Date: Monday, February 2, 2004 10:15 am
From: Joan Bueter (Barry U.) <jbueter_at_mail.barry.edu>
Subject: RE: Use of Amazon for single-title purchases
We also have a "corporate account" with Amazon. They are absolutely
inflexible about being paid in 30 days, which is nearly always
impossible
in the academic environment. They WILL cancel your orders on the
33rd day.
I have found that if, when you receive your merchandise, you immediately
call
Amazon customer service they will fax you the invoice, which you can
then
process for payment. This works fairly smoothly unless you have ordered
a lot
of merchandise over several months and then your accounts payable dept.
falls
down on the job, which as we know, often happens in the academic
environment.
Amazon is in the process of canceling a lot of my orders now even though
I gave
them a date when the check would be sent.... Oh well,
I re-order them from Barnes and Noble as punishment for all of the
extra work they cause me by doing this. And it is a LOT of extra work.
I don't see any reason why they can't extend the amount of time the
corporate customers have to pay... Except that they don't want to.
I also know many, many libraries don't order from Amazon because of this,
and rightly so. You also have to keep close track of your credits here
as well.
Barnes and Noble prices may be a little higher, but are becoming more
competitive with Amazon so we are shifting most of our ordering to
them as we have NEVER had any problem with them canceling our orders
unless the book has become unavailable.
Good Luck
Joan Bueter
Barry University Library / Acquisitions
11300 NE 2nd Ave
Miami Shores, FL
Jbueter_at_mail.barry.edu
(2)---------------------------------------------------------
Date: Monday, February 2, 2004 12:25 pm
From: Sean Cobble <johnsburglibrary_at_hotmail.com>
Subject: Use of Amazon compared to Barnes & Noble
We started using Barnes and Nobles' new place for libraries online for
single books and rushes. We received this card after attending our state's
trade show last November and apparently B&N's internet division finally
figured it out. They now offer extra discounts for libraries (it's only
an extra
5% off, but since their books are usually already discounted it adds up,
plus
every bit helps in these budget cut times). They also take purchase orders
and we're sometimes late and they don't charge fees. They always seem to
have stock and we get the books fast with free shipping. Just thought
I'd help
spread the word... I can't figure out how to get to it from their
regular site, so
I suggest you bookmark it so you don't forget it:
www.bn.com/library
Sean Cobble
Acquisitions Librarian
(3)-------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wednesday, February 4, 2004 12:51 pm
From: Allison Mays (Millsaps College) <maysap_at_millsaps.edu>
Subject: Clarification on posting about Barnes & Noble
I had a call from Phyllis Reilly at Barnes & Noble about my previous
posting
in which I stated that I was not able to set up a library account with B&N.
Let me clarify: I tried to set up a library account about 2 years ago
and the
person handling our paperwork insisted on getting our college's bank
account
numbers. The college refused to give out that information, so I finally
gave up
and just used a library credit card, which has worked just fine. Phyllis
said
they don't need those numbers, there was no reason for it not to go
through,
etc., so I will try again.
B&N now has a library site; go to http://www.bn.com/library
I really like the service at B&N and this will make it even better,
plus libraries
get an additional 5% off, free shipping when we spend over $25, and we can
use purchase orders. Yippee! Has anyone tried this yet?
Allison
Allison P. Mays
Acquisitions Librarian
Millsaps College
1701 N. State Street
Jackson, MS 39210
601-974-1083
maysap_at_millsaps.edu
Date: Wednesday, February 4, 2004 9:57 pm
From: samomoy_at_adb.org
Subject: RE - Using Amazon for single purchases
The Asian Development Bank Library in Manila, Philippines orders single
titles from Amazon. Ordering single titles is very expensive, but we order
because there is no alternative in local book stores here in Manila. They
are also inflexible as one uses the form that is available only in their
website.
We also tried to negotiate a corporate card from them, but we were told
that the corporate credit cards are only for US libraries.
This is a view from overseas libraries, which may not be applicable to
libraries in the U.S, but just to let you know how Amazon deals with other
libraries outside the U.S.
--------------------------------------------------------------
For information about ACQNET's editorial policies,
how to subscribe/unsubscribe, and access to Archives, see:
http://acqweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/acqweb/acqnet.html
--------------------------------------------------------------
Received on Sat Feb 07 2004 - 15:47:12 EST