Topic: Shrinkwrapped books at B&N

[Halbred]

Happens at Border's, too.

So, explain this one to me. The following books were shrinkwrapped:

Batman: Mad Love (graphic novel)
The Dinosauria: 2nd Edition (science book)
Metroid Prime Trilogy player's guide (games)

But the following were NOT shrinkwrapped:

The Big Book of Breasts (photography)
Playboy: The Complete Centerfolds (photography)

How the frack does THAT work?

[vudu]

People who read the first set of books are much more likely to flip through them in the store and then not buy the book.  People who read the second set aren't.

That, or someone beat you to it (pun intended) and already took off the shrink wrap from the second set of books.

[ShyGuy]

vudu said what I was going to say. B&N popularized the library trend in bookstores, where they encourage the customer to stay for hours and read the books there.

[nitsu niflheim]

Most of the books that I get that are shrink-wrapped, are special press (Gauntlet, Cemetery Dance), special or limited edition, and or signed by the author.  I mainly do my book shopping through B&N.com, and this is usually the case as well.  I've never gotten a normal edition shrink-wrapped, but not all the signed editions are shrink-wrapped either, Edward Lee's books for example aren't always wrapped, and sometimes when they are, they aren't signed editions at all, but most of them are, if they aren't mass-market.