I felt a little sad at first but then I reminded myself of something important, I went to a book fair which is a completely different experience from online shopping. At the fair, I had the chance to browse through many interesting books in person, enjoy the atmosphere and support local sellers. Even though I only got a 15% discount at the fair, compared to the 30% discount available online, I still see value in the experience. In the end, it’s not just about the discount, but about the overall experience and the joy of discovering books in real life. I keep telling myself this but I still feel sad about the money I could have saved. If I had bought the book online instead of at the book fair, I would have gotten a much better deal. How do you deal with it?
by Delicious_Maize9656
13 Comments
Why did you check it and kill your joy?
Did you expect the books to be cheaper than what you can find online?
Unfortunately, there is a reason why people browse in person then buy online. It’s a real problem.
I just say “damn …” and move on.
It’s almost always cheaper to buy a book online. You deal with it knowing that you’re paying a small premium to keep book shopping alive. What we don’t need is helping Amazon become even more monopolized (they own a lot of the alternative online bookstores too).
Online is almost always going to be cheaper because of economies of scale. But when you buy local, you’re putting the money into the hands of community members and helping to keep the local community economically robust.
No judgement to people who feel they can only afford books they get online, but it’s not embarrassing to pay more for something you got at the fair. You shouldn’t feel ashamed or ripped off or anything. You made the decision to support events like that fair. They couldn’t exist if people didn’t buy books in person. You did good.
I don’t mind overpaying for books.
The extra cost in a bookshop is often quite small as compared to the internet.
In the end it comes down to the following for me. I like browsing and buying books. To be able to do this, I need to support my local bookshops even if they are slightly more expensive than buying online. Otherwise in a couple of years time I might not have the chance to do that anymore.
I prefer to support a book fair/indie bookstore/indie publisher than a large corporation.
That happens a lot with online versus real life purchases.
What savings did you miss out on? Like a dollar? Two?
When I can, I make the conscious decision to support brick-and-mortar businesses. I know that it will cost more (at least 98% of the time). But I think it’s good to do when we can.
As you say, it’s a different experience. I just accept that to get that experience, I have to pay more.
I deal with it very much like you did. Recognize the bigger value in having the book fair. Supporting a local event.
The same store had that drastic difference in price, or another seller had it cheaper? Would you have paid shipping online?
It stinks, but if you felt the deal you got was good at the time, I’d just remember that and try to forget I looked online 😂
You get sad about not saving an extra two dollars?! What?!!! lol the rest of your life must be a dream if that’s what makes you sad lol