Are books too expensive?

[Fried Egg]

Problem is, none of those who actually created the book - the writer or publisher - gets any money from the sale of used books.

True.

What annoys me though is when I buy a new reprint of a very old book. Either out of copyright or the author is long dead so they're not getting any money but such books don't seem to be any cheaper. They can be just as expensive (or more so even) than other books where some of the money is going to the author. Take the Penguin Classics series for instance.

On the other hand, you have series like Wordsworth's tales of mystery & supernatural that are offering old titles at real bargain prices.

 

[Connavar]

Given the existence of the second-hand market - for books, CDs or DVDs - it makes DRM seem hypocritical. Except, of course, when you sell on an electronic copy, you can keep one for yourself. Abd you can sell it "second-hand" multiple times. You can't do that for a paperback book. Which is not to say that I'm for DRM.

Conn, I support my favourite authors - well, those in print - and many of my friends by buying their books when they come out in hardback. But I also buy a lot of second-hand books - first editions of old writers whose works I collect, for example.

I buy second hand books too but i dont have many choice for rare second hand books of old writers whose works i collect. The language barrier makes 99% the second hand books are mainstream popular books that appear often,old editions of Tolkein,Hammett,Chandler,Conan Doyle level authors. Why would i pay for crappy second hand of those authors when they are in every library.

First editions cost a fortune over here, i dont see the point im a reader and not a collector. Why would i pay £100 for an old version of Jekyll and Hyde when i can buy a new paperback

The best second hand place is for me bookmooch,abebooks. Books from people in UK,US etc

Of course different matter for swedish books,those are easy finds like english books are for you guys.

 

[Rosemary]

As I mostly buy a series of books, I have plenty of time to save up for the next volume!

Our TPB are priced at around $AU34 Although high prices, it's worth it to me, when the books are so good.

We had a 'luxury tax' put on books, although I'm not sure if it is still there.

 

[Diggler]

Well in any used market the original creators don't see any of the money. It would seem that the software industry seems to be determined to kill off the used game market by introducing security measures which mean only the original owner of a game can use it making it worthless as a second-hand item, I can see the same thing happening with ebooks so they cannot be passed on or shared.

Most of the novels I buy second hand are from authors that are long dead or publishers that have long since closed down.

I feel that digital rights management and security measures are going to not only destroy a second hand market but also destroy the overall longevity of the product as well. Anybody that has been a PC gamer for the past 15 years has seen what a lack of a second hand market and protection has done to games. Most games older than 3 years are unavailable to buy and will likely remain that way forever. The choices are buy second hand off Ebay or just never bother playing it.

The latest slate of games with their 3-5 install limits will do their run, vanish off publishers listings and then disappear forever. If books end up going the same way in some form of virtual existence, we will see wonderful and relatively unknown authors works just slip away into nothing more than faded memories of the few people lucky enough to have read their works.

 

[Diggler]

We had a 'luxury tax' put on books, although I'm not sure if it is still there.

I'd say it was removed for the GST. Though knowing what our Government is like, they probably just popped the GST on top of the luxury tax

 

[marv335]

My question is why do eBooks cost as much as a hard copy?
I travel a lot, and live in a country where I can't get books easily.
My eReader is a constant companion.

 

[Daisy-Boo]

In South Africa we only have 3 book retailers and not much competition between them as some hardcovers go for R280 and paperbacks can go up to R150

Yep, that's an accurate assessment of retail pricing.

Re: the retailers.

I assume two of those are Exclusive Books and Wordsworth Books. Is the 3rd one you refer to CNA?

There are other sources of books though:

• Locally based online stores (my personal favourite is kalahari.net)
• Discount book stores: Paperweight, Bargain Books and Reader's Warehouse
• Second-hand book stores

Paperweight recently changed their pricing model. Most books are now priced according to the following groups: 2 for R100, 3 for R100, 4 for R100 and 2 for R50. Individual books cost slightly more.

Bargain Books has a 3 for R99 section.

Reader's Warehouse sells bestsellers for as little as R60 and their clearance store sells everything for no more than R25 a book (the last time I checked).

There are several second-hand book stores in Cape Town but my personal favourite is CAFDA charity book store in Claremont. It's a good source for paperbacks and older books. I've often gone in with a R100 and come out with a bag of up to 20 or 25 books.

Also, check out charity and fund-raising events - they often have book tables where you can pick up many bargains.

 

[Urien]

I compare books to the price of a cinema ticket. I get more hours of enjoyment from a £8 paperback, than from a £10 cinema ticket. £8 not much, the price of a pub meal.

On second hand books I feel guilty buying them, so generally don't. I can't help thinking the author/publisher should get something for resale, though how that could ever be enforced is the problem.

 

[Daisy-Boo]

I compare books to the price of a cinema ticket. I get more hours of enjoyment from a £8 paperback, than from a £10 cinema ticket. £8 not much, the price of a pub meal.

I agree with you 100%.

I once read an article in a local (South African) newspaper that challenged the notion of books being too expensive in our country. One of the arguments the writer made was that most people are happy to spend obscene amounts of money on things like brand name sneakers, jeans or sunglasses but won't pay a fraction of that for a good book. I thought that made a lot of sense.

On second hand books I feel guilty buying them, so generally don't. I can't help thinking the author/publisher should get something for resale, though how that could ever be enforced is the problem.

There is another way of looking at this. When I wasn't earning much (most of my working life *sigh*) I bought most of my books at second-hand stores and charity sales. That gave me an opportunity to read books by authors I might otherwise never try because I couldn't afford the retail prices. Now that I can buy retail, I often buy books by authors I got to know through the second-hand stores.

Second-hand stores are also a good source of older books, especially ones that are no longer in print or deemed uneconomic for retail stores to carry.

 

[iansales]

My question is why do eBooks cost as much as a hard copy?
I travel a lot, and live in a country where I can't get books easily.
My eReader is a constant companion.

Publishers argue that the actual material costs for a paperback are only a small fraction of its price. So for ebooks, the cost will be roughly the same. Ebooks are not treated as adjuncts to paper books - they don't write off all the production and design costs for ebooks, because while they've done that work for the paper books, they will probably do it again for the ebook.

 

[chongjasmine]

Most of the novels I buy second hand are from authors that are long dead or publishers that have long since closed down.

I feel that digital rights management and security measures are going to not only destroy a second hand market but also destroy the overall longevity of the product as well. Anybody that has been a PC gamer for the past 15 years has seen what a lack of a second hand market and protection has done to games. Most games older than 3 years are unavailable to buy and will likely remain that way forever. The choices are buy second hand off Ebay or just never bother playing it.

The latest slate of games with their 3-5 install limits will do their run, vanish off publishers listings and then disappear forever. If books end up going the same way in some form of virtual existence, we will see wonderful and relatively unknown authors works just slip away into nothing more than faded memories of the few people lucky enough to have read their works.

I agree. I think digital rigths management ought not to exist. I am currently trying to buy a set of 40 books of a christian author and the books are mostly out of print. Getting them 2nd hand is not cheap but I am trying to save up to buy them. It is not cheap because of the postage cost. Unlike most of you who live in the US or the UK, I live in the far, far, far area of Singapore. The postage cost for each book is at least US$3.95. Multiply that by 40, and I have to pay higher postage costs for the books than the actual costs. I am still saving. At least, without DRM on printed books, I can still get the books however expensive the books may be. With DRM around, books that are out of print and not very popular to get re-printed might just disappear from the face of the world.

 

[Werthead]

Looking at the books on my shelves, I note that book prices have not increased radically. The earliest newly-bought (not secondhand) paperbacks books I have clock in from the late 1980s and are around £3.99-£4.99. The newest paperbacks I have are £7.99.

Similarly, the first hardcover I ever bought was in 1996 and was £17.99. The last hardcover I bought around Christmas was £20.00, but was discounted to £15.00 in the shop, so was actually cheaper.

Given the combinations of inflation and radically increasing paper costs (wholesale paper costs have doubled in the last decade alone), these increases seem modest and not particularly unreasonable.

 

[Fried Egg]

Looking at the books on my shelves, I note that book prices have not increased radically. The earliest newly-bought (not secondhand) paperbacks books I have clock in from the late 1980s and are around £3.99-£4.99. The newest paperbacks I have are £7.99.

£7.99 is pretty much the cheapest you'll find a new book for (barring a few exceptions). Many paperbacks I pick up to look at these days are above that, ranging up to £11.99.

Given the combinations of inflation and radically increasing paper costs (wholesale paper costs have doubled in the last decade alone), these increases seem modest and not particularly unreasonable.

Perhaps rising paper costs (above and beyond inflation) can explain it then but inflation doesn't because, as I explained earlier, inflation does not seem to have had the same effect on CD's which are the same or less than what they were in the late 80's.

 

[Rodders]

It's not so much the fact that they're getting more expensive, of course books are a lot more expensive than they used to be. The trouble is that wages aren't going up in a relative fashion.

 

[J-WO]

It's not so much the fact that they're getting more expensive, of course books are a lot more expensive than they used to be. The trouble is that wages aren't going up in a relative fashion.

A hideously true statement, Rodders. Though, presumably, Publishers wages are going up.

 

[soulsinging]

Perhaps rising paper costs (above and beyond inflation) can explain it then but inflation doesn't because, as I explained earlier, inflation does not seem to have had the same effect on CD's which are the same or less than what they were in the late 80's.

I don't think cd's are an apt comparison for books though really. Books have been largely unchanged for decades. CDs were comparatively recent. Plus, I would say that CD's havent so much gotten cheaper as they have come to the price they always should have been. When they were introduced, record companies charged twice as much for CDs as they did for tapes figuring people wouldn't question it because it's new, even though CDs cost only a fraction of what it cost them to actually make a tape. They got sued for this price fixing just a few years ago here in the states. That's around when prices started to come down for CDs. Also factor in digital music... CDs had to come down to be bought at all in the face of free downloading and when the itunes store came out, they undercut CDs on the legal market too. So there are a lot of market pressures driving CD prices down that haven't affected books (yet). These same things have also pushed down dvd prices (though you notice they're doing the same thing with bluray/dvd as they did with CD/cassette).

If you look at other entertainment... movies, theater, sporting events... those prices have all been rising steadily. I think CDs are the exception for dropping in price, not the other way around.

 

[merritt]

Pretty good! I remembered my password and login, stinkin chicks (my wife and daughter :0)) are watchin chick TV.

yes, retail books are too expensive in th US.

Solution: I buy at library sales, $3.00 a bag.
No, I don't get greedy at these sales, after all they are to support the libraries.

So if they don't value it??? what am I to do. segue Listening to the strokes between love & hate, pretty good.

Anywaay, love this site, books are too expensive, but give ur money to libraries and accumulate boxes ofvintage Sci-fi and anything that suits ur fancy!

 

[dask]

I agree. We have a library book sale coming up next Wednesday. I won't be able to make it until Friday morning but that's okay --- that's half price day and I'm going to give it a good going over before my parking meter runs out.

 

[JagLover]

With amazon it has never been easier to get the exact book you want second hand, though usually I get out of print books these way.

I recently picked up the second book in Janny Wurt's circle of fire trilogy for under £3, which compares well with the prices I used to pay for second hand books back in my uni days (over a decade ago now)

 

[Grechzoo]

i buy most of my books used, all are in pretty great condition and all very readable.

and the average price is around £3 inc delivery

i dont think for what is uaully around 10hours+ of entertainment you can possible beat that for anythign else.

add in the fact books are in my opinion the best most artistic form of entertainment and really i couldn;t be happier.

the prices in stores are pretty though. you would think shops like waterstones and bordered would ahve lowered price to compete with amazon and ebay.