April 25, 2024
The first guy in the door this morning came bearing helpful information. He generously shared that a book I had priced lower than any comparable copies on the market was, in fact, more than two times the amount two of his friends of his had paid for the same title. Just sayin’, he said. He thought I should know this, and he said in a tone one would use to tell a friend his fly is open. Clearly, he didn’t want me to embarrass myself. He said he wanted the book, but, well…he couldn’t pay a lot more than the copies his friends got because they got theirs at the correct price.
I thanked him bringing this to my attention. “Maybe you can find a copy where your friends found theirs,” I suggested. He said that there were no copies left at the prices his friends paid, and the only copies available for sale were the erroneously priced ones like mine.
This reminded me of a story a friend who worked at Barnes and Noble once told me. He had a customer who wanted to buy a copy of Madonna’s “Sex,” but he hesitated at the price. “Walden Books sold these for 25% off, but they’re out now.” My friend said, “When we’re out, our copies will be 25% off, too.”
Eventually, my guy bought a book. He offered me cash for it “walking out the door,” which is what people say when they don’t want to pay sales tax. I told him I had to collect tax because “commit crimes” is not on my bucket list.
I should have suggested he get one of his friends to buy it.
– Dan Danbom