In another demonstration of how easy it is to set up shop online, a new Web site that sells only current New York Times bestsellers and aims to undercut Amazon.com on pricing has opened. The site, located at www.bestsellersforless.com, updates the Times list weekly and includes the Times's monthly business book bestsellers, meaning that about 100 titles are available at any time.
Each book listing features an image of the jacket or cover, the name and author of the book, a short description, Amazon.com's price and Bestsellersforless.com's price. Prices checked at random by PW showed that most titles were discounted 30% by Amazon.com and 40% by Bestsellersforless.com.
The site will soon add music and video bestsellers, including the Billboard Top 100. The company also stresses that orders are shipped within 24 hours, except on weekends.
CEO David Garzotto said that it would be "foolish to go directly up against Amazon in an attempt to mimic their `world's largest bookstore' model. But we can offer consumers lower prices by focusing our business on a niche. Of course, the niche we've chosen is the largest niche in the book market."
Orders are being fulfilled by K n Book Distributors through its K n Internet Shipping Service (KISS). The service offers more than 75,000 titles, which K n will drop ship at discounts identical to those offered to storefront customers.
The discounts are 40% for 1-4 copies of a single title, 41% for 5-9 copies of a single title and 42% for 10 or more copies of a single title. All computer books sell at a 43% discount, and all audiobooks sell at a 45% discount.
For each drop-ship order, there is a 95-cent service charge on the first book, 85 cents on the second and 75 cents for each additional title. Shipping costs are also charged. K n labels boxes with the Internet company's name and includes a packing list.
K n noted that Internet sites using KISS can offer all bestsellers, business titles, children's books, independent and specialty press titles, plus alternative books and magazines.
