The price of books in New Zealand was also notoriously high last I was there (about a year ago). When I got back to Canada and went for my first bookstore outing I almost fell over when I realized oh yeah, books are only $10 here (paperback)!
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Raymond E. Feist Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 6:36 PM To: feistfans-l Subject: Re: Digital Publishing On Nov 22, 2011, at 3:18 PM, Nick Andrews wrote: > That's why we felt like we were getting screwed here in these USA. A > product which cost less than $3 to manufacture, a few $ to license > content and then retail markup. At $20 or more for a CD, that's a > 200% profit for the store if it's a big chain. Smaller stores got > lesser discounts, so maybe were only marking up 100%. I was listed as > a retailer for a few years with my resale tax license in NM and bought > cds from smaller labels at wholesale for myself and friends in the > early 90s. Why would I go to Musicland and pay $22 when I could get it > for $9 at my smaller discount? Even cd covers are not nearly as cool > as old LPs. BOCs Fire of Unknown Origin is one of the coolest album > covers of all time. You've just described just about every non-perishable product sold in the last 30-40 years. WhenI was a kid there was something called "fair trade laws," which were statutes that said certain products could not be discounted. There was something called the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price, the MSRP. For example, if the MSRP for a model airplane was 99 cents (which it was when I was a kid) a big toy/hobby store getting a deeper discount from Revell couldn't lower the price to 95 cents. Likewise, all liquor was identically priced, so you went to the closets store to grab a bottle of scotch. When the FTLs were repealed in the 1970s here in California, the first to benefit were the big, deep discounters like Sears, White Front (since defunct), Builders Emporium (since defunct), May Company (now Macy's), etc. By the time CDs rolled around it was 100% market driven. I don't know if the Australian enquiry found price fixing (in which all the companies agree in private to hold prices high), but if they didn't, it was merely market forces at play. I know from going to Oz 30 years ago that small population and vast distance put the price of books through the roof compared to what we paid in the US. Best, R.E.F. ---- www.crydee.com Never attribute to malice what can satisfactorily be explained away by stupidity. ________________________________ This e-mail communication, including all attachments, may contain private, proprietary, privileged and/or confidential information and is intended only for the person to whom it is addressed. Any unauthorized use, copying or distribution of the contents of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, and have received it in error, please delete it and notify the sender immediately.
