Gouging Canadian book buyers

[CHIMO]

Those few book-reading Canadians who have not bought a copy of The Da Vinci Code can expect to pay $10.99 for the paperback, rather than the $7.99 (U.S.) asked of American customers. Before exchange and taxes, that is a face-value premium of 38 per cent. The audio version costs $44.95 — or 50 per cent more, before exchange and taxes, than the $29.95 (U.S.) price tag.

Those taxes, before the imminent GST reduction of 1 per cent, amount to 15 per cent in Quebec. No American pays as much tax.

It is apparent to everyone who buys U.S. publications that the Canadian price represents something close to theft in the era of the 90-cent dollar.

Major booksellers have taken to posting explanations in their stores. Prices are set by publishers according to a 12-month cycle, they say. But if retailers are paying inflated wholesale prices and passing on the hardship to the consumer, they are no less complicit.

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[Hand]

1. Excellent--another reason to avoid the damn thing. nt

[tuvor]

2. I buy most of my books for my Palm, through ereader.com

(A US company, of course.)

There's a membership discount of (I think) 10%, and the charge in Canadian dollars is based on the exchange rate.

I've got some 30 - 40 unabridged books through them like Lying Liars, A Short History of Nearly Everything, Dude Where's My Country?, The Price of Loyalty, a Meriam-Webster dictionary, blah, blah, blah...all taking up fewer than 40 MB.

I guess the downside is that no Canadian bookseller is getting any of the benefit of this new efficiency.

[elare]

3. I got my copy for $5

Zeller's had them on for that price one week (or one weekend ... I can't remember which)

[tuvor]

4. Zellers and Superstore always discount from the pub. price. n/t