• do you sell ebooks, too?

    From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Adept on Mon Jun 14 19:29:00 2021
    Hello Adept!

    ** On Monday 14.06.21 - 19:53, Adept wrote to Ogg:

    Out of curiosity, do you sell ebooks, too?

    No. I'd love to if it was affordable. Several years ago when
    the ereader craze first started to rise, a couple of (Canadian)
    companies tried to build a mechanism for independent bookshops
    to do that. But each one had a high price to join. One of them
    wanted $6000 just to register for the privilege of getting
    ebook downloads, and those books were only from THEIR book
    distribution catalog. Then it was a yearly fee (albiet lower).

    Screw that.

    I'm not aware of any independent Canadian bookseller who is
    offering ebooks.

    But, there is a programme in the USA that sounds really good:

    https://www.indiebound.org/ebooks


    --- OpenXP 5.0.50
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Adept on Mon Jun 14 20:51:00 2021
    Hello Adept!

    ** On Monday 14.06.21 - 20:29, Ogg wrote to Adept:

    Out of curiosity, do you sell ebooks, too?

    [...]

    But, there is a programme in the USA that sounds really good:

    https://www.indiebound.org/ebooks <=== WRONG INFO!


    My BAD. I got that one wrong. There IS another service that I
    was thinking about, but the email comms that I had with the
    company is stored on anothe pc. I'll get back to you on that.


    --- OpenXP 5.0.50
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Arelor@21:2/138 to Ogg on Tue Jun 15 03:34:49 2021
    Re: do you sell ebooks, too?
    By: Ogg to Adept on Mon Jun 14 2021 08:29 pm

    Hello Adept!

    ** On Monday 14.06.21 - 19:53, Adept wrote to Ogg:

    Out of curiosity, do you sell ebooks, too?

    No. I'd love to if it was affordable. Several years ago when
    the ereader craze first started to rise, a couple of (Canadian)
    companies tried to build a mechanism for independent bookshops
    to do that. But each one had a high price to join. One of them
    wanted $6000 just to register for the privilege of getting
    ebook downloads, and those books were only from THEIR book
    distribution catalog. Then it was a yearly fee (albiet lower).

    Screw that.

    I'm not aware of any independent Canadian bookseller who is
    offering ebooks.

    But, there is a programme in the USA that sounds really good:

    https://www.indiebound.org/ebooks

    In the early days, a bookshop franchise used to sell you ebook collections on CD. The problem with that is that they got people used to electronic formats, and then those same people starting downloading ebooks with the "mule" instead of purchasing them, so it turns out the whole business wasn't great for the stores.

    Electronic comics killed mangas so hard that the local comic store here had to turn into a board game store, because people who purchased many issues a month started getting them from the mule instead.

    Bonus points because when I set my own store, this guy didn't as much as purchase a piece of soap from me, despite the fact I had been purchasing at his store for more than a decade. I used to pump around 40 bucks per month in his store and now I pump 0. The ammount of money he has lost because he didn't want to spend three bucks in soap :-)


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  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Ogg on Tue Jun 15 18:09:01 2021
    I'm not aware of any independent Canadian bookseller who is
    offering ebooks.

    It does sound like the system was designed to exclude independent booksellers.

    My condolences.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Arelor on Tue Jun 15 06:22:00 2021
    Arelor wrote to Ogg <=-


    Bonus points because when I set my own store, this guy didn't as much
    as purchase a piece of soap from me, despite the fact I had been purchasing at his store for more than a decade. I used to pump around
    40 bucks per month in his store and now I pump 0. The ammount of money
    he has lost because he didn't want to spend three bucks in soap :-)

    One thing that's come out of COVID is people realizing the power of their money. Instead of ordering something on Amazon, we'll seek out a local store to try and help support it. We did that before, but now we're much more conscious of shopping local when we can - and try to spread the spend, especially with restaurants doing take-out.


    ... Abandon desire
    --- MultiMail/DOS v0.52
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  • From Arelor@21:2/138 to poindexter FORTRAN on Tue Jun 15 15:35:44 2021
    Re: Re: do you sell ebooks, too?
    By: poindexter FORTRAN to Arelor on Tue Jun 15 2021 07:22 am

    Arelor wrote to Ogg <=-


    Bonus points because when I set my own store, this guy didn't as much as purchase a piece of soap from me, despite the fact I had been purchasing at his store fo
    more than a decade. I used to pump around
    40 bucks per month in his store and now I pump 0. The ammount of money he has lost because he didn't want to spend three bucks in soap :-)

    One thing that's come out of COVID is people realizing the power of their money. Instead of
    ordering something on Amazon, we'll seek out a local store to try and help support it. We did t
    before, but now we're much more conscious of shopping local when we can - and try to spread the
    spend, especially with restaurants doing take-out.


    ... Abandon desire

    I am not so sure. Maybe that is true with really tight communities. Certainly, in my small village,
    where when you needed hands to unload some trucks you hired the village drunktard because "he is
    our drunktard," the sentiment has multiplied by ten.

    Elsewhere, nobody seems to give a damn. They'd rather buy a cheap nail clipper at a big hypermarket
    than a premium nail clipper in the local, family nail clipper store, even if the owner of the nail
    clipper store is their customer - which will eventually result in the nail clipper store
    disappearing and dragging everybody else down with it.


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  • From Tiny@21:1/222 to poindexter FORTRAN on Wed Jun 16 03:01:06 2021
    poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Arelor <=-

    One thing that's come out of COVID is people realizing the power of
    their money. Instead of ordering something on Amazon, we'll seek out a local store to try and help support it. We did that before, but now
    we're much more conscious of shopping local when we can - and try to spread the spend, especially with restaurants doing take-out.

    We have always tried to buy local as I've lost a business to a
    chain already once. Hell really twice as the illegal ubertaxi's
    took out my second business. Having said that since no one else
    cares sometimes we don't either and will just suck on bezos teet
    and order from amazon.

    Shawn

    ... An optimist is someone who thinks the future is uncertain.

    --- Talisman v0.24-dev (Windows/x86)
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  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Tiny on Wed Jun 16 09:18:00 2021
    Hello Tiny!

    ** On Wednesday 16.06.21 - 04:01, Tiny wrote to poindexter FORTRAN:

    We have always tried to buy local as I've lost a business
    to a chain already once. Hell really twice as the illegal
    ubertaxi's took out my second business. Having said that
    since no one else cares sometimes we don't either and will
    just suck on bezos teet and order from amazon.

    A new kind of "self-serve" Uber..

    https://ontario.communauto.com/

    Apparently this one is growing too.

    If I lived in a city, and limited my driving to within the
    "zone", I'd probably go for it. The membership/monthly fees
    seem competitively priced compared to the extra expense of
    owning a car.

    One downside that I see would be getting yourself to the
    nearest available car when the weather is not favourable (rain,
    sleet, snow)

    My car insurance is now due. $1177.

    So.. with that kind of payout /yr while I *don't* have use of
    my own vehicle while it is in for repair (additional $,$$$)
    ..having to take a taxi can seem frustrating.

    Sorry to hear about the biz losses mentioned earlier. It can
    seem like a dog eat dog world out there.

    I just also learned about Wise (formerly TransferWise) for
    international money transfers. Their website has a fine
    explanation how SWIFT works and the fees that are involved -
    that one sounds like a racket! But Wise seems very reasonable
    and may be a better alterative than PayPal. Perhaps Wise is
    making PayPal quake in their shoes. Er.. rather another dog-
    bite at the heal of a similar competitor.

    --- OpenXP 5.0.50
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Arelor@21:2/138 to Ogg on Wed Jun 16 10:58:57 2021
    Re: have always tried to buy local
    By: Ogg to Tiny on Wed Jun 16 2021 10:18 am

    I just also learned about Wise (formerly TransferWise) for
    international money transfers. Their website has a fine
    explanation how SWIFT works and the fees that are involved -
    that one sounds like a racket! But Wise seems very reasonable
    and may be a better alterative than PayPal. Perhaps Wise is
    making PayPal quake in their shoes. Er.. rather another dog-
    bite at the heal of a similar competitor.

    Linux News Media (the publisher behind Linux Magazine and Admin Magazine) migrated to
    Wise/Transferwise just because PayPal was so difficult to deal with. The fact that for big
    transfers they are much cheaper is just a bonus. PayPal is a burning mound of infectious elephant
    poo and the faster it consumes itself, the better.

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  • From Ogg@21:4/106.1 to Adept on Wed Jun 16 09:03:28 2021
    I'm not aware of any independent Canadian bookseller who is
    offering ebooks.

    It does sound like the system was designed to exclude independent booksellers.


    Correct. The Kobo program for independents didn't last long.

    They even had a department to be a reseller for the Kobo devices. That one only offered a 5% wholesale discount (ie. 5% off the retail price). Meanwhile, the devices were not returnable, and required the reseller to order a minimum of ALL models. Sounds like it was designed to be ignored.

    MEANWHILE, I think I found the original ebook reseller program that I was referring to:

    https://bookshop.org (but.. it is USA only, for now.)

    From there, they use https://www.mymustreads.com/ to manage their order processing, and from there they use https://hummingbirddm.com for the source of the ebook material.

    What a tangled web they weave.
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Linux
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (21:4/106.1)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.1 to Arelor on Wed Jun 16 09:22:53 2021

    [...]

    PayPal is a burning mound
    of infectious elephant
    poo and the faster it consumes itself, the better.

    LOL. I love the phrases you dream up like that.

    BTW.. I just learned that there is a fine extension of bookshop.org that is represented in your country:

    https://es.bookshop.org/
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Linux
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (21:4/106.1)
  • From Arelor@21:2/138 to Ogg on Wed Jun 16 15:32:46 2021
    Re: Re: have always tried to buy local
    By: Ogg to Arelor on Wed Jun 16 2021 10:22 am


    [...]

    PayPal is a burning mound
    of infectious elephant
    poo and the faster it consumes itself, the better.

    LOL. I love the phrases you dream up like that.

    BTW.. I just learned that there is a fine extension of bookshop.org that is represented in your country:

    https://es.bookshop.org/

    It blocks Tor, so not very useful for me :-)

    Also, I am a paper diehard. Digital has its place, but anything I care about I must have in paper format.

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  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Tiny on Wed Jun 16 05:42:00 2021
    Tiny wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

    We have always tried to buy local as I've lost a business to a
    chain already once. Hell really twice as the illegal ubertaxi's
    took out my second business. Having said that since no one else
    cares sometimes we don't either and will just suck on bezos teet
    and order from amazon.

    It seems like all of the small business employees displaced by business closures can find a job at a local Amazon warehouse. Self-serving, it is.


    ... Abandon desire
    --- MultiMail/DOS v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Arelor on Wed Jun 16 19:00:00 2021
    Hello Arelor!

    ** On Wednesday 16.06.21 - 16:32, Arelor wrote to Ogg:

    https://es.bookshop.org/

    It blocks Tor, so not very useful for me :-)

    Also, I am a paper diehard. Digital has its place, but
    anything I care about I must have in paper format.


    The bookshop.org brand is a "Support local bookstores"
    operation: Apoya a las librerˇas de proximidad.

    The represented stores are either brick'n'mortar operations or
    virtual stores, but members also sell physical books.

    Might be worth a look.

    It works/reachable with my Tor:

    https://susepaste.org/20751232


    --- OpenXP 5.0.50
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Arelor@21:2/138 to Ogg on Wed Jun 16 18:08:12 2021
    Re: have always tried to buy local
    By: Ogg to Arelor on Wed Jun 16 2021 08:00 pm

    Hello Arelor!

    ** On Wednesday 16.06.21 - 16:32, Arelor wrote to Ogg:

    https://es.bookshop.org/

    It blocks Tor, so not very useful for me :-)

    Also, I am a paper diehard. Digital has its place, but
    anything I care about I must have in paper format.


    The bookshop.org brand is a "Support local bookstores"
    operation: Apoya a las librerĂ­as de proximidad.

    The represented stores are either brick'n'mortar operations or
    virtual stores, but members also sell physical books.

    Might be worth a look.

    It works/reachable with my Tor:

    https://susepaste.org/20751232

    Thanks for the info.

    I no longer purchase as many books (because I already own most books I want), but when I do, I go
    to a second hand book store near the clinic I do works for. I used to purchase lots of books from
    Abebooks until Amazon ruined it.

    Before that, I used to purchase my books at the store of the guy who lost me as a customer because
    he didn't buy a single piece of soap from me. I am a very spiteful, revengeful bastard, as you may
    have noticed.

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  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Arelor on Wed Jun 16 20:35:00 2021
    Hello Arelor!

    ** On Wednesday 16.06.21 - 19:08, Arelor wrote to Ogg:

    It works/reachable with my Tor:

    https://susepaste.org/20751232

    Thanks for the info.

    But why does it work with my Tor, and not yours?


    I no longer purchase as many books (because I already own
    most books I want), but when I do, I go to a second hand
    book store near the clinic I do works for. I used to
    purchase lots of books from Abebooks until Amazon ruined
    it.

    A-n has indeed ruined the traditional brick-n-mortar
    independent enterprise. A-n may have started with selling
    books, but it clearly has no love of selling books. Bezos just
    took a commodity (that can warehouse well in long-term storage)
    and provided a means to sell it online.

    [Sir Brandon did that with LPs when he started with a Virgin
    enterprise]

    More often than not, he's undercutting a bookselling peer who
    has no option to sell below cost. Meanwhile, A-n offers
    memberships for other things (primarily digital - and again,
    something not requiring longterm physical storage) and makes
    the profits from that. Books have taken a backseat with A-n and
    only providing the illusion of availability and lower prices.

    Before that, I used to purchase my books at the store of
    the guy who lost me as a customer because he didn't buy a
    single piece of soap from me. I am a very spiteful,
    revengeful bastard, as you may have noticed.

    I don't expect my barber (when I *did* go to the barber) to
    come to my shop to buy a book. Maybe he's got other interests.
    (But he *did* put in a good word for my shop to his customers
    when they were captive in his chair)

    I have recognized a few other in-town merchants come to my shop
    and order books.

    But not everyone will have a recipocal interest in our products
    when we buy theirs. That's disconnect is what online barter
    systems recognize. Person A wants what B is selling, but B
    does not want what A is selling.

    I'd say.. just spreading the word about the products that you
    are selling. Someone will appreciate the info.

    Even to this day, even though Ashlie's Books has been
    represented in my town for over 25yrs (I think coming up to 29
    now, and myself as 3rd owner) ..there are people who live in
    the area and tell me that they did not know that there was a
    bookshop. Duh!

    --- OpenXP 5.0.50
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Tiny@21:1/222 to poindexter FORTRAN on Thu Jun 17 03:00:00 2021
    poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Tiny <=-

    It seems like all of the small business employees displaced by business closures can find a job at a local Amazon warehouse. Self-serving, it
    is.

    Yeah, sad but true.

    Shawn

    ... You can tell a real programmer by the keyboard dents in his face.

    --- Talisman v0.24-dev (Windows/x86)
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS II - tinysbbs.com:4323/ssh:4322 (21:1/222)
  • From Arelor@21:2/138 to Ogg on Thu Jun 17 05:13:06 2021
    Re: have always tried to buy local
    By: Ogg to Arelor on Wed Jun 16 2021 09:35 pm

    Before that, I used to purchase my books at the store of
    the guy who lost me as a customer because he didn't buy a
    single piece of soap from me. I am a very spiteful,
    revengeful bastard, as you may have noticed.

    I don't expect my barber (when I *did* go to the barber) to
    come to my shop to buy a book. Maybe he's got other interests.
    (But he *did* put in a good word for my shop to his customers
    when they were captive in his chair)


    Dunno, it depends on the sort of investment you have been making in the other's business.

    I mean, I have been purchasing stuff at worse prices and conditions than available elsewhere at
    this guy's shop for years because I wanted to support the corner bookstore. I think it is no secret
    halñf my purchases there were goodwill driven.

    If goodwill is not returned then I am not giving any more.

    Some merchants in the area did the token effort of purchasing something at my store. Maybe they
    purchased a shampoo upon first opening or something. Not a great effort but they at least showed
    up.

    Quite frankly, I am more prone to purchase flowers from the shop in the next street if I know I
    will see my money back when the owner comes to my store for vitamins. Which is the reason why I
    have switched a lot of purchasing habits - it is just so much better to be your customer's
    customer.

    As for Amazon leveraging books in order to sell other products and services, that is not new. Books
    are a devaluating commodity, and when a commodity is no profitable enough to sell on its own its
    only outlet is to use it to sell something else that is actually profitable. Let's face it, from a
    logistical point of view, traditional books are awful propositions of value (they weight too much
    and offer too low margins), whereas electronic books are simply worthless (something that is
    unlimitedly replicable is unlimitedly worthless). There are lots of books published, but I have
    found that a whole lot of the new publications are not a product, but a tool to leverage another
    product. Or, very frequently, the publisher is siphoning money out of the author rather than the
    readers.

    I mean, I read somewhere in my teen days that Spain was one of the countries in which more Fantasy
    books were published, and also one in which close to nobody was reading them. It seems fishy to me.




    --
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  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Arelor on Thu Jun 17 07:19:00 2021
    Hello Arelor!

    ** On Thursday 17.06.21 - 06:13, Arelor wrote to Ogg:

    I don't expect my barber (when I *did* go to the barber) to
    come to my shop to buy a book. Maybe he's got other interests.
    (But he *did* put in a good word for my shop to his customers
    when they were captive in his chair)


    Dunno, it depends on the sort of investment you have been making in the other's business.

    I mean, I have been purchasing stuff at worse prices and conditions than available elsewhere at this guy's shop for years because I wanted to support the corner bookstore. I think it is no secret halñf my purchases there were goodwill driven.

    Just wondering.. did you ever say something like.. "hey bud,
    your prices are a bit higher than I've seen elsewhere.. but I
    like coming here because <insert why>. BTW.. I operate my own
    shop just down your the way.. and sell quality soaps and health
    products."

    Maybe just hoping people will notice is not good enough. We
    have to do human networking.


    If goodwill is not returned then I am not giving any more.

    Well.. another recent example. As you may have been reading,
    I've been relegated to taking taxis everyday for the last week.
    I've been tipping them at about 20 to 25%. I don't expect them
    to come running to my shop and buy anything..(although I wish
    they would) but maybe they can spread the word to one of their
    customers about the fine bloke who operates the bookshop in
    town.

    Some merchants in the area did the token effort of
    purchasing something at my store. Maybe they purchased a
    shampoo upon first opening or something. Not a great effort
    but they at least showed up.

    There was a modest upswing of biz when someone tweeted and
    facebook'd a message about supporting local a few months ago.
    The momentum died down after 2 weeks though.

    Quite frankly, I am more prone to purchase flowers from the shop in the next street if I know I will see my money back when the owner comes to my store for vitamins. Which is the reason why I have switched a lot of purchasing habits - it is just so much better to be your customer's customer.

    Check my "A wants something from B, but B doesn't need what A
    offers" example.

    Maybe offer people some transferable coupons that they can give
    to someone who WANTS a product from your shop.

    As for Amazon leveraging books in order to sell other products and services, that is not new. Books are a devaluating commodity, and when a commodity is no profitable enough to sell on its own its only outlet is to use it to sell something else that is actually profitable.

    A-n is purposely choosing to devaluate the books they get from
    the distributors. The distribs are happy 'cuz they get their
    standard share (I know the discounts that A-n gets because I've
    received some invoices packed into my orders) and A-n is free
    to destroy the books if they want.

    I've called a couple of the distribs and chatted about that and
    asked them why not limit the discounts they give to A-n since
    they warehouse the product, sell at below cost and return the
    vast majority of unused copies. I could do the same thing (I
    have a barn) and order 100,000 copies of a book, sell 25, and
    return the rest. But my 100,000 order would make me appear that
    I am a hot retailer.

    Let's face it,
    from a logistical point of view, traditional books are awful propositions of value (they weight too much and offer too low margins), whereas electronic books are simply worthless (something that is unlimitedly replicable is unlimitedly worthless).

    The replicable inversely proportional to value is an
    interesting point. I never thought of that. But there are
    other digital products (I sell GPS cards too) that are $80-$199
    and the A-n marketplace (lookup: brmb gps) does not seem to
    discount those. ;)

    There are lots of books published,
    but I have found that a whole lot of the new publications are not a product, but a tool to leverage another product. Or, very frequently, the publisher is siphoning money out of the author rather than the readers.

    I think there is a mix of shit like that going on. Another term
    for such a strategy might be "a door crasher". A biz
    advertises something on "sale" (but with conditions), or when
    they sell out, offer something higher-priced after they got the
    customer through the door.

    I mean, I read somewhere in my teen days that Spain was one of the countries in which more Fantasy books were published, and also one in
    which close to nobody was reading them. It seems fishy to me.

    I remember hearing that Stephen Hawkin's book "A Brief History
    Of Time" had/has the dubious distinction of the best selling
    science book that nobody reads.


    --- OpenXP 5.0.50
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Arelor@21:2/138 to Ogg on Thu Jun 17 06:40:43 2021
    Re: have always tried to buy local
    By: Ogg to Arelor on Thu Jun 17 2021 08:19 am

    Just wondering.. did you ever say something like.. "hey bud,
    your prices are a bit higher than I've seen elsewhere.. but I
    like coming here because <insert why>. BTW.. I operate my own
    shop just down your the way.. and sell quality soaps and health
    products."

    Maybe just hoping people will notice is not good enough. We
    have to do human networking.


    He is actually extremely knowledgeable of the markets he operates in. I didn't tell him I was making a specific effort to go to his shop specifically, but I can assure you he knew.

    Also I told him of my shop and website obviously.

    Bonus points because he has todlers. Todlers consume things such as infantile bathroom products. Therefore I don't buy the idea that I don't have anything he may want to use. I mean, book store owners have a shower from time to time, I think.

    Regarding other issues you have mentioned: I have read the Brief History of Time. And have read it.

    Expecting other people will do advertising for you is too optimistic to be realistic at all. Mainly because they are very bad at it when they actually go and try. I have memories of fans of mine pursuing people and trying to force them to buy my books at conventions XD

    The fact the digital product is for sale for a price does not mean it is selling at that price. Also, when talking about software and appliances, you are usually buying tech support from them etc which are not unlimitedly available. Compare that to old office suites people downloads and installs from pirate sites. Those are indeed free de-facto, as opposed to, say a subscription top a map or navigation service.




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  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Arelor on Mon Jul 26 20:44:00 2021
    Hello Arelor!

    ** On Thursday 17.06.21 - 07:40, Arelor wrote to Ogg:

    Also I told him of my shop and website obviously.

    Bonus points because he has todlers. Todlers consume things
    such as infantile bathroom products. Therefore I don't buy
    the idea that I don't have anything he may want to use. I
    mean, book store owners have a shower from time to time, I
    think.

    Perhaps people are already settled in with the sources for the
    "basics" that you sell. I would imagine that a family is
    accustomed to shopping at Walmart/Costco/Shoper'sDrugMart etc
    will stick to those places for a one-stop-shop experience or to
    collect their bonus points, etc.

    Regarding other issues you have mentioned: I have read the
    Brief History of Time. And have read it.

    Ah.. But have you read the expanded and updated edition that
    was published 10 years later? LOL

    There is also a "A Briefer History of Time: The Science Classic
    Made More Accessible | Paperback"

    I have to say that I could NOT finish the original for one
    reason or another.


    Expecting other people will do advertising for you is too
    optimistic to be realistic at all. Mainly because they are
    very bad at it when they actually go and try. I have
    memories of fans of mine pursuing people and trying to
    force them to buy my books at conventions XD

    Most people are really bad when it comes to convicing someone
    to try a book that they enjoyed. Most of the time people just
    say "this is really good, you should read it" ..and leave it at
    that.


    --- OpenXP 5.0.50
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Adept on Mon Jun 14 20:29:00 2021
    Hello Adept!

    ** On Monday 14.06.21 - 19:53, Adept wrote to Ogg:

    Out of curiosity, do you sell ebooks, too?

    No. I'd love to if it was affordable. Several years ago when
    the ereader craze first started to rise, a couple of (Canadian)
    companies tried to build a mechanism for independent bookshops
    to do that. But each one had a high price to join. One of them
    wanted $6000 just to register for the privilege of getting
    ebook downloads, and those books were only from THEIR book
    distribution catalog. Then it was a yearly fee (albiet lower).

    Screw that.

    I'm not aware of any independent Canadian bookseller who is
    offering ebooks.

    But, there is a programme in the USA that sounds really good:

    https://www.indiebound.org/ebooks


    --- OpenXP 5.0.50
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Adept on Mon Jun 14 21:51:00 2021
    Hello Adept!

    ** On Monday 14.06.21 - 20:29, Ogg wrote to Adept:

    Out of curiosity, do you sell ebooks, too?

    [...]

    But, there is a programme in the USA that sounds really good:

    https://www.indiebound.org/ebooks <=== WRONG INFO!


    My BAD. I got that one wrong. There IS another service that I
    was thinking about, but the email comms that I had with the
    company is stored on anothe pc. I'll get back to you on that.


    --- OpenXP 5.0.50
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Arelor@21:2/138 to Ogg on Tue Jun 15 04:34:48 2021
    Re: do you sell ebooks, too?
    By: Ogg to Adept on Mon Jun 14 2021 08:29 pm

    Hello Adept!

    ** On Monday 14.06.21 - 19:53, Adept wrote to Ogg:

    Out of curiosity, do you sell ebooks, too?

    No. I'd love to if it was affordable. Several years ago when
    the ereader craze first started to rise, a couple of (Canadian)
    companies tried to build a mechanism for independent bookshops
    to do that. But each one had a high price to join. One of them
    wanted $6000 just to register for the privilege of getting
    ebook downloads, and those books were only from THEIR book
    distribution catalog. Then it was a yearly fee (albiet lower).

    Screw that.

    I'm not aware of any independent Canadian bookseller who is
    offering ebooks.

    But, there is a programme in the USA that sounds really good:

    https://www.indiebound.org/ebooks

    In the early days, a bookshop franchise used to sell you ebook collections on CD. The problem with that is that they got people used to electronic formats, and then those same people starting downloading ebooks with the "mule" instead of purchasing them, so it turns out the whole business wasn't great for the stores.

    Electronic comics killed mangas so hard that the local comic store here had to turn into a board game store, because people who purchased many issues a month started getting them from the mule instead.

    Bonus points because when I set my own store, this guy didn't as much as purchase a piece of soap from me, despite the fact I had been purchasing at his store for more than a decade. I used to pump around 40 bucks per month in his store and now I pump 0. The ammount of money he has lost because he didn't want to spend three bucks in soap :-)


    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Linux
    * Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Ogg on Tue Jun 15 19:09:00 2021
    I'm not aware of any independent Canadian bookseller who is
    offering ebooks.

    It does sound like the system was designed to exclude independent booksellers.

    My condolences.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Arelor on Tue Jun 15 07:22:00 2021
    Arelor wrote to Ogg <=-


    Bonus points because when I set my own store, this guy didn't as much
    as purchase a piece of soap from me, despite the fact I had been purchasing at his store for more than a decade. I used to pump around
    40 bucks per month in his store and now I pump 0. The ammount of money
    he has lost because he didn't want to spend three bucks in soap :-)

    One thing that's come out of COVID is people realizing the power of their money. Instead of ordering something on Amazon, we'll seek out a local store to try and help support it. We did that before, but now we're much more conscious of shopping local when we can - and try to spread the spend, especially with restaurants doing take-out.


    ... Abandon desire
    --- MultiMail/DOS v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From Arelor@21:2/138 to poindexter FORTRAN on Tue Jun 15 16:35:44 2021
    Re: Re: do you sell ebooks, too?
    By: poindexter FORTRAN to Arelor on Tue Jun 15 2021 07:22 am

    Arelor wrote to Ogg <=-


    Bonus points because when I set my own store, this guy didn't as much as purchase a piece of soap from me, despite the fact I had been purchasing at his store fo
    more than a decade. I used to pump around
    40 bucks per month in his store and now I pump 0. The ammount of money he has lost because he didn't want to spend three bucks in soap :-)

    One thing that's come out of COVID is people realizing the power of their money. Instead of
    ordering something on Amazon, we'll seek out a local store to try and help support it. We did t
    before, but now we're much more conscious of shopping local when we can - and try to spread the
    spend, especially with restaurants doing take-out.


    ... Abandon desire

    I am not so sure. Maybe that is true with really tight communities. Certainly, in my small village,
    where when you needed hands to unload some trucks you hired the village drunktard because "he is
    our drunktard," the sentiment has multiplied by ten.

    Elsewhere, nobody seems to give a damn. They'd rather buy a cheap nail clipper at a big hypermarket
    than a premium nail clipper in the local, family nail clipper store, even if the owner of the nail
    clipper store is their customer - which will eventually result in the nail clipper store
    disappearing and dragging everybody else down with it.


    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Linux
    * Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)
  • From Tiny@21:1/222 to poindexter FORTRAN on Wed Jun 16 04:01:06 2021
    poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Arelor <=-

    One thing that's come out of COVID is people realizing the power of
    their money. Instead of ordering something on Amazon, we'll seek out a local store to try and help support it. We did that before, but now
    we're much more conscious of shopping local when we can - and try to spread the spend, especially with restaurants doing take-out.

    We have always tried to buy local as I've lost a business to a
    chain already once. Hell really twice as the illegal ubertaxi's
    took out my second business. Having said that since no one else
    cares sometimes we don't either and will just suck on bezos teet
    and order from amazon.

    Shawn

    ... An optimist is someone who thinks the future is uncertain.

    --- Talisman v0.24-dev (Windows/x86)
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS II - tinysbbs.com:4323/ssh:4322 (21:1/222)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Tiny on Wed Jun 16 10:18:00 2021
    Hello Tiny!

    ** On Wednesday 16.06.21 - 04:01, Tiny wrote to poindexter FORTRAN:

    We have always tried to buy local as I've lost a business
    to a chain already once. Hell really twice as the illegal
    ubertaxi's took out my second business. Having said that
    since no one else cares sometimes we don't either and will
    just suck on bezos teet and order from amazon.

    A new kind of "self-serve" Uber..

    https://ontario.communauto.com/

    Apparently this one is growing too.

    If I lived in a city, and limited my driving to within the
    "zone", I'd probably go for it. The membership/monthly fees
    seem competitively priced compared to the extra expense of
    owning a car.

    One downside that I see would be getting yourself to the
    nearest available car when the weather is not favourable (rain,
    sleet, snow)

    My car insurance is now due. $1177.

    So.. with that kind of payout /yr while I *don't* have use of
    my own vehicle while it is in for repair (additional $,$$$)
    ..having to take a taxi can seem frustrating.

    Sorry to hear about the biz losses mentioned earlier. It can
    seem like a dog eat dog world out there.

    I just also learned about Wise (formerly TransferWise) for
    international money transfers. Their website has a fine
    explanation how SWIFT works and the fees that are involved -
    that one sounds like a racket! But Wise seems very reasonable
    and may be a better alterative than PayPal. Perhaps Wise is
    making PayPal quake in their shoes. Er.. rather another dog-
    bite at the heal of a similar competitor.

    --- OpenXP 5.0.50
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Arelor@21:2/138 to Ogg on Wed Jun 16 11:58:56 2021
    Re: have always tried to buy local
    By: Ogg to Tiny on Wed Jun 16 2021 10:18 am

    I just also learned about Wise (formerly TransferWise) for
    international money transfers. Their website has a fine
    explanation how SWIFT works and the fees that are involved -
    that one sounds like a racket! But Wise seems very reasonable
    and may be a better alterative than PayPal. Perhaps Wise is
    making PayPal quake in their shoes. Er.. rather another dog-
    bite at the heal of a similar competitor.

    Linux News Media (the publisher behind Linux Magazine and Admin Magazine) migrated to
    Wise/Transferwise just because PayPal was so difficult to deal with. The fact that for big
    transfers they are much cheaper is just a bonus. PayPal is a burning mound of infectious elephant
    poo and the faster it consumes itself, the better.

    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Linux
    * Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.1 to Adept on Wed Jun 16 10:03:28 2021
    I'm not aware of any independent Canadian bookseller who is
    offering ebooks.

    It does sound like the system was designed to exclude independent booksellers.


    Correct. The Kobo program for independents didn't last long.

    They even had a department to be a reseller for the Kobo devices. That one only offered a 5% wholesale discount (ie. 5% off the retail price). Meanwhile, the devices were not returnable, and required the reseller to order a minimum of ALL models. Sounds like it was designed to be ignored.

    MEANWHILE, I think I found the original ebook reseller program that I was referring to:

    https://bookshop.org (but.. it is USA only, for now.)

    From there, they use https://www.mymustreads.com/ to manage their order processing, and from there they use https://hummingbirddm.com for the source of the ebook material.

    What a tangled web they weave.
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Linux
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (21:4/106.1)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.1 to Arelor on Wed Jun 16 10:22:52 2021

    [...]

    PayPal is a burning mound
    of infectious elephant
    poo and the faster it consumes itself, the better.

    LOL. I love the phrases you dream up like that.

    BTW.. I just learned that there is a fine extension of bookshop.org that is represented in your country:

    https://es.bookshop.org/
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Linux
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (21:4/106.1)
  • From Arelor@21:2/138 to Ogg on Wed Jun 16 16:32:46 2021
    Re: Re: have always tried to buy local
    By: Ogg to Arelor on Wed Jun 16 2021 10:22 am


    [...]

    PayPal is a burning mound
    of infectious elephant
    poo and the faster it consumes itself, the better.

    LOL. I love the phrases you dream up like that.

    BTW.. I just learned that there is a fine extension of bookshop.org that is represented in your country:

    https://es.bookshop.org/

    It blocks Tor, so not very useful for me :-)

    Also, I am a paper diehard. Digital has its place, but anything I care about I must have in paper format.

    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Linux
    * Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Tiny on Wed Jun 16 06:42:00 2021
    Tiny wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

    We have always tried to buy local as I've lost a business to a
    chain already once. Hell really twice as the illegal ubertaxi's
    took out my second business. Having said that since no one else
    cares sometimes we don't either and will just suck on bezos teet
    and order from amazon.

    It seems like all of the small business employees displaced by business closures can find a job at a local Amazon warehouse. Self-serving, it is.


    ... Abandon desire
    --- MultiMail/DOS v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Arelor on Wed Jun 16 20:00:00 2021
    Hello Arelor!

    ** On Wednesday 16.06.21 - 16:32, Arelor wrote to Ogg:

    https://es.bookshop.org/

    It blocks Tor, so not very useful for me :-)

    Also, I am a paper diehard. Digital has its place, but
    anything I care about I must have in paper format.


    The bookshop.org brand is a "Support local bookstores"
    operation: Apoya a las librerˇas de proximidad.

    The represented stores are either brick'n'mortar operations or
    virtual stores, but members also sell physical books.

    Might be worth a look.

    It works/reachable with my Tor:

    https://susepaste.org/20751232


    --- OpenXP 5.0.50
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Arelor@21:2/138 to Ogg on Wed Jun 16 19:08:12 2021
    Re: have always tried to buy local
    By: Ogg to Arelor on Wed Jun 16 2021 08:00 pm

    Hello Arelor!

    ** On Wednesday 16.06.21 - 16:32, Arelor wrote to Ogg:

    https://es.bookshop.org/

    It blocks Tor, so not very useful for me :-)

    Also, I am a paper diehard. Digital has its place, but
    anything I care about I must have in paper format.


    The bookshop.org brand is a "Support local bookstores"
    operation: Apoya a las librerĂ­as de proximidad.

    The represented stores are either brick'n'mortar operations or
    virtual stores, but members also sell physical books.

    Might be worth a look.

    It works/reachable with my Tor:

    https://susepaste.org/20751232

    Thanks for the info.

    I no longer purchase as many books (because I already own most books I want), but when I do, I go
    to a second hand book store near the clinic I do works for. I used to purchase lots of books from
    Abebooks until Amazon ruined it.

    Before that, I used to purchase my books at the store of the guy who lost me as a customer because
    he didn't buy a single piece of soap from me. I am a very spiteful, revengeful bastard, as you may
    have noticed.

    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Linux
    * Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Arelor on Wed Jun 16 21:35:00 2021
    Hello Arelor!

    ** On Wednesday 16.06.21 - 19:08, Arelor wrote to Ogg:

    It works/reachable with my Tor:

    https://susepaste.org/20751232

    Thanks for the info.

    But why does it work with my Tor, and not yours?


    I no longer purchase as many books (because I already own
    most books I want), but when I do, I go to a second hand
    book store near the clinic I do works for. I used to
    purchase lots of books from Abebooks until Amazon ruined
    it.

    A-n has indeed ruined the traditional brick-n-mortar
    independent enterprise. A-n may have started with selling
    books, but it clearly has no love of selling books. Bezos just
    took a commodity (that can warehouse well in long-term storage)
    and provided a means to sell it online.

    [Sir Brandon did that with LPs when he started with a Virgin
    enterprise]

    More often than not, he's undercutting a bookselling peer who
    has no option to sell below cost. Meanwhile, A-n offers
    memberships for other things (primarily digital - and again,
    something not requiring longterm physical storage) and makes
    the profits from that. Books have taken a backseat with A-n and
    only providing the illusion of availability and lower prices.

    Before that, I used to purchase my books at the store of
    the guy who lost me as a customer because he didn't buy a
    single piece of soap from me. I am a very spiteful,
    revengeful bastard, as you may have noticed.

    I don't expect my barber (when I *did* go to the barber) to
    come to my shop to buy a book. Maybe he's got other interests.
    (But he *did* put in a good word for my shop to his customers
    when they were captive in his chair)

    I have recognized a few other in-town merchants come to my shop
    and order books.

    But not everyone will have a recipocal interest in our products
    when we buy theirs. That's disconnect is what online barter
    systems recognize. Person A wants what B is selling, but B
    does not want what A is selling.

    I'd say.. just spreading the word about the products that you
    are selling. Someone will appreciate the info.

    Even to this day, even though Ashlie's Books has been
    represented in my town for over 25yrs (I think coming up to 29
    now, and myself as 3rd owner) ..there are people who live in
    the area and tell me that they did not know that there was a
    bookshop. Duh!

    --- OpenXP 5.0.50
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Tiny@21:1/222 to poindexter FORTRAN on Thu Jun 17 04:00:00 2021
    poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Tiny <=-

    It seems like all of the small business employees displaced by business closures can find a job at a local Amazon warehouse. Self-serving, it
    is.

    Yeah, sad but true.

    Shawn

    ... You can tell a real programmer by the keyboard dents in his face.

    --- Talisman v0.24-dev (Windows/x86)
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS II - tinysbbs.com:4323/ssh:4322 (21:1/222)
  • From Arelor@21:2/138 to Ogg on Thu Jun 17 06:13:06 2021
    Re: have always tried to buy local
    By: Ogg to Arelor on Wed Jun 16 2021 09:35 pm

    Before that, I used to purchase my books at the store of
    the guy who lost me as a customer because he didn't buy a
    single piece of soap from me. I am a very spiteful,
    revengeful bastard, as you may have noticed.

    I don't expect my barber (when I *did* go to the barber) to
    come to my shop to buy a book. Maybe he's got other interests.
    (But he *did* put in a good word for my shop to his customers
    when they were captive in his chair)


    Dunno, it depends on the sort of investment you have been making in the other's business.

    I mean, I have been purchasing stuff at worse prices and conditions than available elsewhere at
    this guy's shop for years because I wanted to support the corner bookstore. I think it is no secret
    halñf my purchases there were goodwill driven.

    If goodwill is not returned then I am not giving any more.

    Some merchants in the area did the token effort of purchasing something at my store. Maybe they
    purchased a shampoo upon first opening or something. Not a great effort but they at least showed
    up.

    Quite frankly, I am more prone to purchase flowers from the shop in the next street if I know I
    will see my money back when the owner comes to my store for vitamins. Which is the reason why I
    have switched a lot of purchasing habits - it is just so much better to be your customer's
    customer.

    As for Amazon leveraging books in order to sell other products and services, that is not new. Books
    are a devaluating commodity, and when a commodity is no profitable enough to sell on its own its
    only outlet is to use it to sell something else that is actually profitable. Let's face it, from a
    logistical point of view, traditional books are awful propositions of value (they weight too much
    and offer too low margins), whereas electronic books are simply worthless (something that is
    unlimitedly replicable is unlimitedly worthless). There are lots of books published, but I have
    found that a whole lot of the new publications are not a product, but a tool to leverage another
    product. Or, very frequently, the publisher is siphoning money out of the author rather than the
    readers.

    I mean, I read somewhere in my teen days that Spain was one of the countries in which more Fantasy
    books were published, and also one in which close to nobody was reading them. It seems fishy to me.




    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Linux
    * Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)
  • From Ogg@21:4/106.21 to Arelor on Thu Jun 17 08:19:00 2021
    Hello Arelor!

    ** On Thursday 17.06.21 - 06:13, Arelor wrote to Ogg:

    I don't expect my barber (when I *did* go to the barber) to
    come to my shop to buy a book. Maybe he's got other interests.
    (But he *did* put in a good word for my shop to his customers
    when they were captive in his chair)


    Dunno, it depends on the sort of investment you have been making in the other's business.

    I mean, I have been purchasing stuff at worse prices and conditions than available elsewhere at this guy's shop for years because I wanted to support the corner bookstore. I think it is no secret halñf my purchases there were goodwill driven.

    Just wondering.. did you ever say something like.. "hey bud,
    your prices are a bit higher than I've seen elsewhere.. but I
    like coming here because <insert why>. BTW.. I operate my own
    shop just down your the way.. and sell quality soaps and health
    products."

    Maybe just hoping people will notice is not good enough. We
    have to do human networking.


    If goodwill is not returned then I am not giving any more.

    Well.. another recent example. As you may have been reading,
    I've been relegated to taking taxis everyday for the last week.
    I've been tipping them at about 20 to 25%. I don't expect them
    to come running to my shop and buy anything..(although I wish
    they would) but maybe they can spread the word to one of their
    customers about the fine bloke who operates the bookshop in
    town.

    Some merchants in the area did the token effort of
    purchasing something at my store. Maybe they purchased a
    shampoo upon first opening or something. Not a great effort
    but they at least showed up.

    There was a modest upswing of biz when someone tweeted and
    facebook'd a message about supporting local a few months ago.
    The momentum died down after 2 weeks though.

    Quite frankly, I am more prone to purchase flowers from the shop in the next street if I know I will see my money back when the owner comes to my store for vitamins. Which is the reason why I have switched a lot of purchasing habits - it is just so much better to be your customer's customer.

    Check my "A wants something from B, but B doesn't need what A
    offers" example.

    Maybe offer people some transferable coupons that they can give
    to someone who WANTS a product from your shop.

    As for Amazon leveraging books in order to sell other products and services, that is not new. Books are a devaluating commodity, and when a commodity is no profitable enough to sell on its own its only outlet is to use it to sell something else that is actually profitable.

    A-n is purposely choosing to devaluate the books they get from
    the distributors. The distribs are happy 'cuz they get their
    standard share (I know the discounts that A-n gets because I've
    received some invoices packed into my orders) and A-n is free
    to destroy the books if they want.

    I've called a couple of the distribs and chatted about that and
    asked them why not limit the discounts they give to A-n since
    they warehouse the product, sell at below cost and return the
    vast majority of unused copies. I could do the same thing (I
    have a barn) and order 100,000 copies of a book, sell 25, and
    return the rest. But my 100,000 order would make me appear that
    I am a hot retailer.

    Let's face it,
    from a logistical point of view, traditional books are awful propositions of value (they weight too much and offer too low margins), whereas electronic books are simply worthless (something that is unlimitedly replicable is unlimitedly worthless).

    The replicable inversely proportional to value is an
    interesting point. I never thought of that. But there are
    other digital products (I sell GPS cards too) that are $80-$199
    and the A-n marketplace (lookup: brmb gps) does not seem to
    discount those. ;)

    There are lots of books published,
    but I have found that a whole lot of the new publications are not a product, but a tool to leverage another product. Or, very frequently, the publisher is siphoning money out of the author rather than the readers.

    I think there is a mix of shit like that going on. Another term
    for such a strategy might be "a door crasher". A biz
    advertises something on "sale" (but with conditions), or when
    they sell out, offer something higher-priced after they got the
    customer through the door.

    I mean, I read somewhere in my teen days that Spain was one of the countries in which more Fantasy books were published, and also one in
    which close to nobody was reading them. It seems fishy to me.

    I remember hearing that Stephen Hawkin's book "A Brief History
    Of Time" had/has the dubious distinction of the best selling
    science book that nobody reads.


    --- OpenXP 5.0.50
    * Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)
  • From Arelor@21:2/138 to Ogg on Thu Jun 17 07:40:42 2021
    Re: have always tried to buy local
    By: Ogg to Arelor on Thu Jun 17 2021 08:19 am

    Just wondering.. did you ever say something like.. "hey bud,
    your prices are a bit higher than I've seen elsewhere.. but I
    like coming here because <insert why>. BTW.. I operate my own
    shop just down your the way.. and sell quality soaps and health
    products."

    Maybe just hoping people will notice is not good enough. We
    have to do human networking.


    He is actually extremely knowledgeable of the markets he operates in. I didn't tell him I was making a specific effort to go to his shop specifically, but I can assure you he knew.

    Also I told him of my shop and website obviously.

    Bonus points because he has todlers. Todlers consume things such as infantile bathroom products. Therefore I don't buy the idea that I don't have anything he may want to use. I mean, book store owners have a shower from time to time, I think.

    Regarding other issues you have mentioned: I have read the Brief History of Time. And have read it.

    Expecting other people will do advertising for you is too optimistic to be realistic at all. Mainly because they are very bad at it when they actually go and try. I have memories of fans of mine pursuing people and trying to force them to buy my books at conventions XD

    The fact the digital product is for sale for a price does not mean it is selling at that price. Also, when talking about software and appliances, you are usually buying tech support from them etc which are not unlimitedly available. Compare that to old office suites people downloads and installs from pirate sites. Those are indeed free de-facto, as opposed to, say a subscription top a map or navigation service.




    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Linux
    * Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)
  • From Spectre@21:3/101 to Arelor on Fri Jun 18 10:38:00 2021
    Quite frankly, I am more prone to purchase flowers from the shop in the

    You can always feed them to the fillies. You'll build your goodwill with them :P

    Spec


    *** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
    --- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
    * Origin: We know where you live, we're coming round to get you (21:3/101)
  • From Arelor@21:2/138 to Spectre on Fri Jun 18 03:35:56 2021
    Re: have always tried to buy local
    By: Spectre to Arelor on Fri Jun 18 2021 10:38 am

    Quite frankly, I am more prone to purchase flowers from the shop in the

    You can always feed them to the fillies. You'll build your goodwill with them :P

    Spec


    *** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]

    Actually, my favorite mare's sister loved roses. She would sneak into her owner'ws rose garden and
    lay among the plants. And snatch a flower every now and then. Her owner was an old dude who lacks
    what it takes to deal with a naughty horse and lived perpetually stressed that this mare would end
    up destroying anything important, so he ended up selling her. Such a pity, because she was a
    sweetheart and clearly meant no harm.

    I hate it when horseowners are lazy and prefer to get rid of a horse that is mostly not troublesome
    than educate her.

    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Linux
    * Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)
  • From Adept@21:2/108 to Arelor on Fri Jun 18 20:03:50 2021
    he didn't buy a single piece of soap from me. I am a very spiteful, revengeful bastard, as you may
    have noticed.

    Username checks out.

    (Seems obligatory)

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)
  • From Arelor@21:2/138 to Adept on Fri Jun 18 15:07:50 2021
    Re: Re: have always tried to buy local
    By: Adept to Arelor on Fri Jun 18 2021 08:03 pm

    he didn't buy a single piece of soap from me. I am a very spiteful, revengeful bastard, as
    may
    have noticed.

    Username checks out.

    (Seems obligatory)

    I like you, mortal, so I will grant you a glorious death fighting heretics so your name will
    decorate the walls of a monument to any of the Clergy's victories.

    --
    gopher://gopher.richardfalken.com/1/richardfalken
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Linux
    * Origin: Palantir * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL * (21:2/138)
  • From Spectre@21:3/101 to Arelor on Sat Jun 19 09:33:00 2021
    Actually, my favorite mare's sister loved roses. She would sneak into her owner'ws rose garden and lay among the plants. And snatch a flower
    every now and then. Her owner was an old dude who lacks what it
    takes to deal with a naughty horse and lived perpetually stressed

    I hate it when horseowners are lazy and prefer to get rid of a horse that is mostly not troublesome than educate her.

    Clearly we're not all made of the same stuff... if we were the world would be a boring place. Perhaps it was the old dude that needed the edjumacation as much as the mare?

    Spec


    *** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
    --- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
    * Origin: We know where you live, we're coming round to get you (21:3/101)