Amazon Just Happens to Hold Book Sale During Independent Bookstore Day
183 comments
·April 27, 2025Aurornis
lolinder
I'd be very curious to know how many people here actually knew that Independent Bookstore Day was a thing before reading this headline.
I just checked the two independent bookstores nearest me and neither one of them has any mention of it in their online presence. I've been a frequent customer of independent bookstores for years and never heard about this before. There's no Wikipedia page and Google Trends tells me there's not enough data to even give me a search history for this.
It makes a great headline and I'm sure the people who organize it are annoyed, but this might just be a case of ant meet boot. It's weirdly reassuring for organizers to think that Amazon specifically targeted them, but it seems more likely that they just... didn't even know it was happening.
ungreased0675
Blackwing pencils produce a special edition every year that is only available in independent bookstores starting on Independent Bookstore Day. That’s how I knew about it.
bix6
Do you know if everyone listed on Blackwing’s store locator carries these? The closest to me isn’t a book store.
SllX
I am aware of it and have been for more than a decade but… I only ever remember sometime after it’s passed. Every year. I’ll spot the leftover merch at my preferred bookstore the next time I’m there and go “Oh, right.”
8bitsrule
Dedicated web page: https://www.indiebound.org/independent-bookstore-day
IIRC it started at about the same time as 'Indie Record Store Day'; both are on Saturdays in April.
I shop at brick-and-mortars for whatever I can, and very much regret those gone missing because of the Great Monopolist. I really valued being able to examine many products before purchase.
chiefalchemist
I buy plenty of books - 2x to 3x more than I can read - and I had no idea there was such a thing.
My local library had their seasonal used book sale last Thurs - Sat, but I sense that was simply coincidence.
loloquwowndueo
Why do you buy more books than you can read? :)
femiagbabiaka
Well, now significantly more people know. Use Bookshop.org to buy books instead of Amazon, there's no real downside in my experience, and the quality/integrity of the books I get is much higher.
sokoloff
I just tried the first two titles I thought of on both.
Art of Electronics, Bookshop.org $128.70, Amazon $94.03 (list price $117)
SICP, Bookshop.org $90, Amazon $53.77 (list $75)
Both Amazon titles will be in my hands tomorrow for no additional shipping cost to me. Bookshop suggests that for SICP if I pay $8 extra, I can have it expedited (3-6 days) or for $9 extra can cut that to 3-5 days with priority, though there is a free shipping option available (with no timeframe indicated).
SICP comes up on Amazon when searching for “SICP”; it does not on Bookshop.org, so I need to search by the longer title.
In case “nerd books” is a particularly weak spot, I tried the first book on NYT Best Seller list, Perfect Divorce. Bookshop $28; Amazon $21 and they can have in my hand between 10 and 3 today.
As a consumer, I see at least two hard downsides (cost and speed) and one soft downside (selection/browsing ease).
gleenn
While that's probably true the optics are pretty obviously terrible.
seanmcdirmid
I don’t think anyone who isn’t looking for something to “ah-ha!” Amazon with is going to bat an eye at this, and those ah-ha! People aren’t into convincing people to change their mind, they are more into echo chambers.
fc417fc802
I can only speak for myself but it looks pretty bad to me. I'm not particularly interested in "ah-ha!" I even shop on Amazon fairly frequently.
If Walmart engaged in a price war with a small mom and pop bakery across the street I would be similarly unimpressed (disgusted, really).
freetime2
I find the opposite to be true - purported book lovers complaining about a book sale is not a good look in my opinion.
jjeaff
it will certainly be an exhibit in any future Amazon ant-trust case
bawolff
How so?
There is no anti-trust law saying you can't have a sale the same day your competitors are having a party.
voidfunc
The people who care about the optics is probably exactly overlapping those that care about independent bookstore day.
Which is to say, almost nobody cares.
cammikebrown
[flagged]
tyre
I mean I don’t see Amazon as “pro-independent bookstore” so this doesn’t change much imo
CamperBob2
Who's more independent than Amazon?!
bawolff
In context, "Independent" just means small scale. You can nit pick about definitions, but i think its well understood by the people involved.
rootsudo
I had the same thought too, they are the original, independent, online book store. Sure theres share holders and they have business verticals now but - I wouldn't say any outside interest interferes with daily operations at AMZ storefront selling books - just because they scaled off that..
Jensson
Almost everyone? Amazon has duty to generate profits for massive amounts of shareholders, you can't be very independent when you are public with high market cap, there are just too many literally invested in what you do.
null
amarcheschi
I'm just looking for a book and it was on sale for Amazon at a cheaper price than elsewhere. Although it's a different edition and the flexible cover, I'll gladly pay a few bucks more and buy it in a local library. But I do have considered Amazon since when you search for the book is one of the first results
throwawayqqq11
Maybe your characteristics are too specific. Make it a venn diagram of people buying books and people sceptical of amazon and caring for vivid suburbs.
I would match both, and i think most people on HN do too, but how many of you go out of their way (town) to avoid amazon or any large online-only distributor, like me?
petesergeant
If all independent bookstores went out of business today, and all their business flowed to Amazon, that's probably what, 0.3% of extra revenue to Amazon?
bamboozled
Yup, and they still feel the need to do it anyway, that's sort of person you find high up the management chain at Amazon...
Aurornis
> and they still feel the need to do it anyway,
Or the Occam's Razor explanation that they weren't thinking about it at all, because customers who shop based on Independent Bookstore Day are a very different, negligibly small customer base who weren't going to be spending their money at Amazon anyway.
JSteph22
Looks like Amazon has been running a book sale once a year around spring.
From 2024: https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/books-and-authors/amazon-bo...
Larrikin
I'm pretty sure C Suite and upper management took some under graduate courses at some point and all know about Occam's Razor. They probably hold meetings on how to use it to their advantage to continue to enrich the company.
walterbell
Since it's not for economic benefit, what motivates such action?
skygazer
First order effect: lose money. Second order effect: undercut independent book sellers, drive them out of business, win all the money.
World domination is often just about seeing a bit beyond the obviousness-horizon that otherwise limits us all.
crote
You're forgetting the group of people who want to be readers, but just plain tend to forget that books exist.
I keep a big "todo" list on my phone for movies, series, and books: every time I come across something which looks interesting, it gets added to the list. But I don't actively take the time to actually purchase anything from it, so it tends to be forgotten.
If I were to hear about "Independent Bookstore Day" on a Saturday morning, there's a pretty good chance that would remind me that I have a lot of books to buy, and drop by my local bookstore to buy some. If I happened to be shopping on Amazon and saw a big book sale, I would probably be reminded that I have a lot of books to buy, and see if they were discounted.
But if I just purchased a bunch of books from Amazon, I would no longer be going to buy those same books during Independent Bookstore Day, and I would be unlikely to splurge on another pile of books from my local bookstore. In other words, my local bookstore is missing out on sales because of Amazon undercutting them.
The trigger isn't "support your local bookstore", the trigger is "books are a thing you can buy".
sokoloff
You heard about it on a Sunday morning today; how many books are you buying from your local bookstore?
bawolff
I don't really see what is wrong with this.
Of all the questionable things amazon does, having a sale hardly seems like one of them. I dont think amazon is under any moral obligation to respect their competitors marketing moments. Just like how if an independent book seller wanted to have a sale during "prime day", that would be a-okay.
kotaKat
[flagged]
simonebrunozzi
The real problem is not this. It is the fact that Amazon can pay almost zero taxes on its online business, while a normal bookstore has to pay taxes like everyone else. That's unfair competition.
sircastor
Is this still the case? I thought Amazon started collecting (and paying) sales tax years ago. It was a big deal at the time. Are you referring to something else?
chii
Probably referring to amazon's large expenditure for which they use to offset their taxes - but these are legitimate expenditures (such as operating costs of a fleet of airplanes, warehouses, other expenses that could be considered as growth expenses).
arrowsmith
No, the common criticism of Amazon (and companies like it) is that they cut deals with governments and/or use sneaky international accounting tricks (such as the famous "double Irish Dutch sandwich") to pay very low rates of tax relative to their profit (not revenue).
For example, Amazon UK paid zero Corporation Tax in the UK in 2023[0] despite recording £222m in profit. Meanwhile, a smaller UK bookstore has to pay 25% CT on its profits - and it can't afford the army of lawyers and accountants it would take to avoid this. And since Amazon is paying less tax, it can sell its books more cheaply, undercutting the smaller competitors.
Some might call this unfair. And I'm inclined to agree.
But to be honest, I still buy books off Amazon even though it makes me feel slightly icky. What's a boy to do?
[0] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jun/01/amazon-uk...
Ekaros
What taxes are meant here? This is always the weird part. I understand circumventing various location specific taxes or getting special deals. But taxes are paid on profit. And just as any company if there is no profits there is no tax.
And independent bookstore could use the profit they make to say remodel their store. And inside certain rules that would be legitimate expense. And they would not pay tax on it.
rs186
From what I hear, Amazon was losing money for many years, and they got to use tax laws to offset those previous losses. And that was quite a few years ago, and they have been paying a decent amount of taxes for a while. Of course, they can utilize all sorts of credits as allowed by the law.
If you have a problem with the law, call your senator, instead of ranting on a forum.
(I have nothing to do with Amazon other than being a shopper there and own some stocks via VOO.)
93po
it's not that they were "losing" money, they just funneled all of their massive would-be profits into artificially making prices as low as possible so as to destroy competition and retail
nonethewiser
It would be nice if local, independent bookstores continued to exist but if the economics dictate they dont then I dont see any reason to hate the company that can still viably sells books.
That first sentence is a not a throw-away. I hope local, independent bookstores can continue to exist. And also that brick and mortar book stores continue to exist. But it's not like Amazon is illegally colluding to keep them down. independent bookstores just arent a very profitable businesses.
sriram_malhar
Sorry, this is an extraordinarily blinkered view. Why must they be evaluated purely on money terms? Having local independent bookstores enhances the quality of living for an entire community, and places like Amazon and Walmart make them desert zones. Does that not bother you?
monkeyelite
> Why must they be evaluated purely on money terms?
Because it's a business providing a consumer good - not a public institution.
> Having local independent bookstores enhances the quality of living for an entire community
How do they do that? They don't help me because they don't carry books I'm interested in at prices I'm willing to pay. It's serving so few people in the community it can't pay for rent.
Public access to books is subsidized already through libraries.
fc417fc802
As a counterpoint, I've visited a few smaller towns that used the local government to keep big box retailers out. It's generally an hour or longer drive to the nearest one and as a result main street remains alive and well.
Which is to say that the marketplace as a whole exists for the benefit of the public. The entire point of regulation is to remediate issues that competition alone fails to address.
subroutine
Because thoughts and prayers don't pay the rent? If they did enhance the quality of the community, they would be patroned at a level that sustains them. If you simply enjoy knowing a local bookstore exists as a storefront in your downtown district, maybe you could rally the community to subsidize their economics like a park or swimming pool, and perhaps you could even rent books for nearly free - just stamp the back.
acomjean
Ill agree, for me the value add of a local bookstore is they curate the books to some extent. I’ve gotten a fair number of “recommended books” and they’ve generally been good (I tend not to trust Amazon reviews, and they own goodreads now too). This one does author talks which I tend not to go to but is a community building kind of thing.
zeroonetwothree
The Amazon editor picks are pretty good IME.
iteria
I wonder about that. I ponder what Amazon's book selling sector (and really the whole part where it sells things) would look like without the money printing machine of AWS. If Amazon didn't have that would they really be able to do what they do and burn the industry down.
I don't disagree that bookstores are probably not that profitable, but I do think that Amazon is taking all the oxygen out of the room and not necessarily by being better, but have having a dragon hoard of cash that probably wasn't generated by selling books.
nolroz
Can we be a little annoyed if a big company that can leverage publisher deals, massive amounts of analytics and loss leader tactics actively try to cut off business from smaller companies?
donohoe
So my Prime membership is coming up soon. Had it at least 10, maybe 15, years - since that start.
I got a Costco membership last month. That with Instacart has been working h out very well.
I’ll use Amazon here and there but I’m making a big switch and canceling.
This was decided before this move, but it makes me feel much better in doing so.
zeroonetwothree
I'm with you on Costco, but Instacart is much worse than Amazon.
quickslowdown
I signed up for them a few years back, just a month or 2 before their union busting. I was very angry in my cancellation message because I think it's a great service, but if they're scared of their workers organizing I'm not interested.
davidw
I bailed on Prime as well, after the whole Washington Post debacle.
bamboozled
My Prime membership has been really useful for me too, but I constantly read things that bring me on step closer to hitting that cancel button too. Good for you.
The28thDuck
What are you doing with the membership that is making it so sticky to not move elsewhere?
fc417fc802
Buying things online? Have you tried purchasing from anywhere else? The level of convenience is night and day.
bamboozled
As others have said, nothing for me has come close when it comes to reliability, variety, shipping times and ease of use.
guywithahat
I really don’t think they’re paying attention (or anyone, for that matter). Independent bookstore day isn’t a real holiday and it’s just a marketing fever dream
bustling-noose
In India Amazon makes little sense. Neither does kindle nor does local book store.
The reason for this is that both paper and printing here is cheap along with labor. The original author also licenses for cheap. The publishing houses however take a large cut increasing the cost of the book.
People get a hold of the epub and print them and sell them for 1/4th of the price sometimes 1/10th for new and even less for used.
The only way I see around this is digital libraries. Let people rent unlimited books (but like Netflix limited at a time) and take a monthly cut.
bubblethink
Paper, printing, and labour have nothing to do with the price of the book. Like college textbooks and drugs, you can sell in India if you mark your prices in accordance with what the market can afford. Otherwise, people will pirate.
AlotOfReading
That's essentially Kindle Unlimited. It's one of the key pillars to Amazon's dominance of the publishing sector. As an author, you have to give them 3 months exclusive publication rights to use it. You get paid per pages read, divided among all the other pages a customer reads that period. And if you opt out, your book's distribution on Amazon is affected.
zeroonetwothree
Well yes, piracy is always going to be cheaper.
cheeze
Similar to how Prime Video doesn't work in many Latin American countries that have poor internet and sneakernet of hard drive swapping with piracy.
Of course piracy is cheaper lmao
geodel
> In India Amazon makes little sense. Neither does kindle nor does local book store.
Of course! The number of books outside educational material sold in this country with huge population is insignificant. And it is not much surprise since most people can't really afford much.
But at least mobile data is really cheap and Whatsapp is free, so people get all the information they care about just from this combo.
plsbenice34
I dont enjoy going in bookstores; i'd rather order online. What's the big deal exactly?
sudofoo
Interesting that Amazon claims this was "unintentional" - I wonder how many other major retailers mysteriously schedule their biggest sales to overlap with their competitors' special events?
rahimnathwani
Should Amazon care more about:
A) Books?
B) Bricks and mortar book retailers?
C) Customers/readers?
gmerc
Silly. Growth.
throwawayqqq11
Trump / Bezos 2028!
Make suburbs great again!
EbNar
[dead]
twunde
In new England at least, independent bookstores appear to be thriving. The town I'm in (population ~12K) has at least 5 independent bookstores, all in a town with a great library. That's an unusually high number of bookstores but most of the larger towns have at least one independent bookstore.
KnuthIsGod
I read far too many books and had never heard of "Independent Bookstore Day".
The entire article sounds like an excuse for cheap shots against Jeff Bezos and Amazon.
I will never buy books from a bookseller or bookshop that thinks it is acceptable to behave like this : "Leah Koch, owner of the Ripped Bodice, in Los Angeles, California, kept it simple: “Fuck Jeff Bezos,” she told Variety."
And here in Australia brick and mortar bookshops tend to carry popular rubbish that I would be ashamed to read.
The Venn diagram of people who make book purchasing decisions based on “Independent Bookstore Day” and people who choose Amazon because a book is a couple dollars cheaper on a given day has to be two completely separate circles.