BarnesandNoble.com has hard to find items
by nwinston - Written: Jul 26 '01 (Updated Jul 27 '01)
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The Bottom Line
barnesandnoble.com has some items other stores don't. If you can't find it elsewhere, look here. But don't expect stellar performance.
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| Full Review |
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I love bookstores. Browsing for books is an underrated pleasure. When on vacation, I like going into a small book store in a new city and going through the stacks. When shopping for used books, it's especially helpful to touch them and see their condition before buying. That's why I have mixed feelings about online book stores. The convenience of typing in a title and finding it 2 days later in my mailbox is irresistible. Especially when the title I want isn't available at a local bibliophile's haven. But I don't want my online shopping to put any mortar bookstores out of business.
A test drive gift certificate for barnesandnoble.com brought me to the site. In the last year and a half, I've used it 5 times. It hasn't earned a position as my favorite* online store. Without e-coupons, barnesandnoble.com wouldn't have gotten my business after the first time.
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Why isn't it my favorite online store? Let me count the ways:
1. My first order with barnesandnoble didn't arrive as scheduled. Since it was a gift, I had to buy it elsewhere in order to have the gift delivered on time. My order was for a hot item that many stores didn't have in stock. That helped me be more understanding. Still, I felt that I should never have gotten an email confirmation of my order if the item wasn't in stock. But I did, followed by a succession of emails stating my order would be shipped "soon".
2. Search capability is ultra important for an online book & music store. I am not always successful in using barnesandnoble.com's search engine. I think they've upgraded it because I've had more luck recently.
3. Prices are high. Unless you're buying the best sellers with 40% discounts, books I've looked for are generally higher than elsewhere online. They do have specials though. Right now, there is a special for free shipping with purchase of 2 or more items. Also, e-coupons for barnesandnoble.com can usually be found at funtasia.net
4. Speed, or lack thereof. For some reason, barnesandnoble pages load slowly for me. Slower than other sites.
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What's good about the site? Since I used it more than once, there are redeeming features. barnesandnoble.com isn't exclusively about books. Dvds, videos, music and games all share space with books. The site offers services other book sites don't, such as magazine subscriptions and online courses. There are also articles to download from MightyWords, a digital publishing house with technical and business articles. barnesandnoble also has a way to search for out of print materials, which is handy.
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The bottom line on barnesandnoble.com is that it's not my first online bookstore choice. Poor order confirmation and tracking are the biggest problems. Searching difficulty and slow page loading are annoying when using the site. If you aren't able to find an item at other sites, it's worth trying barnesandnoble.com. Just don't expect perfection.
* My favorites: powells.com, half.com and amazon.com
Recommended:
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