This one is a serious head-scratcher. Yesterday Barnes and Noble issued a press release announcing a partnership with Overstock.com to sell B&N Nook books. That sounds all well and good but there’s no actual selling going on.
Here’s the new page over at Overstock with the Nook eBooks. Take a good look. Then click a couple of links and you’ll see what I mean. They’ve got to be kidding, right?
This is the stupidest, most pointless “ebookstore” I’ve ever seen. It’s not even an ebookstore at all. All it is is a single page with a few book covers and a bunch of affiliate links that direct to Barnes and Noble’s website.
So all the partnership does is allow Overstock to put up links to direct visitors to buy ebooks from Barnes and Noble.com. Seriously? Anyone with a website can put up pictures of book covers with links to Barnes and Noble’s website. By that definition anyone could claim that they sell ebooks through Barnes and Noble’s Nook Store.
Here’s a quote from the press release:
A link on Overstock.com book product page will take visitors to Barnes & Noble.com’s NOOK Store, the world’s largest bookstore, where they can seamlessly and easily purchase the digital version of the book they have selected.
I like how they use the words seamlessly and easily. How funny. Why would anyone in their right mind go to Overstock to shop for Nook books when all it does is direct to B&N.com? How is that more seamless and easier that just going to B&N in the first place? Pointless…
I guess they have made a small start and
hope to expand in the future.
I’m sure that if this blog got the kind of traffic that Overstock.com did, B&N would offer you the same deal and a share of the sales coming from this site. And a press release.
I’m agreeing with Nathan here…pointless for customers, but profit making for Overstock I suppose.
I would not be surprised if this action was for the purpose of creating public awareness of O.com’s lawsuit and charges of racketeering against Goldman Sachs & Merrill Lynch…trail set for March 2012. (see bottom of O’s B&N page w/your Nook ebooks link) Certainly not for selling “overstocked e-books”.
As a consumer, I don’t see how this would be any better unless they are somehow curating the books displayed. As an author, I’m glad too see booksellers advertising books in more places.