Do low shipping reimbursements encourage poor packaging by sellers?
KOHN: I got a book one time that was wrapped in a grocery store bag and shipped in an Alpo dog food box. We had a little talk with the seller. I don’t know, but I hope not. I can tell you I am reaching out and trying to broker some discounts and deals with providers – ink providers, bubble wrap providers, etc. It’s part of what I’m hoping to do in the latter half of this year, to at least have some discounts available to Alibris sellers to purchase materials, so that we’re providing a little bit of a better ability to buy their materials at a lower cost. BOOKTHINK: Could the shipping reimbursement be raised in exchange for letting sellers handle the burden of returns? KOHN: Returns is an expensive process; it really is. Trust me, we look at that quite a bit. At this point, I would say probably not. But shipping is looked at as a separate area. I don’t think we would do any trade-offs there. BOOKTHINK: I’m thinking that if booksellers are responsible for their customer returns that they
