B&N Members: Buy Your Paperbacks At The Store [ Edited ]

[dalnewt]

In case you haven't noticed the price of paperbacks has risen over the last year or so from $6.99 to $7.99. Further, there are no longer pre-order discounts on the vast majority of paperbacks ordered on-line prior to release. Moreover, it has recently come to my attention that the B&N membership discount is not applicable to any book purchases made on-line. (Supposedly the reasoning is that the on-line book price is lower than the book price in the stores. I think that this may be so for hardbacks, but it's not applicable when it comes to paperbacks.)

What this all boils down to is that a paperback is going to cost you $7.99, even if you pre-order it and even if you're a B&N member. But, the 10% membership discount is still applicable to book purchases made in B&N stores.

So, all you B&N members out there, buy your paperbacks at the store. It's the only way you'll get any discount.  

[Trooper2012]

Why doesn't the discount membership work online?  I thought you got the discount any time you purchased from any Barnes & Noble.

[dalnewt]

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Trooper2012 wrote:

Why doesn't the discount membership work online?  I thought you got the discount any time you purchased from any Barnes & Noble.

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There are no membership discounts on-line with the exception of the ability to receive free shipping no matter how small the order. In other words, there's no $25 minimum to get free regular shipping for B&N members.

But, if you buy at the store the B&N membership discounts apply! Unfortunately, hardback prices are usually better on-line--even for bestsellers. But a regular paperback is cheaper for members at the store! So, if you buy a lot of paperbacks, it pays to buy them at your local B&N.

Although I missed the e-mail B&N sent out explaining the above modification to the membership benefits, as I understand it B&N's explanation stressed that the modification was being made in order to offer the lowest prices to its on-line customers. (IMO its all about competing on-line with Amazon sirrespective of B&N's longtime members.) Paperbacks have gone up to an average price of $7.99. If you buy them at the store, you get 10% off for each. That adds up to a small but appreciable savings if you're buying a lot of paperbacks.

P.S. I'm still a stone age reader who prefers paper books as opposed to e-books. But if you're an e-book reader be advised that the B&N membership benefits don't apply at all! Apparently, e-books have their own set of rules that disallow such discounts. If you want to know more about the lack of membership benefits as regards e-books, look on the threads dedicate to nookbooks.

[lise23]

i always order paper backs online and it takes my discount

[dalnewt]

All I can say is next time you order only paperbacks on-line, check your final order. I guarantee you won't find 10% removed from your order.

The only B&N Membership benefit that still applies to on-line purchases is free regular shipping regardless of the size of the order.  (There's no $25.00 minimum for B&N members.) Ergo, it's cheaper for B&N members to buy their paperbacks in the store. (Note, by comparing book pricing in the store and on-line, I've notice that it's almost always cheaper to buy hardcovers on-line.)

B&N has made a new modification to the membership benefits that discontinues the 20% Adult Hardcover discount for in-store purchases. If you are a current B&N member, the 20% in-store discount will not be taken away until your membership is up for renewal. For new members joining on or after 6/6/11, the change becomes immediate. (See B&N Membership terms changing again on the Community Room board.)

As regards in-store book purchases, the following in-store discounts still apply:

• 40% off Adult Hardcover Bestsellers.

• 10% off all books (paperbacks and non-bestseller hardcovers) not reduced for sale.

[dulcinea3]

Well, instore it's actually still 10% off just about everything, including sale items and the coffee shop.  And that 40% on the adult hardcover bestsellers, which I never buy, anyway.

The quote from the message is:

• 10% off the Barnes & Noble sale price of other eligible items. Includes adult hardcover books, already discounted items, Bargain books, music, movies, Café and almost everything else.

Also I believe that the free shipping is the express shipping, not just regular.  I still use regular, because I prefer to have it delivered by USPS instead of UPS.

[dalnewt]

It's funny, but I haven't noticed the 'express' portion of the free shipping I'm supposedly getting when I order on-line. Maybe I should always choose free regular shipping. I ordered a hardcover released on June 7 from B&N on that date, (so I could utilize a 15% coupon). My order wasn't even processed until June 9, and since then there's been no action on it. It's still sitting in NJ.

Note, since I buy a lot of paperbacks, the in-store shopping has really paid off for me. Also note, that I bought a clearance hardcover mystery at a fantastic price in the store, but the 10% discount didn't apply. Ergo, the in-store 10% discount doesn't apply to all sale books. Specifically, it doesn't apply to books on clearance sale.