Sunday, July 25, 2021

Time versus discount.

I just ordered 10 x more books from Ingrams than Penguin Random House, even though my discount is 13 points better with the latter. Usually I order about 2 to 1. 

PRH is taking two and half weeks to deliver, which is crazy. Especially when they are supposed to deliver within the week.

Ingrams delivers in two days. There's only 5 weeks left in the summer! I've lost a good number of sales waiting for that extra 13%, at the busiest time of year.

From now on, I guess, I'll be ordering from PRH when they have it and no one else does, or if don't think there is any urgency, but it's pretty hard to run Just-In-Time bookstore when it takes 16 days to show up! My entire strategy is to carry one copy of most books, sometimes two, very rarely three copies; because I can (or should) be able to get another copy pretty readily. 

PRH could probably care less about a little guy like me, but they're out thousands of dollars this week alone. I can't be the only one. 

It does worry me about how they are going to handle Marvel comics...

We're selling so many books that I have to spend a few hours every other night just ordering them. I have to spend an extra two or three afternoons a week in the store putting them away.

First world problems, I guess.

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