We are extending our free shipping offer until midnight Nov. 24 for one reason: It’s working.
While most “inventory reduction” sales verge on bunkum, we are offering free shipping for one single reason: to reduce our inventory. Right now, the Anthe building is loaded to its maximum capacity (as per a report from our structural engineer). And we still have six storage lockers filled with pallets of books.
We are working to get the third floor and basement ready for storage, but whether we have enough room for everything is still a guess.
The free shipping offer costs us. But we’re thrilled to store the books on your bookshelves instead of on the pallets in the Anthe building or (worse!) in storage lockers. And thank you to everyone who has already bought a book, tool or piece of apparel.
Free shipping applies to everything in our store. You can start shopping here.
— Christopher Schwarz
Woo Hoo!!! This is great news… Thank you!
Chris,
Are you guys open on Saturday? I would love to swing by to get some of those beautiful books!
Thanks!
Greg
Yep – we should be here on Saturday from 10-4 ish. You might want to email me fist to make sure we’re not at lunch or what have you, though. fitz@lostartpress.com
Pardon my questions. But what does an average pallet of books weigh? Is stacking them higher bad for the floor, and/or bad for the books near the bottom? Might you have to alter the number of books in future press runs, to avoid excess inventory?
The average pallet of books is 1,400 lbs. Stacking double high is prohibited in certain parts of the building because of the spans of the joists.
We are already reducing press runs to keep inventory manageable. That will reduce our margins. But we won’t have to pay for storage. So it will almost balance out
Any future plans as part ofthe renovation to beef up/ supplement the joists in those areas to handle the weight?
Yes. We have a plan from the structural engineer. But it will be unnecessary if we get our inventory to a sensible level.
Just a thought. If the idea is to reduce inventory maybe offer free shipping to international retailers so they order a bit more than normal.
this came in the same post !
Minimum Book Delivery Charge
13th Nov 2023
A minimum charge has been imposed on on-line book deliveries, as the government seeks to protect local bookshops.
Last month the French government introduced a minimum €3 delivery charge on the delivery of books from on-line sellers.
The charge applies to the purchase of new books (only), where the total cost of the books is less than €35.
Where the cost of the books is equal to, or costs more than, €35, on-line retailers can deliver for a minimum of €0.1, a rule has been in place since 2014.
Booksellers in France continue to complain of the unfair competition from on-line giants such as Amazon, whom they consider are able to sell books on a loss-making basis in order to attract customers.
Although they have welcomed the move, they state that the minimum charge should be higher – at least €4.50 – as their own delivery costs average around €7 a book.
However, the government accepted the recommendation of the electronic communications authority – Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques (ARCEP) – on the level of the charge. In an opinion delivered in May, ARCEP stated that: “The almost free home delivery of books purchased remotely involves both economic and ecological issues. Libraries face a serious distortion of competition, which must be addressed.”
The move by the government has been criticized by the European Commission, who may yet impose sanctions if it is not withdrawn. They have stated that “The French government has not sufficiently demonstrated that the increase in shipping costs would serve to maintain a dense and diversified network of bookstores.”
Not surprisingly, Amazon have responded by launching a legal action: “This measure penalizes readers, authors and reading in general,” stated Frédéric Duval, CEO of the group.
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