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Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex's New Book Spare


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Spare is probably the biggest book to come out this year -- bigger than Michelle Obama's The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times and that was a humongous book!  By "Big Book" I mean a book it a multimillion-dollar advance payment to the author and millions spent on marketing.  Generally, these bo]ig books would be a boon for booksellers, but...

 

The book retails for $36, but Amazon is selling it for $22.42 (which just about equals my wholesale discount.

 

Michelle Obama's book is still discounted 48% Amazon! This is much lower than my wholesale discount and about what I can get the book for it I purchased it directly from the publisher.  I'd lose money if I sold the book at  Amazon's discount with free shipping. 

 

It is a classic loss leader strategy -- take a loss on a popular product and make it up on the other stuff, with higher profit margins that customers buy.  

 

Of course, the result of this is that AALBC sold less than a handful of copies of one of the biggest Black book of the year. One of my customers was my elderly aunt you wanted the book but also wants to support my business.  

 

It might sound counterintuitive but books by the Obama's don't help AALBC's sales at all due to Amazon's steep discounts.  

 

The point of the post actually is, as a bookseller, should I try to sell these big books that Amazon discounts so deeply?  There is a loose association with Blackness given Harry's "Bi-racial" wife.  I also know a lot of Black women have an interest in this subject.

 

I also completely understand why someone would by Spare and The Light We Carry from Amazon, with the shipping readers will save at least $20 buying from Amazon -- with Amazon's "free" shipping.  

 

 

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21 hours ago, Troy said:

The book retails for $36, but am*zon is selling it for $22.42 (which just about equals my wholesale discount.

 

It is a classic loss leader strategy -- take a loss on a popular product and make it up on the other stuff, with higher profit margins that customers buy.  

 

The point of the post actually is, as a bookseller, should I try to sell these big books that am*zon discounts so deeply?  

 

I also completely understand why someone would by Spare and The Light We Carry from am*zon, with the shipping readers will save at least $20 buying from am*zon -- with am*zon's "free" shipping.  

For the reasons you mentioned, selling these books would not be worth it to your bottom line financially. 

 

Now, if you just want to gift these books to your customers i.e. selling at a loss and/or a tax break, that's a different conversation.😁😎

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Yes because it will bring customers to your site that may not have come otherwise. It's like a venue may have a famous artist and they lose money on the night. However some of the audience may return again. I'd say try it for as long as a book buying cycle last. Or how long it takes the average customer to buy another book. Think of it as doing your own market research and the cost is the loss, but the upside is that you have sold a book and have a potential new customer. It may be cheaper than advertising. The other thing you coud do is do a hot sale stating you have x amount of whatever popular book and sell it 50 cents less than am*zon. Just some thoughts.

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On 1/10/2023 at 12:10 PM, Troy said:

 

 

The point of the post actually is, as a bookseller, should I try to sell these big books that am*zon discounts so deeply?  There is a loose association with Blackness given Harry's "Bi-racial" wife.  I also know a lot of Black women have an interest in this subject.

 

Yes, I would not be curious about this book had it not been for the woman he chose to marry.

 

 

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On 1/11/2023 at 11:59 PM, Chevdove said:

 

Yes, I would not be curious about this book had it not been for the woman he chose to marry.

 

 


Now Chev.....
Do you remember how you jumped all over me the other week for what I said about women of color falling in love with and marrying White men?

Uh huh......

Ok...lol

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Prince Harry got a $20 million dollar advance for this book. It has already sold over 1.4 million copies. It's an autobiographical tabloid.😁

 

Without turning a single page, I can state  that book is not a literary masterpiece. 

 

It is the book equivalent of a McDonald's Happy Meal.🤣😎

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2 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Now Chev.....
Do you remember how you jumped all over me the other week for what I said about women of color falling in love with and marrying White men?

Uh huh......

Ok...lol

 

LOL!

@Pioneer1 I can't believe you tryin to call me out like this.

Let me reiterate my stance on my personal choice in life: As a Black woman, my first love is definitely a brotha.

Before, I met my husband, my preference was specifically, dark skinned typed and I actually thought I was going to be married to a particular one, but it did not work out. 

And before, him, there was another that did not work out. And then before him, a Puerto Rican man proposed to me and I accepted, but I changed my mind and hid from him all summer. LOL. Then, well, I've had other proposals too from non Black men. And, I chickened out and ducked and hid. It was too much for me. Like the negative attention that Megan's getting, man!--the racism is crazy! But it's been my experience in that 'Men will be men', no matter what, and when they see a female that they like, they will respond and 'race' is not a factor! Again, that's been my experience. 

 

When I met my husband, and when it came down to it, I could care less whether or not, he was dark or light. My husband is older now, but to me, he is still handsome. He is 'a light skinned Negro'. But, I believe now as I have before, culture is very important, however, again when 'it' comes down to it, A MAN IS A MAN, and I don't care what color or 'race' he is. Some people break cultural barriers and marry and I have no problem with that especially when it comes to a sista. And this makes me appreciate Prince Harry a lot. Meghan Markle is absolutely beautiful and they looke like a match made in heaven. I hope that he continues to stick up for his choice, but he sure is getting hit hard. I hope he doesn't fold. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Those are good ideas @DelanoAmazon has Spare for 38% off.  To sell it for less than Amazon I would be taking a loss -- and this does not even factor in Amazon speed of delivery and "free" shipping.  Now the loss can be justified as a way to get new customers, but with the next "big book" comes out I'd be expected to do this again.

 

Amazon could, and absolutely would, drop the book's discount to 50%.  Basically, in the long term, it is a losing strategy.  Actually, I'm seriously reconsidering my book-selling business model in a world dominated by Amazon.

 

@Pioneer1 in addition to the huge advance Random House spent millions more on marketing. I read the ghostwriter got a cool million.  Of course, the book is tabloid fodder -- it needs to be to sell the million+ copies it needs to sell to earn a profit.

 

As anyone here brought the book or watched the Netflix special.  I'm not judging, just trying to see what you thought about them.

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I haven't and have no plans to.
It's not necessarily the story that I find offensive.....because as far as I'm concerned  Harry and Markle are two WHITE PEOPLE (Markle is a White woman as far as I'm concerned) who are in love with eachother.
Not much interest there.

The offense comes in when I considered how many Black women TRY to relate to Markle and call her a "sista" and how her story inspires some and encourages others to sit around hoping and dreaming for some red-headed White prince to come down and snatch them away.
It encourages more White man worship....and that's the danger.

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  • 9 months later...

I appreciate your perspective on the whole Prince Harry and Meghan Markle situation. It's clear that their story resonates differently with various people. The way Meghan's identity is perceived can indeed stir discussions, and you raise valid points about the impact it might have.  By the way, have you ever taken a look at Prince Harry net worth? It's intriguing how financial aspects can tie into these conversations about royalty and identity.

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