returning books

I've been reading some reports from this years Book Expo, and one of the hot topics seems to be publisher/retailer concerns about returns.

For those of you who aren't aware of it, the major book publishers allow retailers to return unsold books for full credit. The publishers pay for the shipping on the returns as well. One might think this is advantageous to the publisher who can resell the the books in a different market (such as "remainders"). Unfortunately, the cost of book returns simply can't be justified (and when it comes to paperbacks, only the cover needs to be returned in order for the retailer to get full credit).

Certainly I've wondered what risk is involved in opening a bookstore when your merchandise can be returned at no cost!

I would guess that the rules are going to have to change, and likely soon (apparently the CEO of Barnes & Noble has agreed that publishers need to change this method), and I think that if it does change, it may provide better service.

If a store can't just send back its inventory, they are likely to select their books based on the demographics of their shoppers, rather than simply stocking whatever some desk-jockey in Ohio says they should stock. Publishers may become more seletive in what they publish, rather than publishing a wide range of titles hoping for a hit. Small house publishers, who often don't accept returns, may have a better chance at getting their books in stores if they are playing the field on the same terms as the larger publishers.

More selective publishing and better stocked stores could just maybe help get sales of books back to a respectable level.