I'm not kidding.
For example, here a copy of Garry Kasparov's My Great Predecessors costs A$65.95 (and this is a discounted online price) from Borders Australia while Book Depository UK (yes, the UK) sells it for A$31.70 (including shipping).
That is more than halve the price of what is essentially for the same book.As much as I would like to support the local book retailers here, such a high markup makes reading close to unaffordable if you're an avid reader like me. This is why I turn towards my local libraries for books.
This is because Australia has a ridiculous parallel importation restriction on books. A report last year by the Productivity Commission found that in general, books here are currently 27 per cent more expensive than in the US and 13 per cent more expensive than in Britain.
Wow! Those prices are ridiculous! I feel sorry for you.
ReplyDeleteWhen demand is high.. cost increase.. it mean Aussies really like reading books.
ReplyDeleteCMoB: I think I've pretty much just shrugged it off these days that books will continue to be expensive.
ReplyDeleteKuldhir: The demand for reading has always been high in many modern societies and that incldues Australia.
What really puts me off are the lengths Aussies go through just to get reasonably priced books. We're not asking for the moon, we just want to be treated fairly.
Thanks for all your comments. :)