Poll: Where Do You Buy Books?

I would like to add to the comments in support of the local Christian retailer, of which I am one. I purchased a store that had a 40+ year history in my local community with the ministry opportunities as our motivation. This was five years ago and we continue to struggle day in and day out to just survive. This point has been made by others but I want to emphasize it again. The ministry that takes place in our store does not happen at B&N or Hastings and will never happen online. We have an opportunity to touch others for Christ in a way that no other retail industry can but our “kind” are dying out almost daily. There were comments about selling “Jesus Junk” and authors like Jakes, Osteen, Hinn and Meyer. We have each of these authors on our shelves and we also have Catholic focused books and items on our shelves . If we tried to make our business an “exclusive place” only for Christians with a reformed or orthodox viewpoint, what ministry would be taking place? I don’t agree with Jakes, Hinn, Osteen or even Meyer on many of their principles and teachings but if I don’t have their titles on the shelf I will never have the chance to minister to the people who are looking for these titles. By carrying a wide variety of titles we can attract a wide variety of people and really minister to those who need to know the truth about Jesus Christ. Now to the business side that must work for the ministry to continue (we have helped evert at least one suicide through being available to pray with someone, lets see Amazon do that). When it comes to books we are getting squeezed from both sides, the publishers are cutting our discounts (our profits go down theirs go up) without affecting the retail price of the book. Essentially I am paying more for the same book I bought from a publisher today then I was a year ago but the perceived price (the one Amazon and other discount against) for the end user has not changed. In order to offset the loss of sales on books (to Amazon, CBD and others) and the loss of profit to be made on the books we sell (the publisher cutting our discounts) we can either shut the doors or sell “trinkets” as some have described. These trinkets are important to people and they (the customer) will get them somewhere else if not from us. The one advantage to trinkets is most people want to touch and feel a gift item and in a time of need (loss of a loved one, still born child, toddler run over by a grandparent) they need a person to help them, not an operator or website to take their order. We have to sell the trinkets to make enough profit to continue to offer the books that everyone (including the majority on this blog) want at a discounted price. If the economics would work I would sell only Bibles as that is the only pure book ever written but the reality is too many people buy the Bible for what is on the outside (need a pink one that matches the dress or an expensive leather one to impress other congregants) then what is on the inside. I offer the pink ones or the expensive leather ones in hope that once they get it in their hand they will really discover the imporatant part is what is written inside. If the trends of Christians buying online from secular sources continues, the independent Christian retailer will cease to exist. What better weapon could Satan dream up to use against us then to have the one place in a community that has people trained to help select a Bible go out of business? It is happening every day and my prayers are I don’t end up being one of them. Support the local Christian retailers, pay full list for a book and you are supporting kingdom work. Support the secular book sellers, get that discounted price (same one they offer on the Satanic bible, Amazon has it for $7.99) and see what the final outcome is and how much ministry work will cease to happen. Blessings!

In response to the follow-up comment of Ian. I don’t think I said I sell bad stuff, I said I sell titles I don’t necessarily agree with the authors teachings or principles. Who am I to judge if someone else who claims to be a Christian, and has a different point of view, is wrong and my point of view is right. Each and every item I sell is directed toward “Putting Christ in your every day life”, the mision of my store. And to David’s comment of “being a purveyor of heresy”, I guess his ability to judge others is much more developed then mine. As to Ray’s comment about Family Christian. I would never try to sell a book for more then the SuggestedRetailPrice but what Ray and others probably don’t understand is that book is printed with the SRP at a specific point in time. If the price for the book goes up (which they do), we as a retailer have our costs calculated on the new price, not the one that is printed on the book. Also as I mentioned in an earlier post, many publishers are cutting retailers discounts thus my cost for a book that has a SRP of $19.99 last year and the same SRP this year has gone up. Stickering over the price is a bad practice (at least in my opinion) but no one can afford to sell a book (or any other product) and not make a resonable profit. I don’t expect anyone to buy from my store just because I am a retailer of Christian products or even because I am a Christian who retails products. I just wish people would understand what buying “at a discount” from Amazon and others is doing, supporting companies who have no calling to minister, only a calling to sell. I would like to restate what Brad has said in 81, what would bring you back into a Christian retail store? We are all (collectively all independent owned stores) looking for new and better ways to serve all people and minister to their needs but if price is the major factor we cannot compete with chains, E-commerce or big box retailers as their focus is ONLY price and profits and not impacting the Kingdom. Please give use some positive suggestions or ideas as to what each of you as a consumer of books would like to see when you enter a Christian retail location.