish Amazon.com: $30.06

I can understand why Wal-Mart can offer low, low prices: because you're buying crappy knock offs of more expensive and better products.

But why an $11 discrepancy between two identical products at two large retailers?

Mostly

[Fridays Child]

1. Ask B & N customer service that question. Maybe they'll match Amazon.

That's what I'd do, anyway.

[MostlyLurks]

3. That's a good suggestion. Have written to customer service. Thanks!

[BiggJawn]

2. Volume?

Can't imagine B and N not selling as many as Amazon.

Perhaps the sainted "Reddish" Barnes and Noble is gouging their faithful Liberal customers, who don't care, because they make enough money to be "socially conscious shoppers" whatever the price.

I really think it has to do with the diference between a "virtual" store and a "bricks and mortar" store.

[Richardo]

5. Barnes and Noble is NOT reddish in the least.

100% blue. Pretty impressive for a retail giant.

http://www.buyblue.org/detail.php?corpId=43

BuyBlue.org's Position:

Barnes & Noble currently has a 100% BuyBlue rating due to political contributions for the 2003-2004 election cycle. Barnes & Noble executives contributed heavily and exclusively Democratic in the past election contribution over $78K in total. Barnes & Noble does not have a political action committee.

[blondeatlast]

7. Just about as blue as a mega-chain can get. nt

[BiggJawn]

12. Brain fart! I MEANT to say "Blue-ish"...

Guess I was thinking of "Blue Meanies"

"Are you, ahem, 'Blue-ish'?"

[Richardo]

13. You don't *look* blueish....

;-)

[MostlyLurks]

8. Sadly, I'm finding that I'm not one of those...

Who make enough to be a "socially conscious shopper". I only make enough to be a "price conscious shopper".

[BiggJawn]

14. Me too.

Causes anxiety to no end.

[Richardo]

4. Is that the bn.com price or the 'brick and mortar' price?

A lot of times the bn.com price is more competitive with amazon.

[MostlyLurks]

9. BN.com

I was researching several books in the same category and found that BN.com was almost universally more expensive for books in the category and was never cheaper (a few books had the same price at both places).

Mostly

[blondeatlast]

6. OVERHEAD. I'm in the book biz in an indirect way.

Amazon has far lower overhead.

[calico1]

11. B&N probably pays their employees better.

Just a thought.

[blondeatlast]

15. Having been a B&N employee in the past, I can vouch for

that.

Amazon doesn't need booksellser, they need stock-pullers.

Enormous difference.

[NewHampshireDem]

10. My understanding is that Amazon outsources a lot of their work

That could account for part of the price difference as well. They also can cut their margins b/c of all the work they do for other bricks and mortar companies like Borders, Target, Toys R Us, etc.

[derby378]

16. I'm thinking of warehousing

Does it cost more to warehouse books in Chicago or in Pine Bluff, Arkansas? My guess is Amazon has their inventory staggered around America to help keep prices and overhead down.

[MissMarple]

17. Is that with the membership card?

I haven't bought on line from B&N, but it sure helps at the store.