Shopping for an ereader? Good luck

[JeremyR]

Part of the thing is that retail stores don't really sell anything that a consumer will buy beyond the e-reader.

I mean, they sell stereos, but they also sell cds. TVs and DVD/Blu Ray players, but also DVDs and Blu Rays. Video Game consoles and lots of games and accessories.

When Sony tried a digital download only version of their PSP, some retailers wouldn't carry it, or wanted a higher price on it, to make the margin for them bigger (which ended up with the thing flopping spectacularly, or at least helped it to).

[bevdeforges]

Hey who'd have thunk it? It sounds like Darty's marketing of e-readers here in France is a step up from the displays in the US!

Darty (our big appliance and electronic gadget chain) has just recently started selling e-readers, so I went in to see what they had. The display wasn't terribly informative, but they did have working samples of the Sony machines (both 650 and 600, 350 and 300) as well as Bookeen and one other brand, I think available to be played with. Not sure how long the display models will last, but I was quick impressed by the new Sonys. (Just bought my 600 last spring, though, and am not in the market for a new one...)

I did notice, however, that none of the sales staff swooped in to offer to "help" me like they do in some of the other departments. I suspect they don't have too many sales staff who are familiar with the merchandise yet. So I went over to the large appliances section and pestered some lady about the dryer I was interested in. (End of the model, unfortunately, and being replaced by a MUCH more expensive model.... oh well, back to the drawing board.)

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Lots of great replies here!

The idea of buying and returning was mentioned by a few, and it can be a good way to evaluate a product... provided you do enough research to buy from a store that allows hassle-free returns of opened products (and many will only replace the product with the same item, so I mean it--research!).

I think a lot of people are a bit leery of product returns for this reason, not to mention the hassle of having to return to the store and deal with their counter help (rarely a pleasant process). And I think there's a psychological effect at work there, too: Some stores almost actively discourage you from trying to return anything. Amazon, I think, makes it easier than most, and some other retailers are learning. Hopefully more customers will be at-ease with the idea of buy, test and return... especially if stores won't provide decent help and opportunities to test devices.

But not being able to try and buy means a lot of (okay some) impulse buying won't happen. Admittedly, reader purchases are still low, but are retailers shooting themselves in the foot by not making a stronger effort to sell reading devices? Or are their margins so low as to make the effort impractical for them?

[hal2814]

The only well-run display I've seen in person is the Nook booth. It's run very similarly to the Apple store. Target used to have a Sony display and a Kindle display but they were both on rails and didn't give you much interaction. These days, our Target only has a hands-off Kindle display. So yeah, return policy becomes important. Do any of the wholesale clubs sell eReaders? They would probably be the best places to get one due to their very liberal return policies and their tendency to have display models.

[NVash]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

With Apple stores, they don't care. They are both manufacturer and retailer, so they make money whether you buy in store or elsewhere. (And as prices are essentially fixed, there is no reason not to buy in a store anyway.)

I must respectfully disagree. You buy an iPod on the Apple site and you can get a free engraving on the back. As far as Im aware they offer nothing of the sort at the store and would point you to the internet if you want it. So depends on what you want. Personally I prefer my iPod engraved. Why not right? Someone steals it, you have to prove its yours, tell them whats engraved underneath that case and on the back of the iPod or, just show your name and ID if you have your name on it. Never came up but you never know.

Now around here, Im not sure if many are aware of my struggle or not. Basically Ive only been to a Barnes & Noble. I never got around to a Target or WalMart, any of those places. Ive been there but surely not looking for ebook readers. I went to another BN recently and found that they have theirs on the third floor, a whole row of nothing but ebook readers. I sat down and started playing with one, figured Id read a short story. It was around thirteen pages and I was waiting for someone to meet me so I began to read. A lady came up and offered help, I thanked her and continued reading. In this BN they actually had chairs. The one around where I live is just a giant kiosk where you stand there and someone usually stands in back of it. I say usually because rarely do you see them there, its always empty. Who cares anyway, they just had a Nook. They had a million flyers for the Nook Color but it wasnt out yet. Well here it seemed empty but someone immediately came over and helped. She wasnt very knowledgeable but she wanted to help and immediately got another employee when I started asking questions. I admire that. This lady was very good but BN had one serious flaw here. They had a bunch of readers in a row, Kobo, Sony, I dont remember the exact names. I asked if one could read comic strips right off the bat. She pointed me towards a cheap mans iPad, not really a Nook Color but much more square. Again, I dont know the names. Well woman told me all that it could do and how it ran on the Android operating system, well I was just about sold. There was just two problems, including that flaw. The thing attached to the internet via WiFi but it wasnt connected. How do you expect to sell something when you cant show me how the thing works? Second problem which has nothing to do with them, I have a bunch of Kindle purchases and Im not about to give up those books. Those two reasons and now that I realize it was an LCD screen, are the reasons why I didnt buy anything that day.

This format war is stupid. I dont see why Kindle cant have apps on everything. Kindle can have an app on the iPad, why not? Nook, why not? If I have a Nook I cant read my Kindle books? That makes no darn sense. Its a book not a game system. I understand I cant play the same game on 360 as I can on Wii, but this is different.

And not having WiFi up, honestly, that made no sense. Ive seen this happen at the Apple store before and even at cell phone retailers as they try to sell smartphones. They really need to work on fixing that. She said she could get a working WiFi copy from the second floor but by then I had lost interest.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by NVash

This format war is stupid. I dont see why Kindle cant have apps on everything.

I agree completely. I read on a smartphone, Windows-based, and there is no Kindle app for it, no Nook app for it, no Visio app, no lots of apps... anything I buy, I have to break the DRM and convert to ePub to read... it can be a pain.

I don't mind there being multiple devices... that's how you get competition, and how good devices develop. But multiple formats and apps that aren't available for all devices isn't helping the industry. We need uniformity for ebooks.

[adjangs]

My local Bestbuy had a Kindle 3 on display that was purely a demo unit next to a fully functioning Nook and Sony 950. It was hard to even consider the Kindle in that setting; it just showed about 3 screens in a loop. The store display is what made the decision for me. They showed me Nook lag is not that bad, and the Pearl screen was almost indestinguishable from the Nook's Vizplex. So Nook it was (giving as a gift). For myself, the store displays showed me netbooks were the way to go.

[Catlady]

I looked at a Kindle 3 at a Staples store yesterday. It seemed to be fully functioning demo unit. I was able to play with it for a while and familiarize myself with the various features; I don't know if any staff were knowledgeable about it, as I didn't have any questions and they left me alone.

Frankly, I hated everything about it, especially the flash between page turns. I don't know how people ever get used to that.

[NVash]

All E-ink does that flash. I have a thread here from when I first started messing around with a Nook. Ive seen many other E-ink readers, same thing. Kindle, Ive seen people use it, same thing. It annoys me as well, I really hope one gets used to it after awhile. Itd be even better if they release an update or even a newer version that doesnt have it at all.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=105450
Heres the thread.