I don’t understand why some books are wrapped in plastic at all. Like is it to protect the cover? Prevent people from reading it at the book store? Some weird contract with a vendor that requires a percentage of books be wrapped? A quirk of the shop that printed the book?
Used to work in a warehouse that did exactly this, can confirm drove a forklift loading pallets of books on trucks and “humidity control” meant closing the bay doors that didn’t have trailers backed in so the snow wouldn’t blow inside.
They are shipped on shrink wrapped pallets in boxes. The thing is, your local Walmart/target/airport shop doesn’t need 1500 copies of the latest Patterson novel, they stock a few of each current book in store. Meaning that pallet gets opened up at a hub warehouse and 2-3 books are going to 2-300 different stores along with whatever else has been purchased that week to restock the shelf. That book passes though a lot of hands before you buy it at the register
When it’s wrapped in plastic it can be individually picked. In a warehouse large quantities of stuff is stored away in bulk, sometimes palletized. A picker goes around and picks out the items from the larger bulk of items to put together a shipping order. If they were individually wrapped, whether by the warehouse or their distributor, it is for general protection(so that it feels new) and ease of handling.
Source: worked many of the lower positions at different warehouses for some years.
Both is correct. But the second one is less about reading and more about making a crease. People who buy new books, want to be the first ones to read it. If they wouldn’t care, they would just go to the library.
I don’t understand why some books are wrapped in plastic at all. Like is it to protect the cover? Prevent people from reading it at the book store? Some weird contract with a vendor that requires a percentage of books be wrapped? A quirk of the shop that printed the book?
It makes zero sense.
Probably so they can be stored carelessly in dirty warehouses that may or may not control for humidity
Used to work in a warehouse that did exactly this, can confirm drove a forklift loading pallets of books on trucks and “humidity control” meant closing the bay doors that didn’t have trailers backed in so the snow wouldn’t blow inside.
Probably also in case the shipping container leaks or has some termites or something?
Warehouses are dirty.
Aren’t books shipped in boxes though? I guess maybe a printer might palletize the books and find it cheaper to not wrap the whole pallet?
It still seems like the individual book is the wrong place to focus on protecting it from damage it might incur in transit.
They are shipped on shrink wrapped pallets in boxes. The thing is, your local Walmart/target/airport shop doesn’t need 1500 copies of the latest Patterson novel, they stock a few of each current book in store. Meaning that pallet gets opened up at a hub warehouse and 2-3 books are going to 2-300 different stores along with whatever else has been purchased that week to restock the shelf. That book passes though a lot of hands before you buy it at the register
When it’s wrapped in plastic it can be individually picked. In a warehouse large quantities of stuff is stored away in bulk, sometimes palletized. A picker goes around and picks out the items from the larger bulk of items to put together a shipping order. If they were individually wrapped, whether by the warehouse or their distributor, it is for general protection(so that it feels new) and ease of handling.
Source: worked many of the lower positions at different warehouses for some years.
Agreed.
Both is correct. But the second one is less about reading and more about making a crease. People who buy new books, want to be the first ones to read it. If they wouldn’t care, they would just go to the library.
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What do you mean? Of course I can count to two!