This has happened to me several times in recent years. I stroll through a bookstore, see several possible purchases, and then put them back on the shelf after noting the price. This seldom occurs with hardbound books. It's the $15 paperbacks that seem at least three or four dollars too high.
I wonder how many other serious book buyers - people who constitute the backbone of book stores - do the same thing. The publishing industry must have mountains of studies on the subject and yet it is content to let potential purchases sit on the shelves for months.
Established writers may fare well under this system but the relatively unknown authors who would benefit from an impulse buy must take it on the chin. They are among the "internal" customers who suffer. Speaking as an external customer, I find the prices to be baffling.
In the meantime, I walk away and I'm probably not alone.
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