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In a bookshop, idly
Jan. 17th, 2006 07:38 pmSo, I was in a bookshop yesterday. As you are, you know. Wandering, looking, sometimes (though not often, if I want to be able to buy lunch next week!) buying.
There will be muttering about prices in the next bit, so if such things annoy you, you are forewarned.
In which prices are compared.
So, buying books.
In Easons, the paperback of Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce is 9.10 euro. In Hodges Figgis and Waterstone's the same book retails at 8.75 euro. On Amazon.com, it retails at $5.99. Assuming shipping @ $3.00 (anyone care to enlighten me as to whether this is an accurate figure?), that's (today, at least) roughly 7.45 euro. Saving: in buying from HF: 0.35 euro; in buying from Amazon.com: between 2.30 and 2.65 euro.
Damn but we're getting hammered on price.
Another experiment. When Demons Walk, Patricia Briggs. Forbidden Planet sells it for 10.99 euro. Retail price at Amazon.com: $6.50. Assuming shipping at $3.25, that works out to 8.10 euro. Saving: 2.89 euro.
A third experiment: Sabriel, Garth Nix. Local bookshop sells it at 10.20 euro. On Amazon.com, an illustrated version (my version has no pictures) retails at $7.99. Assuming shipping at $4.00, that works out to 9.95 euro, approximately. Saving: 0.25 euro.
I suspect that the chains here order through the UK. Thus for currency conversions we're getting hammered twice: once from dollar to sterling, and then again from sterling to euro. Evidence for this thesis comes in the form of Charles Stross' The Family Trade, out of Tor Publishers, found all alone in Hodges Figgis for 6.10 euros. As it retails on Amazon.com for $6.99, and assuming shipping at $3.50, it comes in at 8.70 euros, making it one of the few times it's been cheaper to buy from nearby rather than from abroad.
Throughout, I've assumed the cost of shipping to be approximately equal to half the cover price. I haven't touched on the comparative price of TPBs or HBs: they vary between 14.00 euro and 33.00 euro, bottom-end of one and top-end of the other. The moral of this story, friends? Ordering from Amazon.com is in general but not always less expensive than toddling down to the local HF or Waterstone's. It's for-damn-sure less expensive than buying via Easons.
You have guessed that my retailer of choice is Amazon.com, right? With Hodges Figgis (Dawson St) about ten points back in second?
PS: Also, US editions of Tamora Pierce's books have better covers, in addition to being cheaper. Mine are pink-ish and girly, instead of having pictures of swords, wolves, horses, or other more content-appropriate images (you'd think it was a book about hair, honestly). The covers for The Immortals series all look the same, and they only have the title on the spine. I mean, come on, people. Just because the author's a female who's writing about a female main character, there's no need to completely alienate those of us who see a pink cover and automatically cringe (I have an allergic reaction to pink. Ask anyone). Damn good thing I heard of Pierce by the Internet first, or I'd never have picked up any of her books.
There will be muttering about prices in the next bit, so if such things annoy you, you are forewarned.
In which prices are compared.
So, buying books.
In Easons, the paperback of Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce is 9.10 euro. In Hodges Figgis and Waterstone's the same book retails at 8.75 euro. On Amazon.com, it retails at $5.99. Assuming shipping @ $3.00 (anyone care to enlighten me as to whether this is an accurate figure?), that's (today, at least) roughly 7.45 euro. Saving: in buying from HF: 0.35 euro; in buying from Amazon.com: between 2.30 and 2.65 euro.
Damn but we're getting hammered on price.
Another experiment. When Demons Walk, Patricia Briggs. Forbidden Planet sells it for 10.99 euro. Retail price at Amazon.com: $6.50. Assuming shipping at $3.25, that works out to 8.10 euro. Saving: 2.89 euro.
A third experiment: Sabriel, Garth Nix. Local bookshop sells it at 10.20 euro. On Amazon.com, an illustrated version (my version has no pictures) retails at $7.99. Assuming shipping at $4.00, that works out to 9.95 euro, approximately. Saving: 0.25 euro.
I suspect that the chains here order through the UK. Thus for currency conversions we're getting hammered twice: once from dollar to sterling, and then again from sterling to euro. Evidence for this thesis comes in the form of Charles Stross' The Family Trade, out of Tor Publishers, found all alone in Hodges Figgis for 6.10 euros. As it retails on Amazon.com for $6.99, and assuming shipping at $3.50, it comes in at 8.70 euros, making it one of the few times it's been cheaper to buy from nearby rather than from abroad.
Throughout, I've assumed the cost of shipping to be approximately equal to half the cover price. I haven't touched on the comparative price of TPBs or HBs: they vary between 14.00 euro and 33.00 euro, bottom-end of one and top-end of the other. The moral of this story, friends? Ordering from Amazon.com is in general but not always less expensive than toddling down to the local HF or Waterstone's. It's for-damn-sure less expensive than buying via Easons.
You have guessed that my retailer of choice is Amazon.com, right? With Hodges Figgis (Dawson St) about ten points back in second?
PS: Also, US editions of Tamora Pierce's books have better covers, in addition to being cheaper. Mine are pink-ish and girly, instead of having pictures of swords, wolves, horses, or other more content-appropriate images (you'd think it was a book about hair, honestly). The covers for The Immortals series all look the same, and they only have the title on the spine. I mean, come on, people. Just because the author's a female who's writing about a female main character, there's no need to completely alienate those of us who see a pink cover and automatically cringe (I have an allergic reaction to pink. Ask anyone). Damn good thing I heard of Pierce by the Internet first, or I'd never have picked up any of her books.
