At stake is a portion of the annual retail harvest of pre-Christmas spending on books. The fear is over exactly how much of this lucrative market booksellers enjoy. Retail booksellers maintain a market presence throughout the year, and look forward to the Christmas trading period. They loathe remainder books, which they feel 'skim the cream' from the Christmas trade. The latest chapter in the retail vs. remainder struggle began recently, when a remainder store opened for business just in time for Christmas around the corner from two major Fremantle retail booksellers.
Remainder books are different to their retail counterparts.
The latter are generally fixed in price, and are purchased from publishers at set discounts. Remainder titles, however, are damaged or discontinued titles that generally no longer sell in a retail store. They are purchased from publishers by volume, and the purchasers can set their own prices. Remainder books, and their effect on retail titles, have long been a source of concern in the bookselling industry. The West spoke with both retail and remainder booksellers regarding the issue.