Nook & BN Member Discount [ Edited ]

[Dawnn]

I emailed BN abbot this same issue, asking why would I pay for a discount card that I couldn't use on ebooks and this is the response I got back, which I call BS on when I can buy the paperback for cheaper and still use the discount. There is no way that the ebook version is more expensive to produce than the paper version. I have had my member card for years but since I have switched to ebooks almost exclusively I probably won't renew it unless this changes. 

Thank you for your inquiry regarding applying your Barnes & Noble Membership discount to eBook purchases. Because our eBook prices are deeply discounted from the Publisher's List Price, the Barnes & Noble Member's discount is not available on the purchase of digital content (including but not limited to digital books, magazines, and periodicals); certain digital devices; downloadable Audiobooks in MP3 or any other format. We hope you find this information helpful and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Sincerely, Diane Customer Service Representative Barnes and Noble

[bklvr896]

@Dawnn

I agree the membership should be allowed on Nook purchases and on eBooks, when B&N is able to allow the discounts.  

Unfortunately, in the current environment, 5 of the 6 largest publishers forced B&N and other retailers into a new pricing model, called the Agency Model.  Under this model, the publisher, not B&N, sets the price of the book and currently, they are not allowing any discounts to be applied.  You can see this when you look at the product details for an eBook, it will say, for example, "Sold by: Penguin USA".  At this point, B&N is simply the agent for the publisher. If you search for those books at other sites, you will see they are selling for the same price.

However, there are other books where it would be possible to allow us to use the Discount and I see no reason why we shouldn't be able use the discount on Nook accessories.

[Lusalma]

i agree that the main issue is not BN, but I do think they need to change their message from the deeply discounted one, since that is obviously a load of bs.  That line, when we can go and see on their own site that the paperback version is 30% less than the ebook let alone the further discounts places like Target and Walmart get.

Hopefully with the Ipad generating sales the agency model will get pushed back as Amazon, BN and Apple all strive to compete.

But yes.... they are giving less and less reasons for us to cough up money to pay for their membership card.

[FrogAlum]

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Nallia wrote:

JdiennoPSU wrote:

With the agency model in effect, B&N can not discount any books.  If they discount them they can not sell them.  Hopefully the publishers will see how so many people are refusing to buy agency books because of this.  This is not B&Ns fault but the publishers.

Except that the Member dicsount never applied to the nook, any of its accessories, or to ebooks, even before the Agency Model went into effect.

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And they could discount anything that is not agency 5...

[FrogAlum]

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Lusalma wrote:

i agree that the main issue is not BN, but I do think they need to change their message from the deeply discounted one, since that is obviously a load of bs.  That line, when we can go and see on their own site that the paperback version is 30% less than the ebook let alone the further discounts places like Target and Walmart get.

Hopefully with the Ipad generating sales the agency model will get pushed back as Amazon, BN and Apple all strive to compete.

But yes.... they are giving less and less reasons for us to cough up money to pay for their membership card.

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Don't count on that anytime soon, Apple instigated this mess, they went to the publishers with the idea.

[Lynns_Nook]

The main issue IS B&N.  It's their membership plan that provides nothing for Nook owners. Nothing. 

S'ok. I don't plan to buy much at all from B&N for my Nook. I bought it for library books and for access to books from other websites. 

Maybe they will wise up if people aren't willing to pay double for an ebook that is on sale in the store for half or less. 

[trex450]

do we at least not pay sales tax?

[bklvr896]

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trex450 wrote:

do we at least not pay sales tax?

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Sales tax is dependent upon your state/local government's policies.  None of the retailers have any say over whether or not you pay sales tax on any item.

[JRBaker]

I had a B&N membership card for a year.  Then I realized that Borders has a loyalty program that costs nothing, and gives me a coupon almost every week for ~30% off an item in their store.  That's way more than I need, even if I was to want to buy one book a week.  With B&N's program, you'd have to buy A LOT of stuff in order to just recoup the cost of the membership - do the math.

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Lusalma wrote:

i agree that the main issue is not BN, but I do think they need to change their message from the deeply discounted one, since that is obviously a load of bs.  That line, when we can go and see on their own site that the paperback version is 30% less than the ebook let alone the further discounts places like Target and Walmart get.

Hopefully with the Ipad generating sales the agency model will get pushed back as Amazon, BN and Apple all strive to compete.

But yes.... they are giving less and less reasons for us to cough up money to pay for their membership card.

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[James57]

I completely agree with what everybody has been saying. I have had the membership card for a few years now and I will say it is worth it if you're buying physical books, movies, etc. But I was very disappointed when I found out that you cannot use your membership discount with any Nook products or ebooks. What is worse is that some of the ebook prices are ridiculous. I saw one a few days ago (I don't remember which) that was on sale for around $2-3 for the paperback, but almost $10 for the ebook! As someone said earlier, if we're spending over $250 for the Nook it would be nice to have some lower ebook prices or at the very least be able to use our membership discount for them.