Where Do Readers Buy Books?

A Perfect Gift For Mother's Day

Where do you buy your books? Strictly at the local bookshop? Or online? Or at secondhand bookstores? Or at big box discount retailers? There are differences in prices, ambience and appeal, as well as your views on publishers.

I received a notice yesterday that Not Your Mother's Book On Being A Mom is no longer just a pre-order status on Amazon You can order it for immediate shipping at a 10% discount on the retail price. At Barnes and Noble, you can order this anthology as an ebook for close to half off the retail price of the print copy. I checked the Walmart booksite and did not find the book there. However, there was another title in the Not Your Mother's Book On... series and it was priced at about 1/3 off the retail price.

The bookstore that you physically walk into, stop and soak up the atmosphere, is more than likely going to sell at full retail price. I don't have a problem with that because that bookstore is offering me an experience along with the ability to purchase a book. Or two! The chain stores offer volume while the local bookseller has far fewer books but they might be high up on the atmosphere scale. Anyone who is a true reader benefits a great deal from a visit to a bookstore.

You're not going to find a recently released book in a secondhand store or your annual library book sale, so don't bother checking those places.

I buy books at different places. Sometimes, it's easier to order online so I do. Sometimes I am traveling and find a large retail bookseller and purchase books there. Sometimes, I go to my local bookstore and look for a title. If they don't have it on the shelf, I'm always offered the option of letting them order it for me.

If I'm in Kansas City and shopping at Costco, I always take time to browse the open bin book area. Good selections, good prices. Besides that, browsing through a whole lot of books is satisfying to my soul!

Book prices go up just like everything else in our world. It happens for good reasons. Publishers costs go up and must be passed on to the customer or the publishing house will soon be out of business. Those who self-publish print books also have costs which increase over time, as well. It's one reason that publishing as an ebook has become so attractive. The costs are lower and the author can set the selling price lower but still make a profit.

The next time you grumble about the price of a book, give consideration to all that goes into it. I hated to see the jump in prices of children's picture books. I understand full well why they had to go up but I also felt bad that it meant many children would have fewer books to call their own.

Where do you buy your books? Or are you a library user instead? How do you feel about paying full reatil price versus a discount seller? Let us know in the comments section below.