posted on June 19, 2003 09:46:33 AM new
I work in a small community bookstore. We checked today and the publisher did not ship our order of 50 Harry Potter #5 out yet so we will not get them in time for Saturday. But by golly, B&N down the road got all they wanted and more on time!
posted on June 19, 2003 10:11:22 AM new
I'd consider threatening cancelling the order because they have now diminished your chances of selling them all in a short time.
They can get them to you by Saturday if they want to.
Wasn't that 'the deal’?
If that's the case & it cost them more, then legally one would think it's their problem.
posted on June 19, 2003 10:25:36 AM new
Of course we cancelled the order. And legally, we probably could sue for lost money, which happens to be zero..... When you buy stock, you don't pay for it first. Since it didn't cost us anything, business-wise, we didn't lose anything. We only lose "goodwill" and "reputation". And how much does a small bookstore have to spend on a lawyer to take a multi-million dollar corporation to court for what is an intangible cost?
posted on June 19, 2003 11:01:18 AM new
What a bummer!
When do you think it would have arrived? Is there any chance they would give you an additional break because it was their screw-up?
The reason I ask is because when the second HP movie shipped, a lot of places discounted it hugely the first week or so. When prices went up the second week, a lot of people (including me) bought DVDs at a local independent video store that advertised that it was still charging "first-week prices." Not everybody will buy in the first week.
If you have loyal customers (and most small bookstores do) you might find that they are "saving themselves" for you. I routinely pay more for things at small local merchants because I want them to stick around.
------------------- We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are.
------------The Talmud
posted on June 19, 2003 11:10:57 AM new
I am not expecting an "additional" discount. They are selling 8 1/2 million copies, what is 50 in that mad rush? What we are trying to organize is friends and family to go down to B&N a purchase 2 copies(the maximum) each at 12:01am.
We have a "Harry Potter Look-alike contest" scheduled for Saturday, and also, Saturday is our town's annual Strawberry Festival which brings in alot of people.
