#years ago?? like i SWEAR ive gotten money off at the b&n starbucks so i guess they got RID of that at some point

[britneyshakespeare]

barnes and noble has been raising the prices of everything and further pushing for their premium membership option (which they raised the price of by 60 percent this year!) and then when they have big sales events, they're less than what they used to be.

last year at this time you could get one of their leather-bound book annex tomes for $12.50 (without a member discount) because of the 50 percent off all hardcover sales. but they raised the price of those tomes from 25 bucks to 30, and they decreased the sale from 50 percent off all hardcovers to 1/3rd off. so that same book that was $12.50 at last year's end-of-year sale is now 20 bucks. and that's supposed to be savings enough to induce me to walk into one of their stores this week?

i'm sorry but b&n has just gotten so greedy, even though their business has only been doing better and better in previous years. they do not have to be raising prices like they have been, and they can damn well afford to have the same savings events they used to. if you went to one of those hardcover sales a year or two ago, even if you lived in a less populated area like i do, you had never seen a b&n so busy in your life. things were flying off the shelves. they WERE making bank.

and as a company they've only been growing and growing (as much as the publishing industry has been, in recent years). but there are so many other ways to buy books. CHEAPER ways to buy books. MORE SUSTAINABLE ways to buy books. and since books and booksellers are doing really well right now, i don't see why barnes and noble is getting so greedy when they don't have to be. i dont like new shiny books that much. people buy books for the content, ultimately. sometimes we as consumers might make the choice that a new shiny book is worth paying a bit more for, but not that much. barnes and noble has just been demanding more and more of their customers' money for less and less benefit.

#kaily and i shared a membership account for several years but she cancelled it over the summer #bc of them raising it from 25 dollars per year to 40. i'm sorry but we just were not spending enough to make that worth it #the benefits for a member used to be 10 percent off everything in-store and free shipping online. #now it's 10 percent off everything in-store AND online with free shipping. which sounds good enough #but not for a 60 percent pricehike. and a bunch of other supposed benefits no one would ask for #like a free tote (geez. thanks. yeah i really need a free tote every year) and like. a free treat at a cafe on your kids' birthday? #i dont have a kid. #between the two of us. we were not buying 400 dollars worth of stuff at b&n every year #oh and it's also 10 percent off the in-store starbucks. but im pretty sure that USED to be a benefit they had #years ago?? like i SWEAR ive gotten money off at the b&n starbucks so i guess they got RID of that at some point #and gave it BACK when they HIKED UP THE PRICE TO 40 BUCKS A YEAR #text post #barnes and noble #it's a shame bc where i live. barnes and noble is the only like fancy bookstore #and i live in an area that my barnes and noble... is like. what a boston barnes and noble eats for breakfast. #it's two floors. there are plenty of books that it doesn't have. plenty of sections that are very small #like the poetry section is just pathetic. i look at it every time i go and it just makes me sad. #i guess a lot of the book annex stuff contains poetry but still that's not really enough to entertain a rich interest in the genre for long #i outgrew the limited selection at my own local b&n poetry section by the time i was twenty. i was like i already know everything here. #which isn't to say i'm an expert in poetry. it's to say that the poetry section is barely bigger than a shelf #in fact ive never thought about it before but I OWN more poetry books than you'll find in the poetry section #at my local b&n. lol #i have a lot of nostalgia for b&n even though it is a big company that does not love me. i have very few books i bought new #that are not from barnes and noble. i got so many books that changed my life from them #i guess it's like a childhood/teenage attachment at this point bc ive had more mixed feelings abt the direction theyve been taking #for several years at this point. #and no i dont mean that theyve been expanding to selling more toys/games etc. theyve literally always done that in my lifetime. who cares. #they still have books #as an adult ive been more capable of seeing how limited their book selection is and how i have so many problems w that. #and it ultimately comes down to them being a big greedy company