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Price of Books at Chapters Compared to Online Price - REVISI

PostPosted: Sun Oct 03, 2010 9:04 pm
by johnrogers
Very,very interesting.Just got back from a trip to Victoria BC and stopped in to a Chapters Bookstore.Was looking at the price of Conn Igglidons Conqueror Series about Gengius Khan.Three books in the series at the bookstore they were priced at about $18.00 per book,canadian ( which I thought was pretty expensive ) Howerver just got home and went online to see how much they were and they averaged about $9.00 per book delivered to your front door as long as your minimum purchase is $39.00 - Quite a price difference between store and online purchase for the same paperback novel.The other thing I noticed today was the price of books online vary week to week,the same as the retail outlet.For example 3 books I was looking at online last week are $3.75 more this week,so that is something to contemplate,the Internet shopping experience is based on the same premisus as retail store shopping.And of course the internet eshop as sales on at certain times.Very interesting - I like shopping online a lot - but keep your eyes peeled for when you do find that incredible bargain that is what the internet is famous for,and why we all like it so much.

Re: Price of Books at Chapters Compared to Online Price

PostPosted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 9:08 pm
by Nefer
Yeah! That really pisses me off! I'm the kind of person who likes to walk into a bookstore and buy a book - not go online and find one. Really annoying. Plus HST and all - makes my hobby more expensive than it used to be.

Nowadays I only buy books instore when I know I'll be purchasing less than $39. Sad, very sad.

Re: Price of Books at Chapters Compared to Online Price

PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 3:08 am
by E-Hoog
These things are indeed strange. Here in the Netherlands, for example, you can buy a book online at http://www.bol.com or on the German equivalent http://www.bol.de. Most of the time, the German site is at least 30% cheaper. Madness really.

Re: Price of Books at Chapters Compared to Online Price

PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 12:07 pm
by johnrogers
By no means am I an overley thrifty person but I do not like getting gouged.As well I do not mean to start a rucus or am putting down Chapters.Chapters bookstores are the mega chain of bookstores in Canada,they are beautiful and large stores,more like a warehouse,but decorated in beautiful decor,and usually have a built in Starbucks in the store as well.They are usually crowded with booklovers and it is a joy to roam the Isles,and check out there books.When I was in the store they had a beautiful dispaly of The Conqueror Series.The prices seemed very,very,high but I figured out why.Being that there is a new release of Conns new book Empire of Silver,and I am sure the interest level is at its peak - they marked up the prices of his series as a marketing ploy.Thats ok - thats the way things work.However the very same Conn Iggulden paperback Conqueror series were priced at Chapters $17.44 instore - $9.49 Chapters online ( same book ) - and $6.72 ebook at amazon.

Re: Price of Books at Chapters Compared to Online Price

PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 12:45 pm
by Matbow
Whilst infuriating, it is understandable why book store books are more expense. Put simply - a store costs more to run and that cost will be allocated to each book. A store will have to pay rent, wages and all the other overheads from owning a physical property, whereas an online store will only have to pay for the website/associated IT costs, the warehouse and will have a lot less staffing requirements.

As for why Chapters online Versus a physical chapters costs less - (assuming they operate in the same way as some companies I am familiar with) these two elements of the same company will be treated as separate entities for accounting purposes and will essentially treated as different businesses (with different costs) hence why they charge difference prices.

I would love to see the profit margins of Chapters online business versus Chapters physical store business... I imagine they may be similar or even the physical store makes less...

Re: Price of Books at Chapters Compared to Online Price

PostPosted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 1:43 pm
by johnrogers
Matbow wrote:Whilst infuriating, it is understandable why book store books are more expense. Put simply - a store costs more to run and that cost will be allocated to each book. A store will have to pay rent, wages and all the other overheads from owning a physical property, whereas an online store will only have to pay for the website/associated IT costs, the warehouse and will have a lot less staffing requirements.

As for why Chapters online Versus a physical chapters costs less - (assuming they operate in the same way as some companies I am familiar with) these two elements of the same company will be treated as separate entities for accounting purposes and will essentially treated as different businesses (with different costs) hence why they charge difference prices.

I would love to see the profit margins of Chapters online business versus Chapters physical store business... I imagine they may be similar or even the physical store makes less...
Yes,Matbow I totally agree with your viewpoint,and agree the profit margins between store and online are virtually the same.The cost of doing business is huge.One thing I will say is there retail stores are things of beauty,architecture is beautiful,and instore mechandiseing displays are more like hollywood movie sets.By the way I did make a purchase while I was there - The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson - I read the first one The Girl with The Golden Tattoo and enjoyed it a lot