Price of Sci Fi & Fantasy Books

lacase · 08-05-2011 12:17am #1

I had to laugh when I saw Eason's are offering 20% off Sc Fi & Fantasy books at the moment. Eason's books are so over priced even with the 20% off you can pick up all the best Si Fi & Fantasy books on the Book Depositary website at a much better price and they offer free shipping to Ireland. While I would rather support local book shops I am not going to pay them up to double the price for a book.

Antar Bolaeisk · 08-05-2011 12:50am

I particularly like their online store which charges somethng obscene for the delivery of a book.

It's unfortunate as I too would like to support an Irish company but with the cost of books being several multiples more than on places like Amazon it just is not going to happen.

Having the Kindle doesn't exactly encourage shopping in Easons either.

ixoy · 08-05-2011 12:56am

It's ridiculous. The best place in Dublin for sci-fi & fantasy is Chapters because they've got a very decent selection of books at bargain prices.

sentient_6 · 08-05-2011 3:29am

Be gratefull your not living in Oz or NZ. $30 average for most books in New Zealand, which is about €16. Crazy.

Little bit more on topic: you'd wonder how Easons dont make more of an effort seeing as they must be losing so much business to the likes of amazon/Book Depositary etc.

Id buy from amazon but sometimes i would buy in Dubray's in galway out of loyalty too though, who's prices are usually in line with easons.

Zapp Brannigan · 08-05-2011 3:35am

Prices in Canada are crazy too. That's why I've mainly been getting books out of the library or using The Book Depository.

When home, I usually always shop in H&F just because I like the staff in there, plus it's a really relaxed cool vibe in there.

BlaasForRafa · 08-05-2011 1:02pm

lacase wrote: »

I had to laugh when I saw Eason's are offering 20% off Sc Fi & Fantasy books at the moment. Eason's books are so over priced even with the 20% off you can pick up all the best Si Fi & Fantasy books on the Book Depositary website at a much better price and they offer free shipping to Ireland. While I would rather support local book shops I am not going to pay them up to double the price for a book.

I wouldn't bother with Easons either, same as yerself I'd normally get stuff on Book Depository or Amazon (free shipping on orders over £25).

I do try and support the local book shop though (The Book Centre in waterford). Every month they have a sci-fi/fantasy (usually fantasy) book of the month for €8.99 and if you don't like the book you can get your money back. Last month I got Blake Charltons book "Spellwright" and pretty damn good it was too.

Macca3000 · 08-05-2011 6:07pm

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

I wouldn't bother with Easons either, same as yerself I'd normally get stuff on Book Depository or Amazon (free shipping on orders over £25).

I do try and support the local book shop though (The Book Centre in waterford). Every month they have a sci-fi/fantasy (usually fantasy) book of the month for €8.99 and if you don't like the book you can get your money back. Last month I got Blake Charltons book "Spellwright" and pretty damn good it was too.

I was just going to say the Book Centre in Wexford town has that offer as well. ALways enjoy going in there when down visiting the cousins. Love the cosy reading corner down the back of the shop too. Coffee and a quick read of a potential favourite book. Best 30 minutes of any day shopping

lacase · 08-05-2011 8:52pm

Another good place is O'Mahoney's Book Shop in Limerick they have a good Si-Fi & Fantasy section. At least they try to compete and offer discounts on some of their book. Mind you they are still dearer than the book Depositary, but I like to buy something in there every so often. I have seen Si-Fi & Fantasy books in O'Mahoney's which are over 5 - 10 Euro dearer in Eason's!

AnCapaillMor · 09-05-2011 8:44am

99% of the books i bought have been online, the only times i bought here was when i was stuck and couldn't wait a week for te next book. I'm like anat i want to buy irish but its too bloody dear. 12 euros for a wheel of time book in easons, 5.60 on the book depository is just insane.

Dortilolma · 09-05-2011 9:09am

It's all down to the discounts they get from the publishers. These could vary from 30% to 70%. I'm rather surprised that the smaller/independent stores have cheaper books than Eason as they tend to get smaller discounts.
I'm not sure what discounts Book Depository gets but I believe Amazon tends to get 60%.

Sleepy · 09-05-2011 10:13am

I'd nearly always buy on-line when it's something I'm particularly looking for.

Charlie Byrnes in Galway gets a bi-annual visit to see what's around that worth picking up (usually a stack of 10 or so books!).

The rest come from possibly the most expensive place to buy books: the airport. I travel a lot for work and nearly always forget to bring whatever I'm reading with me!

Black Sheep · 09-05-2011 1:21pm

I buy online in bulk, but Chapters is certainly worth a trawl from time to time. Not just the 'bargain' table (which often has a good selection - presumably it's just overstocks of hardbacks and trade sized paperbacks) but the second-hand shelves upstairs.

I agree it would be nice to be able to support more brick and mortar Irish shops - but if the price is too high that's a luxury in times like these unfortunately.

lacase · 09-05-2011 10:52pm

I am really glad we are highlight this I am really amazed to see people actually buying Sci-Fi & Fantasy books in Easons. I feel like saying to them they could get them for much cheaper. Given that Eason's are the main wholesalers I am sure they get good disconts it is just that they don't pass them on. I want to support Irish, but they have to support us by offering us value for money.

nesf · 10-05-2011 1:54am

I've moved almost completely to buying books in Kindle format. Cheap, instant delivery and can carry my selection of books everywhere with me.

That and 7 overflowing bookshelves at home between the wife and myself is good enough reason to try and buy ebooks whenever possible.

ixoy · 10-05-2011 1:30pm

nesf wrote: »

I've moved almost completely to buying books in Kindle format. Cheap, instant delivery and can carry my selection of books everywhere with me.

Since I've started using my Kindle, I haven't bought a dead-tree book. Generally the new books are the same, if not cheaper (e.g. getting the new SoIaF book pre-ordered for about €8.50). The delivery is an added bonus too - I turned on my Kindle on Friday and got "Embassytown" before I could even have in the shops.
Also fantasy novels tend to be heavy - a Kindle is much more manageable.

On the downside - you rarely get discount bargains on new title the way I've found in "Chapters". You also can't get a numer of titles, particularly older ones, due to incredibly annoying region restrictions.

BlaasForRafa · 10-05-2011 2:14pm

nesf wrote: »

I've moved almost completely to buying books in Kindle format. Cheap, instant delivery and can carry my selection of books everywhere with me.

That and 7 overflowing bookshelves at home between the wife and myself is good enough reason to try and buy ebooks whenever possible.

7? is that all?

I couldn't be bothered with e-books, I prefer to actually have the physical sensation of holding a book and reading it. Plus when you own a real book you can loan it or give it to a charity shop or whatever whereas with Kindle it seems to be more of a lease from Amazon, I recall reading the terms and conditions of a kindle ebook sale a couple of years ago and I thought "f**k that" as it seemed like they claimed a quasi-ownership of any ebook they sold you.

I was actually in the local book centre yesterday for something else and ended up browsing the sci-fi/fantasy section. I ended up buying Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber who I've heard some good things about. The book cost €11.70 (UK £8.99) which seems to be the standard amount for large paperbacks. I checked on amazon.co.uk last night and it was £5.03 which equates to €5.72 so I know where I'll be buying books 2, 3 and 4 if I like the first one. As everyone says, even though I like to support the local place, they just can't compete on price.

Macca3000 · 10-05-2011 4:18pm

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

7? is that all?

I couldn't be bothered with e-books, I prefer to actually have the physical sensation of holding a book and reading it. Plus when you own a real book you can loan it or give it to a charity shop or whatever whereas with Kindle it seems to be more of a lease from Amazon, I recall reading the terms and conditions of a kindle ebook sale a couple of years ago and I thought "f**k that" as it seemed like they claimed a quasi-ownership of any ebook they sold you.

I was actually in the local book centre yesterday for something else and ended up browsing the sci-fi/fantasy section. I ended up buying Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber who I've heard some good things about. The book cost €11.70 (UK £8.99) which seems to be the standard amount for large paperbacks. I checked on amazon.co.uk last night and it was £5.03 which equates to €5.72 so I know where I'll be buying books 2, 3 and 4 if I like the first one. As everyone says, even though I like to support the local place, they just can't compete on price.

Have to agree. I love just lounging on the couch with book in hand, coffee on the table. Or lying out on the beach on holidays lost in a good book. For some reason I cant imagine the feeling being the same reading from kindle or iPad or iPhone. Plus you wouldn't want to bring one of those to a beach.

And like everyone else I do my best to support Irish businesses but it's such a shame when you see so many independent bookstores closing down. And in many cases they were cheaper than Easons and other big branches. I often picked up cheap 2nd hand books in charity shops. Selection can sometimes be very good. And everyone benefits.

Sleepy · 10-05-2011 4:46pm

Big fan of browsing in second hand / charity shops myself. Love those random finds you've never heard of but get drawn to on the bargain table.

Is there not an issue with the quality of the transcripts still on the Kindle? For example, I've heard Game of Thrones is littered with typos on the Kindle?

nesf · 10-05-2011 6:50pm

Sleepy wrote: »

Is there not an issue with the quality of the transcripts still on the Kindle? For example, I've heard Game of Thrones is littered with typos on the Kindle?

There's quite a few, though it's still perfectly readable though.

lacase · 10-05-2011 11:05pm

I just checked the Book Depositary they are offering Off Armadeddon Reef for 5.99 Euro with free delivery to Ireland. The average book is 5 to 6 Euro with free delivery. A magazine can cost more then that here.

Macca3000 · 11-05-2011 12:36pm

Only just checked out book depositary. Damn I don't think I will be back in easons for quite sometime

CiaranC · 11-05-2011 12:40pm

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

7? is that all?

I couldn't be bothered with e-books, I prefer to actually have the physical sensation of holding a book and reading it.

Technophobic sci-fi fan, love it.

CiaranC · 11-05-2011 12:45pm

Macca3000 wrote: »

Only just checked out book depositary. Damn I don't think I will be back in easons for quite sometime

Cheaper again on undernet

Antar Bolaeisk · 11-05-2011 3:13pm

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

7? is that all?

I couldn't be bothered with e-books, I prefer to actually have the physical sensation of holding a book and reading it.

I was like you before I got a Kindle, a couple of hundred books on my shelf and I swore I would never touch an e-book. Now I doubt I'll ever get a real book again save to finish off the one or two collections I currently have going, and even then I'll still get the Kindle edition.

mcgovern · 12-05-2011 11:53am

Antar Bolaeisk wrote: »

I was like you before I got a Kindle, a couple of hundred books on my shelf and I swore I would never touch an e-book. Now I doubt I'll ever get a real book again save to finish off the one or two collections I currently have going, and even then I'll still get the Kindle edition.

I've had admittedly limited experience with e-books, but my sister got a Sony e-Reader for Christmas, and I was tasked with setting it up, getting the books etc, and a few times since as well. Every book she's wanted cost more in ebook format than paperback? There is no physical medium that they've to pay for, no delivery, so I can't see why they are charging so much.

ixoy · 12-05-2011 2:24pm

mcgovern wrote: »

There is no physical medium that they've to pay for, no delivery, so I can't see why they are charging so much.

Don't know about the Sony, but for the Kindle I have an understanding of it. Publishers sell dead tree versions to Amazon at some price. Amazon then choose to sell it on at whatever price they want (which may include at a loss for certain titles).
For e-books though they apply an agency model - the publisher decides the price, of which Amazon get a cut. They don't control the asking price, merely what % they'll get off of each sale.
The difference in these sales approaches is what dictates it. It's quite possible for a publisher to make less money on an e-Book sale than a paperback sale even if the paperback is being sold at a lower price than the e-Book.

AnCapaillMor · 12-05-2011 2:44pm

The kindle has me baffled at times, i stopped getting the starwars book because they started coming out in hardback which obviously drove up the price and i always thought hardback was taking the piss on a book 2-300 pages long. Anyway got a pad there the other day; one of the main reasons was the kindle stores. anyways the s.war books are like 30 dollars on kindle almost twice the hardback price so screw that. could'nt get over it because a dance with dragons kindle was cheaper than the physical book.

BlaasForRafa · 12-05-2011 2:53pm

Antar Bolaeisk wrote: »

I was like you before I got a Kindle, a couple of hundred books on my shelf and I swore I would never touch an e-book. Now I doubt I'll ever get a real book again save to finish off the one or two collections I currently have going, and even then I'll still get the Kindle edition.

Well I'll not say that I'll never get a kindle or something similar because I like technology as much as the next bloke. However that being said I do try and buy music on vinyl where possible.....

12-05-2011 3:58pm

I was shocked recently to find Dubarys and Easons both with the new Wheel of time on shelves with a price tag of 23 euro. Happened to stop into the old Zhivago in Galway which is now a discount store and see the book onsale for 6 euro.

Price of fantasy and sci fi is ridiculous, it seems that many stores view it as a niche Market and as such believe that they can charge what they want. It's rather annoying to walk into Easons the day a new title is released and find it nearly double the price of online.

I also hate how most brick and mortar book shops insist on have sci fi and fantasy in the one section, drives me crazy.

ixoy · 12-05-2011 7:54pm

Deleted User wrote: »

I also hate how most brick and mortar book shops insist on have sci fi and fantasy in the one section, drives me crazy.

Well that was one thing "Waterstones" did right - they separated it out. Even worse is when they lump in "Paranormal romance". If you check out Amazon's top 100 sci-fi & fantasy it's full of Twilight and other supernatural romance guff.

12-05-2011 8:04pm

ixoy wrote: »

Well that was one thing "Waterstones" did right - they separated it out. Even worse is when they lump in "Paranormal romance". If you check out Amazon's top 100 sci-fi & fantasy it's full of Twilight and other supernatural romance guff.

Eason's do that all the time, it actually puts me off browsing shops that do that as I don't want to wade through a coupled hundred novels about emo vampires before I find something of interest.

nesf · 12-05-2011 9:45pm

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

The kindle has me baffled at times, i stopped getting the starwars book because they started coming out in hardback which obviously drove up the price and i always thought hardback was taking the piss on a book 2-300 pages long. Anyway got a pad there the other day; one of the main reasons was the kindle stores. anyways the s.war books are like 30 dollars on kindle almost twice the hardback price so screw that. could'nt get over it because a dance with dragons kindle was cheaper than the physical book.

Some books are priced weirdly high on the Kindle store, almost as if the publisher had to release an e-book version but deliberately didn't want to sell many copies or something. That said, for the most part books on the Kindle Store are decent bargains versus going into a brick and mortar store and buying a book.

lacase · 13-05-2011 12:06am

I have no problem with ebooks, but I have with their pricing policy. They have no real production cost and no distribution cost so what they are making is mostly profit. If they want to convert people to spend a lot of money to buy their ereaders they need to make ebook more competitive to cover the initial outlay and get people to buy then. Otherwise long term ebooks will end up as just another fad.

Antar Bolaeisk · 13-05-2011 9:32am

The actual printing of the book doesn't cost that much, it still needs to be edited and proofed before going to the Kindle so that adds a certain amount of cost, the publisher wants to get their cut (which is why Amazon published books are so cheap) and the writer has to get paid for their long toil in writing the book.

For a brand new book I would happily around ten euro for the Kindle edition (A Dance With Dragons was €8, definitely a bargain) but I do agree that charging the RRP for a hardback edition is not on.

macinalli · 13-05-2011 4:25pm

Saw this in an email & thought of this thread. Mrs Mills, the agony-aunt at The Sunday Times, had a interesting question last week:

Q: 'My girlfriend has just introduced me to a new verb, "to Waterstones", which means visiting a Waterstone's bookshop to peruse a book you are thinking of buying, before returning home and ordering the same book on Amazon at a discount. I am uncertain about the duplicity involved. Am I just being a wuss?' NS, Edinburgh.

A: No, but you are making a contribution to the collapse of the local high street, further undermining the local community, chipping away at the thin veneer of civilisation and, ultimately, creating a disaffected and alienated urban environment. Is it worth it for a half-price copy of Jodi Picoult?

lacase · 14-05-2011 3:17pm

Even better news on cost the Book Depositary website are offering 10% discount on all books until the end of the month. This is on top of their normal discounts. This reads like an ad, but I was just on there website and saw it. You have to remember to add May 11 in the discount coupon box at check out to get it. Anything that brings down the cost of Sci-Fi & Fantasy books has to be welcome. Time to stock up :-)

BlaasForRafa · 16-05-2011 2:18am

lacase wrote: »

Even better news on cost the Book Depositary website are offering 10% discount on all books until the end of the month. This is on top of their normal discounts. This reads like an ad, but I was just on there website and saw it. You have to remember to add May 11 in the discount coupon box at check out to get it. Anything that brings down the cost of Sci-Fi & Fantasy books has to be welcome. Time to stock up :-)

I got that email as well, its pretty deadly.

Also, I should have mentioned this before but bookdepository are affiliated with fatcheese.ie. this means that if you register with fatcheese and go to bookdepository site through the fatcheese link you get 4% cashback. ka-ching!

Black Sheep · 16-05-2011 11:11am

Regarding the collapse of high-street bookshops and 'Waterstones'-

Isn't there any irony there, that considering large chains like Waterstones punished independent booksellers in the U.K and put many out of business, and now they themselves are struggling in the face of online sellers?

I wonder if eventually the only brick and mortar bookshops will be Chapters-style stores doing overstocks, second hand and reduced cost books ... And everything else tending towards online sales?

pH · 16-05-2011 12:12pm

lacase wrote: »

I have no problem with ebooks, but I have with their pricing policy. They have no real production cost and no distribution cost so what they are making is mostly profit. If they want to convert people to spend a lot of money to buy their ereaders they need to make ebook more competitive to cover the initial outlay and get people to buy then. Otherwise long term ebooks will end up as just another fad.

I don't think it will be a fad, in the past I've read thousands of books on paper, love the feel, the smell - the bookcases full of my precious reads - and yet today I'm reading solely off a kindle.

As for pricing, the piracy of ebooks is now coming onstream, like music and films before them, the publishers seem to want to use DRM to make life worse for *their* customers, making a copy I pay for worse than something available for nothing. The current lending rules on amazon are a joke, and if what I buy cannot be resold second-hand, nor lent to my friends/family then it definitely has less value to me than a book in my hand. DRM-free music certainly hasn't meant itunes has to close down, I don't see why it can't be the same for ebooks.

I have no problem with the ebook market being like the games market - on release it has a premium price (like the old hardback) then after a while the price drops a bit - even though it's all just bits and bytes.

ixoy · 16-05-2011 1:42pm

pH wrote: »

As for pricing, the piracy of ebooks is now coming onstream, like music and films before them, the publishers seem to want to use DRM to make life worse for *their* customers, making a copy I pay for worse than something available for nothing. The current lending rules on amazon are a joke, and if what I buy cannot be resold second-hand, nor lent to my friends/family then it definitely has less value to me than a book in my hand.

If they're not careful then, they'll risk alienating the customers who will source other means to get the books where they'll end up paying significantly less. High prices, in excess of hardback prices, will certainly do this. "A Dance with Dragons" for the Kindle is a good example of eBook pricing done correctly, which others should follow.
Making books unavailable, due to territorial licensing issues, is another big issue that could put people off.
Yes there's reasons for both of them - I don't care, really I don't. Sort it out.

As for not being able to lend a book - it's not something I've generally done but I agree it should be possible (I mean you can also sell off your dead tree books).
People only have so much patience before they go elsewhere. It's not difficult to remove DRM on books so that you can share with family. And from there it's not difficult to share with a larger audience.

macinalli · 16-05-2011 7:25pm

Black Sheep wrote: »

I wonder if eventually the only brick and mortar bookshops will be Chapters-style stores doing overstocks, second hand and reduced cost books ... And everything else tending towards online sales?

I don't think it works that way. One of the reasons online is cheaper is that they're very lean and don't have lots of stock on standby to keep bricks & mortar shops in stock. If the big shops disappear, then so too do the overstocks, followed then by the Chapters style stores...

Surion · 21-06-2011 7:23am

Black Sheep wrote: »

Regarding the collapse of high-street bookshops and 'Waterstones'-

Isn't there any irony there, that considering large chains like Waterstones punished independent booksellers in the U.K and put many out of business, and now they themselves are struggling in the face of online sellers?

I wonder if eventually the only brick and mortar bookshops will be Chapters-style stores doing overstocks, second hand and reduced cost books ... And everything else tending towards online sales?

I buy virtually all books in Chapters. Eg, got the trudi caravan, Ambassadors Mission at 8.99. The hard back was 4.99 (didn't want the big size). Easons about 2 weeks ago were €18.99 or aomething like that, in there sale I've waited a few months after publication and picked up all recent fantasy stuff at bargain prices. It means waiting, but they have a fantasy type table, and I'm pretty chuffed with what I've bought off it.

MikeC101 · 21-06-2011 1:32pm

The bargain table in Chapters is impressive - I got books 1 and 3 of Joe Abercrombie's "The First Law" for 4.50 each on Saturday, had to buy book 2 for something like 10 euro, admittedly it may have been cheaper on book depository, but it's hard to beat being able to browse through books in an actual store and I don't mind paying a bit more to have them there and then.

Godge · 22-06-2011 3:07pm

A Dance with Dragons is £12.50 on amazon at the moment (€18.27 on books depositary)

AnCapaillMor · 22-06-2011 3:46pm

Ok a question for the kindle dudes, does anything show up for a preorder of a kindle book. i've gone through the process of ordering dance with dragons and have gotten no emails and nothing shows on my amazon account.

ixoy · 22-06-2011 7:12pm

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

Ok a question for the kindle dudes, does anything show up for a preorder of a kindle book. i've gone through the process of ordering dance with dragons and have gotten no emails and nothing shows on my amazon account.

Nope. I've got it on preorder too but can't find any mention of it. It was the same when I ordered Embassy town.

Johnny Storm · 22-06-2011 7:44pm

My profoundly profound thoughts:

bookDEPOSITory.co.uk is the biz. Great prices, free shipping. (I find books on Amazon then order them from the deposit boys)
I cant believe the price of books in Canada, Oz, NZ etc! I thought those were civilised countries (well Canada anyway...)?
I got a Kindle the Xmas before last and I sent it back due to the really piss poor selection of books available in Ireland (particularly SF). May be different now.

AnCapaillMor · 22-06-2011 10:25pm

Uhoh think I may have ordered it twice then.

anonymous_joe · 23-06-2011 11:26pm

Johnny Storm wrote: »

My profoundly profound thoughts:
bookDEPOSITory.co.uk is the biz. Great prices, free shipping. (I find books on Amazon then order them from the deposit boys)

I cant believe the price of books in Canada, Oz, NZ etc! I thought those were civilised countries (well Canada anyway...)?

I got a Kindle the Xmas before last and I sent it back due to the really piss poor selection of books available in Ireland (particularly SF). May be different now.

Sure Amazon itself is incredibly cheap compared to the prices in the shops here.

I'm amazed Waterstones had any custom at all with those prices, even if I do miss the shop.

ixoy · 24-06-2011 7:17pm

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

Uhoh think I may have ordered it twice then.

Nope - I was wrong. It's listed under "Digital Orders" in your Amazon a/c. I just checked.

Johnny Storm wrote:

I got a Kindle the Xmas before last and I sent it back due to the really piss poor selection of books available in Ireland (particularly SF). May be different now.

No there's still far too many unavailable. People will end up getting them on their Kindle in some way...

Manach · 24-06-2011 7:37pm

I'm a kindle using since year's start. It would be a 1:2 split between ebooks and paper; rather traditionist + there is sometime very tactile about handling a book. Apart from one discounted book at Easons (Desert Spear), I've completed avoid it relying instead on my local bookshop, Waterstones 3 for 2, but mostly bookdepository.

Price of Sci Fi & Fantasy Books

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