When Wal-Mart, Amazon, Target, and Sears jumped into a price war for bestselling authors’ new books, they probably didn’t think their best customers would be independent bookstores.
But how can you blame the bookstores? They can buy new books by Stephen King, Dean Koontz, James Patterson, and others for $9 or $10 via walmart.com or the other retailers. That’s $5 or more off what bookstores would be paying to get their books directly from the publisher.
Because bookstores were trying to order dozens and dozens of copies, which they would later resell for something closer to the cover prices of upwards of $35, Target et al have begun limiting the number of books that can be ordered at the discounted, money-losing price. Read more at the WSJ.