Flipping through it twice, I couldn't find the story synopsis I wanted to see on the front and back cover, and finally I put the book back on the shelf and gave up buying it a little reluctantly; the only sample book that could be read had been preempted, and I had to queue up to see it; and even some bookstores directly typed out the warm tips of "please do not open and unpack and buy"... Such scenes are now being staged in major bookstores.
▲ Dongchuan Book City, the bookshelf is posted with a warm reminder that "please do not open the sealed books at will".
In the eyes of senior book fans, the layer of plastic film wrapped around the new book is gradually becoming an obstacle to suppressing their desire to buy books. But for bookstores, there are actually understandable practical considerations behind the helplessness... "Are they all the curses of plastic sealing?!" "4.23 World Book Day" is approaching, in response to this hot topic that has been hotly discussed by many readers for a long time, upstream journalists have also specially invited bookstore operators, senior readers and lawyers to see what they say.
About 90% of books cannot be read before purchasing
Ms. Yang, a reader who lives in Marblestone, earlier raised her dissatisfaction with the new book plastic seal, "There is a Dongchuan Book City not far from our home, and sometimes friends like to meet at the door of the book city. Ms. Yang said that when she waited for friends, she would go to the book city. After two more visits, she found that most of the books in the store were sealed with transparent plastic film.
"Other bookstores generally have one or two sample books that can be flipped through casually. Once, I looked for a book and didn't see the sample book, so I wanted to tear the membrane to see, but I was stopped by the clerk. Ms. Yang complained that she had paid special attention to it, "Almost 90% of the new books in the store have plastic sealing film, and there are no sample books." I asked the clerk and she suggested that if you want to tear the film, it is best to make sure you want to buy it. I didn't have any desire to buy anymore. ”
"Unsealing must buy" has become a warm reminder
In order to verify Ms. Yang's statement, on the morning of April 22, upstream journalists came to Dongchuan Book City in Marblestone. On the first display cabinet facing the entrance of the book city, the reporter found a prompt that "please do not open the packaged books at will, please contact the staff if necessary".
▲Many of the works of Keigo Higashino and Haruki Murakami in Higashikawa Shojo cannot be read.
Although the specific data ratio is not accurately counted, the upstream journalist walked around the book city and found that Ms. Yang complained that it was not false. From the perspective of book themes, literary works such as the works of the 10th Mao Dun Literature Award, such as "Ying Wu Brother" (by Li Er) and "Protagonist" (by Chen Yan), are all displayed in stores, but they are also wrapped in plastic seals and there are no sample books for readers to read. The same is true of Ma Boyong's most popular works such as "The Wind Rises in Longxi" and "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an".
Dongchuan Book City has a "foreign literature" counter, and there are only two sample books to flip through.
The reporter also made a small statistic at the scene. We chose a foreign literature shelves that are more than 2 meters high and have 5 floors, including Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro's "The Long Day Will End" and "The Buried Giant" and other masterpieces. The reporter carefully observed that there were a total of 172 books on this shelf, but the plastic seal was removed, and only two books could be read by readers.
In the children's book area, the words "please do not open the unpack, unpack, buy" were written as a warm reminder and pasted on the wall. Popular children's books such as "Naughty Bag Horse Little Jump" are not plastic sealed, but they are also crossed and tied by ropes, and readers cannot read them.
Behind the "helplessness" is not a low cost of consumption
"In fact, we are also more helpless." On the morning of the 22nd, Ms. Feng, a staff member of Dongchuan Book City on duty, said so after listening to the reporter relay the complaints of readers. She said that according to industry practice, bookstores must want to provide as many sample books as possible for readers who enter the store to flip through, "but it is true that some readers are extravagant, and the cost of damage is also a bit unbearable." ”
Ms. Feng said that children's books have been "hardest hit areas" since the opening of the book city. "Some parents bring their children, often tearing open the plastic seal of a set of books, and the children do not buy them after reading them." Ms. Feng explained that readers who really want to buy it will generally ask the clerk to take a set of plastic seals. "Removing the plastic seal is usually only a sample book, and it is difficult to sell." At the same time, she also mentioned that some clerks noticed that "often come to tear the membrane of new books, turn over two 'familiar faces' that they don't buy at the end, there are always one or two, and we have no better way to stop them." ”
As for the question that "unsealing must be bought" is a bit like a forced buy and a strong sale, Ms. Feng said that this prompt may be a bit heavy in tone, but in reality it is only a persuasion, and it is unlikely to be really enforced on readers.
The "breakage rate" has always been a headache for physical bookstores
The "helplessness" of Dongchuan Book City is called "damage rate" in the professional saying of the book industry. "This item is included as a cost when our bookstore makes the next year's budget every year." Ms. Li of Dangdang Bookstore in Chongqing told upstream news reporters that like their stores, the damage rate is required to be controlled within 5% of the total number of returns per year.
"The main part of the damage statistics includes the wear and tear of sample books that have been turned over by readers and broken." Ms. Li said that in Dangdang Bookstore, for example, the most popular literature class is the most damaged, followed by parent-child reading, "like the popular sticker children's books, many of them are artificially damaged and cannot continue to sell, and can only report losses." ”
It is worth noting that she also mentioned that although there is no accurate data statistics in the store, even if the damage rate is controlled within 5%, it is a large amount of accumulation. "For some small bookstores, it may indeed make the boss feel 'flesh pain.'"
▲When the popular children's books are crossed and tied by ropes, readers cannot access them.
Yang Yi, the founder of jingdian bookstore, a well-known local independent bookstore, also has a profound understanding of this.
In 2016, after jingdian bookstore moved from the Liberation Monument to Nanbin Road, it opened a special children's book area in the store. Since then, the loss of the children's book area has caused Yang Yi a lot of headaches. According to Yang Yi, many children's books at the moment have a design similar to "collecting character badges (prints) can be exchanged for glitter monster cards". This has led many children to go to the bookstore not only to read books, but to tear up the prints in the books that can be exchanged for gifts.
There are also some interactive sound game books that are equipped with batteries to let children press keys to sound, and the location of the battery before the new book is unpacked has an insulating sheet. "Some parents cut a small hole in the plastic seal, pulled out the insulation sheet, and let the children play in the bookstore." Yang Yi said that in this way, people who really want to buy it will also feel that this is an old book.
Readers' bookstores also have to be considerate of each other
In Yang Yi's impression, the damage rate of Jingdian Bookstore is also about 5%, but children's books are "estimated to be doubled, reaching 10%." Based on this, Yang Yi said that it is understandable to do something similar to Dongchuan Book City, "In Chongqing dialect, it is 'can't afford to lose', but I think it is still not advisable to do so." ”
Yang Yi said, "To some extent, the current bookstore can be said to have a considerable public welfare nature." "Now that online shopping is so developed, I have read books in physical bookstores, and there are many readers who immediately place orders online shopping on mobile phones." At the same time, many readers also regard physical bookstores as libraries, and they don't buy them even in bookstores. "Yang Yi said that this is consumption does not pay, but the cost of sample book depreciation must be borne by the bookstore." But if bookstores see this as another form of cultural communication, it doesn't matter, but it does need to appeal to readers to cherish books as much as possible. ”
In the interview, Yang Yi and Ms. Li of Dangdang Bookstore both mentioned that the only remaining advantage of physical bookstores at present is the sense of experience, so "there is no problem with reading sample books and consumers have opinions; but the bookstore's approach is bitter, not too wrong, both sides have their own reasons, only mutual understanding." ”
In response to the legal question of "unsealing must be bought", which is obviously arbitrary and mandatory, the upstream journalist consulted Xu Xingquan, a lawyer at Chongqing Kunyuan Hengtai Law Firm. "It's definitely inappropriate for bookstores to give such a tip." Xu Xingquan said, "Without opening the plastic seal, consumers (readers) do not understand the content, quality, and even genuine or pirated versions of the book."
Xu Xingquan said that if there are really consumers who are required to "unseal and buy", then from a legal point of view, it is certainly possible to carry out relevant litigation from the perspective of consumers' right to know. "Of course, the bookstore's justification also has some truth." Xu Xingquan suggested that in addition to the mutual understanding between the two sides, the "contradiction" in the middle can also be considered to be resolved electronically, "for example, whether the bookstore can make a part of the book into an electronic version, pictures, etc., and show it to the readers who want to buy." ”
Upstream journalist Qiu Jinyi