It’s hard for any bookstores, especially the smaller ones, to match the prices of online retailers, but you’re paying for services that big box stores and online retailers can’t offer, argues John Stackhouse, Canadian author, commentator, theologian and professor at Regent College in Vancouver.
Stackhouse makes some great points on his recent blog, including:
We pay to have books right there on the shelves to buy now, not in a few days or weeks.
We pay to have books available to pick up, inspect, and decide about purchasing in a way websites can never emulate, no matter what cool features they add.
We pay for the wisdom and taste of professional theological booksellers who pick out the good books from the many, many bad ones. (Anyone up for some serious religious book buying at Barnes & Noble or Borders? At Wal-Mart?)
We pay for staff to advise us on what else might interest us on a topic, and also what might interest Uncle Fred or Cousin Wilma or Nephew Barney or Reverend Betty for a birthday or graduation or study leave or retirement.
We pay for information on why a book is not currently available, and perhaps on other ways of getting it (e.g., from the U.K. when it’s not available over here, particularly if it’s been published under a different title elsewhere).
We pay to be able to return things easily and confidently.
And we pay for the serendipity—not a trivial thing—of coming across books we never knew existed and for which we would never have thought to search on a website.
Stackhouse’s argument that ethical decisions of where to buy need to be based on more than just price parallels the increasing trend of people deliberately choosing to buy locally-grown produce, or fair-trade coffee and chocolate, or supporting family-run businesses rather than big box stores.
But that still represents a small minority of consumers. Will enough people support Christian and theological bookstores so that they survive?
Read Stackhouse’s entire blog post, titled “Good Bookstores: If We Ignore Them, They’ll Go Away” — and be sure to see the comments from booksellers and customers that his blog is generating.
For example, one person comments that it’s common for browsers to ask bookstore staff for information and recommendations and take up a lot of their time, then tell them, “Thanks for your help, I’ll go order that on Amazon!”
2 Comments
October 12, 2009 at 4:54 am
HELLO
WHERE IN TORONTO CAN I PURCHASE BILL GAITHER’S DVD CALLED GOD BLESS AMERICA?
THANKS
MARGARET BAKER
October 15, 2009 at 1:39 pm
It’s easy, contact some Christian bookstores in Toronto and ask them if they have it in stock, otherwise they will order it in for you. Here’s two suggestions: Check for information at http://www.faithfamilybooks.ca/ or at http://www.michaelsfamilybooks.com/. Mainstream retailers such as HMV could also order it in for you.