Hmmm... I agree with Laurin666 though --if the NBA (Net Book Agreement) still existed in the UK (it fell apart in the 90's) then bigger booksellers simply wouldn't be able to undercut smaller independent bookshops. And, I suspect, more would survive.
I still step into literally every bookshop I pass on the street; be it a secondhand bookshop (independent, Oxfam, etc) or Waterstones. I don't check my phone to see if I could get it cheaper online. If it's the book I want I buy it. However, I'm not on the high street that often any more.
Nobody posting here is a normal book buyer though. We'll pick up a Hb in a store and not buy it because it's a second impression. The problem is normal buyers are not buying on the high street. Overall, I don't really have a problem (in some respects) with the high street bricks & mortar stores disappearing --provided the replacement is better. It isn't.
BH
I still step into literally every bookshop I pass on the street; be it a secondhand bookshop (independent, Oxfam, etc) or Waterstones. I don't check my phone to see if I could get it cheaper online. If it's the book I want I buy it. However, I'm not on the high street that often any more.
Nobody posting here is a normal book buyer though. We'll pick up a Hb in a store and not buy it because it's a second impression. The problem is normal buyers are not buying on the high street. Overall, I don't really have a problem (in some respects) with the high street bricks & mortar stores disappearing --provided the replacement is better. It isn't.
BH
Khamûl wrote:
Hmmm... I agree with Laurin666 though --if the NBA (Net Book Agreement) still existed in the UK (it fell apart in the 90's) then bigger booksellers simply wouldn't be able to undercut smaller independent bookshops. And, I suspect, more would survive.
I still step into literally every bookshop I pass on the street; be it a secondhand bookshop (independent, Oxfam, etc) or Waterstones. I don't check my phone to see if I could get it cheaper online. If it's the book I want I buy it. However, I'm not on the high street that often any more.
Nobody posting here is a normal book buyer though. We'll pick up a Hb in a store and not buy it because it's a second impression. The problem is normal buyers are not buying on the high street. Overall, I don't really have a problem (in some respects) with the high street bricks & mortar stores disappearing --provided the replacement is better. It isn't.
BH
It is a globalisation issue. Local laws are largely irrelevant because cheap bulk postal agreements mean that the online retailers can just operate from different territories. Australia is a good example -- it is cheaper to buy books in the UK and ship them than to buy them locally, so local price controls probably would not be effective.
Really? That's genuinely pretty surprising, what with postage seemingly more expensive than ever. Does this really affect the average buyer who's not searching quite so hard though? I mean Laurin666 says it works in Germany. Surely it would have some effect if Amazon.co.uk were listing books at the same price as the high street? (--assuming for a second there actually was a high street!) With postage this would make their books more expensive (overall) to acquire. Would it not help a bit?
BH
BH
Khamûl wrote:
Really? That's genuinely pretty surprising, what with postage seemingly more expensive than ever. Does this really affect the average buyer who's not searching quite so hard though? I mean Laurin666 says it works in Germany. Surely it would have some effect if Amazon.co.uk were listing books at the same price as the high street? (--assuming for a second there actually was a high street!) With postage this would make their books more expensive (overall) to acquire. Would it not help a bit?
BH
Yep, really. It is MUCH cheaper to buy books from the UK than to buy them on the high street in Australia. Australia is a bit of a basket case, mind -- probably the most expensive country on Earth at this juncture.
I just can't see how on a global scale price controls will work. The online seller will just base themselves where the price controls don't apply, and so long as their suppliers give them the books cheap enough, the postage isn't a problem.
Of course, tariffs can be introduced, but for low value items, they end up being too expensive to enforce.
After my rant of a few pages back, I have finally got round to cancelling all my outstanding/open Amazon orders --now that I have sourced the same items for similar prices elsewhere. Still not bricks & mortar mind; I've sourced them all online --but I can't tolerate Amazon any more. A puny gesture, I know --but why complain whilst still giving them my custom? An inconsistent stance to take, now remedied!
Just for books though...
BH
Just for books though...
BH
Got my copy of Fall of Arthur today .........through Amazon. But for local book-stores it's hard to get English books so this was the best option for me. The Deluxe edition will take some more days.
18 May, 2013
(edited)
2013-5-18 7:01:53 PM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2013-5-18 9:52:04 PM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2013-5-18 9:52:41 PM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2013-5-18 9:55:13 PM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2013-5-18 9:52:41 PM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2013-5-18 9:55:13 PM UTC
2013-5-18 7:01:53 PM UTC
Yes, I'm holding it in my own hands
It is bound the same style than the 50th anniversary edition of the LotR, bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd.
I think I know what to read next
EDIT: Resized pictures Trotter
It is bound the same style than the 50th anniversary edition of the LotR, bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd.
I think I know what to read next
EDIT: Resized pictures Trotter