Reading a book in store: Is it stealing?

[Tron Bonne]

Ha ha, yeah I guess so. But as I said, I always buy something if I go there, my local comic shop isn't exactly local, so it's a bit of a wasted journey leaving empty-handed. But I expect to spend a good hour browsing and reading before I decide on what I want, and if the staff have a go at me for it i'll take my money elsewhere.

Well, if you're just browsing and flipping through it I don't think that would happen. I think he mostly meant people who were blatantly reading the whole thing and putting back or someone who he caught doing it or something like that

Depends on the situation mostly. Place like Barnes and Noble prectaically encourage it what with their coffee areas and couches spread out all about the store. Also from a comic standpoint. What if said customer read an few issues in the store but bought other ones there as well. Technically he/she is still buying stuff from said store.

Barnes and Noble may not a problem with it. It's something I'm going to have to ask a manager at soon point to see what they say, if their store policy is to just look the other way when people fully read some of their stock, there's not much to say about that I guess.

As far as the latter, if you're reading the full book, I still don't think it's fully justified. I mean if you buy ten books, and then you read another two or three and just put them back without paying I will say I don't think it's as bad and just going into a store to read a lot of issues and then leave without getting any. However, you still took two or three potential sales for that potential shop. I guess it's the lesser of two evils so to speak though.

 

[Ion Kenshin]

Hence why I say it depends on the situation. I also look at it from the point of view that hey if I read a comic or a book in the shop and I ended up not liking it then I am glad I did not waste the money on a book that I would just ignore trash or let fall to the wayside. If I end up not liking it I can at least put it back giving someone else who likes the oppotunity not to miss out. However if I do read something in a store and I end up liking it I will buy it. But thats just me.

 

[Cosmic]

Just buy the damn book, already. It doesn't matter if you decide that you don't like it, after all. The money isn't wasted if you feel the need to read it all the way to the end! It interested you enough to make you read the whole thing, so it's not a total waste. I occasionally get comics that I don't particularly care for. I still read them and usually keep them in my collection. But if I want to get rid of them, then I just give them away or sell them to people who want them more than I do.

 

[Max Shrek]

The real issue is that, to be frank, the quality of many comics is rather suspect, and it's the only way a fan can be any sort of informed customer. I have occasionally flipped through a book I was mulling buy, and if on a flip it looks decent, I will actually buy it. Especially in an era when Marvel expects you to throw $4 at a blind stab at a new series like DOCTOR VOODOO.

Absolutely. I quite often will get a large stack of comics and trade paperbacks and other books and sit down in a comfy chair at Barnes and Noble and look through them, read the first few pages. The one I like or see potential in I go up and buy; the ones I don't, I put back. That's akin to those little spoons they give out at ice cream parlors. You get a spoon full of strawberry; not for you. You get a spoon of vanilla; you love it, you buy a cone. It's good for business and it's good thinking (and IMO why those comfy chairs are there).

Reading the whole thing and then putting it back is a different story though; that's like asking for more little spoons and more little spoons until you've eaten a cone full and walking out. That needs to be stopped.

 

[Ion Kenshin]

^^ Agreed

 

[Addendum]

I mean if you buy ten books, and then you read another two or three and just put them back without paying I will say I don't think it's as bad and just going into a store to read a lot of issues and then leave without getting any. However, you still took two or three potential sales for that potential shop. I guess it's the lesser of two evils so to speak though.

The only way the store would have lost the sale is if the customer in the example you gave didn't buy anything.

The ones that lost a sale was whatever comic it was that didn't get purchased. But then, the same thing can be said when one goes to any store. Whatever products one doesn't purchase is a lost sale for the company behind that product you didn't buy. Sucks for them, but that's business.

 

[Tron Bonne]

The only way the store would have lost the sale is if the customer in the example you gave didn't buy anything.

If you stood or sat there and read a full issue front to back without purchasing it I don't see how you can rationalize it anyway. You can try to justify it by pointing and saying, 'Look what else I bought', but you still read the full extent of the other title(s) without paying for it.

The ones that lost a sale was whatever comic it was that didn't get purchased. But then, the same thing can be said when one goes to any store. Whatever products one doesn't purchase is a lost sale for the company behind that product you didn't buy. Sucks for them, but that's business.

It's not really the same. The book and comics are a different beast then things like food, clothing, games, etc. It's much more of a mucky business when you get down to the stealing aspect, which is why it's more divided amongst opinions when it comes to stealing.

 

[Addendum]

If you stood or sat there and read a full issue front to back without purchasing it I don't see how you can rationalize it anyway. You can try to justify it by pointing and saying, 'Look what else I bought', but you still read the full extent of the other title(s) without paying for it.

But if the store is hurt by a person not purchasing that 1 comic they read, even though that person purchased several other items, that says more about the store and how they operate as a business rather than an individual not adding a $2.99 comic (or however much individual issues sell for these days) to the amount they purchased.

 

[Tron Bonne]

I didn't say anything about that one sale hurting business. One person doing that in one store isn't going to break its foundation. It still is what it is in the end though no matter how you try to rationalize or justify it. It's still taking what you wanted from the material, possibly in full, and not paying a cent for it. Whether you think that's stealing or not there's simply no way around that fact

 

[Addendum]

And what it is isn't a big deal, since librarians don't complain if someone reads a book in the library, nor do bookstores complain if a customer reads a book in store.

But if someone reads a $3 comic in the local comic shop, watch out for geek rage

 

[Tron Bonne]

For one thing, the library situation is irrelevant because it's a totally separate situation. Those books are already paid for, bought and donated with the intention of lending out to people. Now, there is a real argue out there for and against that, but that wasn't the question of the thread. The question is this: Is it stealing if you read a book or comic in the store? A store, of course, is there with the intention of buying, not borrowing, their material. Different world, totally different discussion that I see no need to leak into this.

Also, once again, I can't comment on store policy of big chain bookstores. Have you went up to the manager of any of these stores with a handful of comics, or a book or two, and asked if it was okay if you sat down and read them all and put them back without paying or intention of ever paying? I haven't because I don't live near one, but when I go up on Monday to a BAM! I'll ask about it. If it's their store policy to just let people do that, then there's no arguing that's stealing because they petty much encourage you to read them in store; if that ends up being the case.

I mostly singled out locally owned and operated LCS's because their the ones who need it the most. Like I stated, one person doing this at one business isn't going to kill that business, but all sales are still relevant to that business. I know that my LCS owner wouldn't go under if one or two people did that on a regular basis, but all sales help small businesses like that. Not to say I'm excluding big stores as well, but that's the main reason I've been going from that point of view. Most of what I've been saying I apply to the big chains too.

And, if you want to get down the nitty gritty of it, that's pretty irrelevant to the point anyway. Even if it's not 'hurting' someone or someone's business doesn't make it not stealing, since it's not like killing or physical assault or something, and that's what we're talking about here. Sounds more like you're just trying to turn it into a rationalization of why it's not a big deal.

I'm sorry that my 'geek rage' is bothering you when I pointed out what a situation was however you define it. Insults, yeah they sure are great for any argument

 

[Addendum]

The "insult" was directed at the entire comic reading community. And since this is on the internet, you'll get over it.

 

[LouFerignoDemon]

It's stealing. Prepare for police brutality followed by getting tased.

Actually, I don't see the problem, as long as you don't mess up the books. Sometimes, that's how people decide what to buy. Being bookstores, they should definitely understand the, "Don't judge a book by it's cover," saying.

 

[Silverstein]

I vote "No", considering that good libraries are as up to date and about even with Borders. So there's no difference between reading the same book in one place or the other. Especially considering that you pay to buy the book, not to read it.

The question begs a sub-question; "Is it stealing to listen to music in a music store?" Obviously not, since most of them have headphones or speakers to listen to music.

Back to the original question, though, Borders and Barnes and Noble often offer couches or sitting areas for reading. How can they encourage you to read if they don't want you to?

If the question is in reference to some smaller chain or a "private owned" store, then it's not so much a question of stealing as a question of if they want you to or not. In a smaller store, they won't make their money if you sit there and read the book.. In a big conglomerate..they'll get their cash either way (well, or go out of business).

 

[Silverstein]

darn this site for always glitching!

 

[Addendum]

And if you take a test drive of a car without buying it, the dealer doesn't get on you for stealing gas

 

[Tron Bonne]

The "insult" was directed at the entire comic reading community. And since this is on the internet, you'll get over it.

I was never hung, but it's always a kick to see people throw out insults with fleeting arguments

 

[SuperFerret]

Does the store lose a sale if I go into the store, read an issue of Captain America, don't buy it, but go ahead and buy some other books, then someone else comes in and buys the exact same issue that I just read?

 

[Tron Bonne]

I would say yes, because if you would have bought that issue then the next person would have the bought the other below it, making it two sells.

 

[SuperFerret]

But I didn't want the issue, and that was the one where he died and came back as CapWolf and it would've sold out anyway.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Well, that's a fair compromise

 

[SuperFerret]

But still, on that particular issue, there was no sale lost.

 

[LouFerignoDemon]

It depends, honestly.

If someone sees you reading it, and putting it back, only to buy other books, it might put them off.

On the other hand, if the atmosphere of the store is comfortable and friendly like that, they might go there more often to buy things.

 

[Tron Bonne]

We'll just to agree to disagree on that point then I suppose. Way I see it is if you would have bought it off the rack to take home and read it, then it would have been a sale. Since you didn't and read it in the store it wasn't. You didn't stop the other guy from buying it or anything, but your sale was gone

 

[Addendum]

I was never hung, but it's always a kick to see people throw out insults with fleeting arguments

Well when I read comments were some get so offended over in-store reading of a 3 dollar comic, geek rage is an apt term