Over the weekend, I bought five new hardcover books plus series 1-5 of The Wire plus series 5 of Boston Legal from an English web retailer. These items came to a mere £86 (about $140). The most expensive item was The Wire, which cost £39.
I took a look at Dymocks bestseller list and I did a comparison with Amazon.co.uk (I have converted the figures to Australian dollars)
- Vampire Academy 06 Last Sacrifice (No. 1 on Dymocks bestseller list) - $19.95 (Dymocks), $11.80 (Amazon)
- Life by Keith Richards (No 2. on Dymocks bestseller list) - $49.99 (Dymocks), $12.80 (Amazon)
- The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry (No 3. on Dymocks bestseller list) - $39.95 (Dymocks), $12.45 (Amazon)
Even when including postage, purchases are substantially cheaper.
In Australia, I've given up purchasing books or DVDs from my local store. With services such as The Book Depository and Amazon, it became apparent that I could order from overseas (without paying postage in many cases) and I would still be saving.
Why does Australia have one of the least competitive publishing markets in the world?
In the early-2000s, the Howard Government removed 'parallel import' restrictions on CDs and many other products. 'Parallel imports' refer to the imports of genuine products at a lower price which are produced overseas without the permission of the intellectual property producer. The effect in the CD market was to push prices downwards (Have a look at Peter Costello's article on the issue and The Age on the parallel importation of liquor).
The prohibition on parallel imports still applies to books. The Productivity Commission recommended that parallel import restrictions be removed from books. Typically, this has not happened yet because Labor/Greens refuses to support legislation removing restrictions. If you want to read more, Tim Wilson at the IPA wrote a paper on this topic several years ago.
(JS)
I'm glad someone's commenting on this. I generally buy from bookdepository and other sites as I can get books for far cheaper. These restrictions are kneecapping Aussie retailers and making it so hard for booksellers to stay in the black.
Solid article!
Posted by: Dan Nolan | January 31, 2011 at 11:06 PM
I just go download the PDF's.
I stopped buying books when i was in 3rd year.
I like being able to ctrl+F
Posted by: Vikas Nayak | January 31, 2011 at 11:19 PM
One comment: it is not quite "without the permission of the intellectual property producer."
They are genuine products from publishers who do have the permission in those other countries.
Posted by: Riet | February 1, 2011 at 12:05 AM
I didn't think it actually had anything to do with permission from the intellectual property owners, but rather if any Australian printing house is thinking about maybe printing the book in the future it's illegal to import the book from overseas printing houses. Either way it's a bad law and should be removed.
Posted by: TimP | February 1, 2011 at 09:42 AM
I understood the IP owner doesn't give permission for the item to be sold in a particular jurisdiction but it is still sold in the relevant jurisdiction. In this respect, the key (free market) criticism of parallel import rules is that it prevents property holders deciding the price of their product. As you say, either way, its a bad law
Posted by: JS | February 1, 2011 at 10:12 AM
I bought Stargate Seasons 1-10 on Amazon for $90US. Cost here on JBHIFI online $360
I bought myself a Kindle and buy books effortlessly via Amazon. Mind you, Amazon block some books because I’m in Australia but when I’m in HK easy peasy to download.
But you know what really annoys me – is how the networks here hold back the TV shows.
I have recently download Season 9 of Spooks (ABC only just finished season 8) and I have so far seen 15 episodes on the new Hawaii Five 0. I suppose that’s the only real use I’ll get from the NBN?
Posted by: Andy | February 1, 2011 at 04:19 PM