Monday, December 06, 2010

Booksellers challenge myth that online is cheaper

Tim Barlass in the Sydney Morning Herald, December 5, 2010

IT MAY be the busiest time of the year for book sales - not only because they are easier to wrap than other presents - but don't rush to shop online.

Seven out of the 10 books on the Australian bestsellers list are cheaper if bought in an Australian bookshop or locally online compared to buying them from a discount offshore website.

A comparison by The Sun-Herald showed that selecting the cheapest from Dymocks or Borders online would save $63.34 over the seven titles compared to buying from the British site The Book Depository, which delivers for free.

The findings put a small dent in the belief that everything can be purchased cheaper online.
However those whose Christmas lists are filled with New York Times bestsellers may indeed be better off buying from an offshore website.

The titles that topped each of the five categories on the Times bestseller list this month are cheaper online than in Dymocks and Borders stores. Cross Fire by James Patterson, Decision Points by George W. Bush, Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts and Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz were cheaper on Amazon - even after adding standard international shipping. The Book Depository had the best bargain for The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Dymocks came within $1.04 of the best price for Patterson's title, but only in the paperback edition (the online retailers stock the hardcover).

The Australian Publishers Association chief executive, Maree McCaskill, said she was not surprised that buyers wanting books from the Australian bestseller list could get a better deal by shopping at home.

''It doesn't surprise me but I think it will surprise a lot of people,'' she said.

There is increasing clamour from retailers over the federal government's lack of action over GST-free shopping online. At the moment, there is no GST or import tax charged for overseas goods less than $1000.

''If we removed GST from Australian books or GST added to online sales then we would certainly level the playing field for Australian retailers and publishers,'' Ms McCaskill said.

The general manager of e-commerce at Dymocks, Michael Allara, said by buying locally Australians could get books quicker while helping the economy.

1 comment:

transpress nz said...

It isn't so much a myth - there have been many occasions when we've found the prices from the online booksellers mentioned in the UK or USA have been cheaper than the wholesale prices offered by the NZ distributors, let alone the retail prices.