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Price of Sci Fi & Fantasy Books

  • 07-05-2011 11:17pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 81 ✭✭lacase


    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.
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Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 3,091 ✭✭✭Antar Bolaeisk


    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.


  • Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 17,976 Mod ✭✭✭✭ixoy


    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.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,780 ✭✭✭sentient_6


    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.


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,326 ✭✭✭Zapp Brannigan


    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.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,020 ✭✭✭BlaasForRafa


    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.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 385 ✭✭Macca3000


    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 :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 81 ✭✭lacase


    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!


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,920 ✭✭✭AnCapaillMor


    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.


  • Registered Users Posts: 255 ✭✭Dortilolma


    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%.


  • Registered Users Posts: 24,123 ✭✭✭✭Sleepy


    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!


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  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 3,001 Mod ✭✭✭✭Black Sheep


    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.


  • Registered Users Posts: 81 ✭✭lacase


    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.


  • Registered Users Posts: 27,645 ✭✭✭✭nesf


    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.


  • Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 17,976 Mod ✭✭✭✭ixoy


    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.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,020 ✭✭✭BlaasForRafa


    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? :p

    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.


  • Registered Users Posts: 385 ✭✭Macca3000


    7? is that all? :p

    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.


  • Registered Users Posts: 24,123 ✭✭✭✭Sleepy


    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?


  • Registered Users Posts: 27,645 ✭✭✭✭nesf


    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.


  • Registered Users Posts: 81 ✭✭lacase


    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.




  • Registered Users Posts: 385 ✭✭Macca3000


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


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,300 ✭✭✭CiaranC


    7? is that all? :p

    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. :)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,300 ✭✭✭CiaranC


    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


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,091 ✭✭✭Antar Bolaeisk


    7? is that all? :p

    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.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,267 ✭✭✭mcgovern


    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.


  • Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 17,976 Mod ✭✭✭✭ixoy


    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.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,920 ✭✭✭AnCapaillMor


    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.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,020 ✭✭✭BlaasForRafa


    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.....


  • Posts: 15,814 ✭✭✭✭ Lyla Mealy Mayonnaise


    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.


  • Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 17,976 Mod ✭✭✭✭ixoy


    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.


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  • Posts: 15,814 ✭✭✭✭ Lyla Mealy Mayonnaise


    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.


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