By James Ihaka and Michael Dickison
Saturday Aug 28, 2010 , New Zealand Herald
Everyone knows the feeling - the moment you see an inflated price tag and think, "I can't believe it's that expensive". But which are the biggest rip-offs and why do they cost so much?
After much debate, the Weekend Herald has compiled this top five list - plus some useful tips on how to pay a lot less.
ONE : BOOKS
* from Whitcoulls, Queen St $37.99
* from bookdepository.co.uk $13.17
What you pay
You won't get much change out of $40 for a new best-seller like The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, volume three of Swedish author Stieg Larsson's Millennium series. We found it selling for $37.99 at Whitcoulls in Queen St and $41.99 at Borders up the road. Yet Britons can buy the same book on special at WH Smith for $9.65 (£4.39) or $15.40 (£7) even at the recommended retail price.
Most hardbacks are even more expensive. The new Jeffrey Archer, And Thereby Hangs a Tale, costs $54.99 in Whitcoulls and Borders. You can buy it for about half that on bookdepository.co.uk ($26.68) and only slightly more on amazon.com ($30.11, including US postage).
In non-fiction, the latest Lonely Planet Guide to Thailand costs $31 to order from Amazon or BookDepository but sells for just under $50 on Whitcoulls' website and local online bookseller fishpond.co.nz. At Borders it will cost you $76.99 - two and a half times the cheapest price.
What they say
Books in Britain are priced far more aggressively than here, says Booksellers New Zealand chairman Hamish Wright.
He says it costs more to bring books to New Zealand, and books in Britain have no sales tax. But Wright, who owns Wrights Bookshop in Cambridge, agrees bookshops have to respond to huge competitive pressure from online sales and offer customers the best deal they can. For instance, he is still wondering what he should charge for the new Marc Ellis book, Good Fullas: A guide to Kiwi blokes.
"It's recommended at $45 but I know the market's not going to sustain that. It's a book that will be popular but where do I price it - $39.99, $34.99? It depends on what other competitors do."
Many bookshops argue that websites don't give you the pleasure of browsing. Wright agrees, but says that in the end, people get the same book and regular buyers know they can make big savings online.
Latest retail figures show sales are up but only through discounting, which suggests bookstores will continue to struggle, he says.
"I saw one line on a blog that said we're dead men walking. I'm not sure I completely agree with that, given that I always say the glass is half full, but it's going to be very, very tough."
How to beat it
It's worth checking out bookshops for one-off specials and locally produced books but in general, shop online, compare rates between competing sites and don't forget postage costs.
The weak British pound means bookdepository.co.uk is incredibly good value right now. It offered the lowest prices for all the books we tested and doesn't charge for postage. Other sites don't charge postage for bigger orders.
If you can't break the Whitcoulls habit, check its website first. It undercuts its own bookstore prices on many items, including The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, which sells at $20.95.
- Andrew Laxon
Read about the Herald's other four rip-offs at NZH.
Footnote:
Publishers and booksellers should both be most concerned about this issue.
Let me give you an example of the same issue that I personally experienced this week.
I bought Annie a copy of AMSTERDAM Encounter at Unity Books in Auckland. The UK price is pds.6.99 and the US price US 11.99 - I paid NZ$30. There is clearly something wrong here, and yes I do feel ripped off.
I have effectively paid double what I would had I bought the book instead in London or LA. And that is not on.
The publishers are Lonely Planet. What have they and their NZ distributors, and Unity Books got to say?
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