This is something that has bothered me for many years now and is so absurdly simple and silly that I finally feel the need to rant about it on the interweb. I love Minotaur but I really, really wish they would stop putting their damned price stickers on the product itself, rather than on the shrinkwrap. I mean, for a store that basically survives off niche markets, which are far more likely to be composed of collectors, it doesn’t make any sense to me that they would basically damage the merchandise they’re selling.

Perhaps I should explain a bit more. The price stickers used are the nasty metallic kind that are very difficult to remove - particularly from the paper covers found on books and comics. Minotaur also shrinkwraps all its products (or at least all the ones I buy) but does this over the top of the price sticker. You you take the wrapping off and expect a nice, pristine book only to discover it’s still got this ugly sticker on it. Attempting to remove it results in tearing the cover half the time or, at the very least, leaves behind a sticky residue.

I have to wonder why they couldn’t just put the stickers on top of the shrinkwrap. Seriously, why? Are they worried that people will be able to remove them easier in the store and make off with their valuable merchandise? If you’ve ever been in the store you’d probably realise such a thing is extremely unlikely - the only people who frequent the shop loyal fans who are not likely to go on a shoplifting spree. If this is a concern, why not just shrinkwrap the books twice or something?

Basically, I cannot see any logical reason why Minotaur would insist on making the buyer’s purchase that little bit less valuable. So please Minotaur - put the price stickers on after you’ve shrinkwrapped them!