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Question: What's so great about Barnes and Noble anyway!?
There CD's, DVD's, books, and board games are way overpriced!. No wonder why they send books to another bookseller so much!. Explain to me how the 1st year of Law and Order: SVU costs $59!.99!? I can see for the first 2 years maybe but not one!. Don't they know raising the price of books doesn't raise the quality!?

I have had a couple friends who have worked there are weren't taken care of and were given crappy hours!. They also had to go through several small literature inquisitions to get a job and while being a current employee!. Does that seriously prove anything!? I know more about Irish authors and popular music than the artsy New England college girl with a weird hairdo and trendy black glasses on!.

Barnes and Noble does 2 things when you ask where a book is!.

1) Take you by the hand and walk you directly to the book!.
2) Ask you 3 times if you have a membership card and if you want to sign up for one!. $25 for the first year!? That's like spending $200 to get that money back!.Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
I used to work at Barnes & Noble until the waste of oxygen who ran the place got on my case thinking I was "disrespecting her auto-i-ty (say it like Cartman)!. Never had to take a test to work there!.
The only reason B&N carries CD's or DVD's is to try to compete with Best Buy, Circuit City and other such places!. While they occasionly did "buy two get one free on box sets", they still couldn't compete!. They carry the Criterion Collection, a lot of BBC stuff and other harder to find titles, but it's still overpriced!.
Taking you to the item and placing it in your hand is more a retail thing than B&N, though it is shoved down employees throats sideways to do so!. I agree completely with the membership card, it's a waste of time and money and employees are pressed to sell the damn thing!. Borders offers the same thing for free, I think Books A Million is ten bucks, if it hasn't gone free as well!.
I've also worked at Borders, which is the favorite of my two!. Borders just seems more laid back and not so full of itself, but there again, that may be because it started out as almost a college store in Ann Arbor Michigan, while B&N was always a NY 'business'!. It's employees are also more knowlegable, but perhaps that's becuase they like books and allowed to talk about and sell them without having to force all this other crap on the customer!. For all the airs B&N wants to put on, the customers still lounged around whining there was no free internet service and using the place as a library while drinking overpriced 'Starbucks' coffee!. Guess we all have to look trendy and have our priorites!.
As for me!? The library is free and there's this teriffic thing called Iliad that will track down any book, CD or DVD for you and deliver to your branch!.
Www@QuestionHome@Com

To tell you the truth, the only thing that attracts people to Barns and Noble is the smell!. When you walk in, you smell this pleasant, clean, odor!. What also attracts people is the usual Starbucks connected to it or the chairs on the upper floor people use to study!. Btw, Boarder's is also over priced even with membership discount!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

Borders is just as ridiculously priced!. I loved getting Borders gift cards through the Discover cashback bonus and using them on amazon, but since they broke off, their prices are just not worth it!.

If I'm really interested in a book, I might go into the brick and mortar store, but I'll always buy it off amazon to get a much better price!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

because you can scream and run around in all the spacious room and yell "YAAAAAAY I GOT MY NEW BOOK AND IM GONNA READ IT RIGHT AWAY CAUSE IM SOOOOOO EXITED TO READ IT!!!"

In my case it would be,
"YAAAAAAY I GOT BREAKING DAWN AND IM GONNA READ IT RIGHT NOW CAUSE IM SO EXITED TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS AND IM WONDERING HOW THE SAGA ENDS!!!!!!"
Thats how i was in my mind when i bought it yesterday
im almost done twilight is a good series you should read itWww@QuestionHome@Com

You know, I really don't see the point of it, we always shop at Borders!. I like the books, they have **** prices, and dad likes thier coffee and, for some unknown and unfathomable reason, he brings home the coffee to make at home too!.!.!.!. Yup!. Pretty sure Borders is better!.!.!.!.!.!.!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

barnes and Noble I think Is a nice book store because it has the ideal book I'm looking for !. I think it's expensive, Yes, But I never recall them asking me if I have membershipWww@QuestionHome@Com

Borders is better!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

I don't like barnes and noble!. GO BORDERS!Www@QuestionHome@Com

What you say is true but they do have a lot of books and shopping online (my favorite) is easy!. I spend about $1500 a year in books (more if I could) so the membership does save me money!. I also get rebates through email that of course I use!. I like Amazon and B&N; there is not a Borders near me!. Living in WA state for 4 years, I really enjoy the coffee too!. It's a relaxing, no pressure place that I have conducted business at or done research!. So all and all I like the atmosphere and spend time there whenever I can - just to relax among all those books!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I will tell you that I am a Barnes and Noble employee so you can take what I say with a grain of salt!.

As far as pricing goes, Barnes and Noble does not mark up prices!. CDs and DVDs are sold at list price in stores with a discount if it is above certain price points!. They are more expensive than what you might find at a Wal-Mart or Best Buy but Barnes and Noble does not buy in bulk like those retailers and also doesn't have the variety of merchandise that they can take a hit on in order to have those low prices!. Barnes and Noble also takes a hit on selling CDs of local artists!. And you have to pay a lot for the variety of things that are carried!. Many of the board games and other merchandise that you see can't be purchased at other retailers!. Barnes and Noble also takes pride in carrying a lot of things most retailers don't carry on a regular basis and being willing to order things that other people can't get!. It's a specialty retailer and the selection and quality of service is something that takes money to sustain!.

Book prices in particular are set by the publishers!. They come printed on the book in most cases!. Barnes and Noble does equivalent discounts to most places on major new releases (ie Harry Potter, Breaking Dawn etc!.) and better in a lot of cases!.

If you are comparing prices to Amazon, consider the fact that Barnes and Noble has higher operating costs due to the fact that they not only have a distribution center to operate, but also the hundreds of stores with overhead costs and employees to pay!.

I'm sorry your friends have had bad experiences working there, but in retail no one gets great hours!. It's the nature of the beast!. As far as going through inquisitions, B&N wants the best employees they can get!. This includes asking about books, because that's what they sell and they want people who are passionate about them!. The same goes for music!. It's great if you know a lot about one specific category, but you have to be able to talk it up!.

As far as being taken care of, my personal experience is that your schedule requests can't always be honored but real difficulties have always been worked out!. And the benefits are great as well as reasonably priced!.

To address the point of walking you directly to the book, most of our customers appreciate that!. The stores are often large and everyone has their own idea of what makes sense organizationally so it saves time and aggravation if someone who actually knows takes you right to it!.

As far as the membership goes, it's not a flat 10% discount!. It's 20% on adult hardcover books, 40% off hardcover bestsellers, plus you get a lot of additional coupons!. They come out every week!. Just off 1 week's coupons my mother saved $27 dollars!. If you don't buy a lot then, no it's not worth it!. But I have one just for the things that the employee discount doesn't cover and it's worth it for me!. It also does in fact work as soon as you buy it!. It immediately discounts everything in that purchase!.

I'm sorry if you haven't had the best experiences, but we have people every day who tell us that they come to us because no one else does what we do!. We have people who drive 100 miles roundtrip weekly to come to our store because we're doing something right and they have a bookstore in their town!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I don't think there is anything special about B&N it just has all the books you need!. I prefer to shop independent book stores whenever possible but if I need something and need it asap I go to Barnes because I can be pretty sure they have it!. I don't think that they over-charge for their books, however!. They charge the publisher's set price on the back of each book!. I've never purchased CDs or DVDs from them so I can't say anything about them in that category!.

I like to support ma and pa shops myself!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

That's why I get all my books and music through Amazon!. Barnes and
Noble grew to prominence back when the only other book store of note
in most towns was the tiny Waldenbooks tucked away in the local mall!.
There was a distinct difference in shopping at one versus the other then!.
But, for me, the larger selection of titles available in a bigger store and
having a coffee shop attached doesn't make up for the extravagant prices
on their music and movies, though their book prices are in line with the rest of the brick-and-mortar industry!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I've never had a problem with Barnes and Noble!. Never went there to buy DVD's or CD's, either!. I do that at Best Buy!. If I want the best buy for books - I usually find it at B&N, because I'm a member there and they have pretty good discounts on new released books!.

The literature inquisitions to work there is understandable!. They want their staff to be knowledgeable!. I'm sure they can get presented to them as an employee questions about literature from the costumers!. It'd look sad if the worker just stood there open mouthed and couldn't respond!.

But honestly - we're talking bookstores here!. You make it seem like we're talking about presidential candidates!. I'm happy you like Borders more - it's a nice store, too - but no need to get bent out of shape over a bookstore!. Www@QuestionHome@Com