May 18, 2009

Entrance Fees for Book Stores?

Loh Keng Fatt, a news editor for Singapore's The Straits Times, thinks book stores should charge an entrance fee to discourage people from using them as "their own playground or personal library." Go read this small article for yourself. Be sure to read the comments too.

What do you think? Should book stores charge a $2. entrance fee? Or does this sound like a combination of crankiness and greed?

12 comments:

Liyana said...

I live in Singapore and I didn't read that! :O That's a total of crankiness and greed. As much as I love books, do that and you'll ensure that I'm never stepping into a bookstore ever again. Might as well go shop online.

What's the point? All it'll do is lose the bookstore money. We don't go there only to buy books; we go there to browse too. -.-

bermudaonion said...

I would pay a fee to use a library, but not to enter a store.

Ti said...

I would never pay a fee to enter a store of any kind.

Eva said...

lol I totally understand where he's coming from; I hate it when there are people sitting all over the floor in B&N so that I can't look at books, talking on their cell phones, and generally being annoying. And he does say the charge would be refunded for anyone actually buying anything. I don't think it would ever happen, but I sympathise with the wishful thinking. :)

When I go to B&N now, knowing I won't buy a book, I always buy something at the cafe to justify me reading magazines/flipping through books/etc. So I kind of charge an entrance fee already: it just comes with tea!

Petunia said...

I do understand his complaint but it is just plain a stupid idea. Book stores would soon find themselves without customers if they started charging for the privilege of browsing unimpaired.

Michele said...

I can see what the problem is, but I don't think an entrance fee is the way to combat it. How 'bout just posting some rules?? I would never pay a fee for a bookstore. But I suppose Amazon would LOVE it if the brick and mortar stores started doing this, LOL.

Jenny said...

My first reaction when I saw this was NO NO NO NO ENTRANCE FEES DO NOT WANT. And then I thought about it some more and my more considered reaction did not change at all. No entrance fees. Do not want. I think it is nice that people can go into bookstores to sit and flip through books and talk with people. Books are more fun when you can share with other people - isn't that why we blog?

Anonymous said...

I would not pay a fee to go to a bookstore. I often go in bookstores with no particular book in mind, just to browse. I then come out with at least one book for myself and one each for my kids. If I knew that there was a fee involved just to enter, I'd only go in when in need of a particular book. Which means that bookstores would then lose out on all of those impulse buys. Stopping in to browse the shelves of a bookstore between errands or at the end of a long day is not only a lovely routine, it is probably a big margin of the sales that bookstores make.

Zibilee said...

I think paying a fee to go into a bookstore is preposterous! This does indeed sound like crankiness and greed.

Jeane said...

That's crazy. I'd never go in a store that charged an entry fee. They need to find some other way to discourage customers from taking their time- if that's a problem. It's been so long since I was in a big bookstore (I frequent small, indie ones) that I haven't had the issue.

J.L. Danger said...

THat is insane!

Sam said...

I find more books by browsing than anything else. There is just no substitute for it. Yes, being able to order online is great, but you have to already know what you are looking for. Besides, as someone who works in a library the bookstore is someplace I can go without being bothered - I can't browse where I work anymore.