Waterstones - Clinton book price

alleepally

So I headed into closest bookshop today to buy Bill Clintons book. Whooopee, I see a €6 off sticker on it. Open cover and look at the base price and it's €37.35, so the price would be €31.35.

Easons have it for €30, no gimmicky €6 off stickers or anything like that.

Waterstones have to be taking the piss. I didn't have time to talk to a manager, but I'll be going back tomorrow and asking why their basic price is €37.35 and Eason's is €30. I'd have thought Waterstones buying power was bigger than Easons.

sceptre

Hmm, indeed.

Of course Amazon have it for £15 (plus postage obviously), though they've a gimmicky 40% off sticker on the page:)

eth0_

I always buy books in Hodges Figgis (or Amazon, if I can wait), they're probably slightly more expensive than Easons, but Easons have such a RUBBISH selection of books it's laughable! And hodges figgis is so much more homely and comfortable, you don't feel like someone is going to throw you out for browsing through the books like you do in Easons.

Mr E

Heard on the radio this morning that Reids on Nassau Street have it for €21.

eth0_

Originally posted by TmB
Heard on the radio this morning that Reids on Nassau Street have it for €21.

I'll never shop there because of their appalling radio adverts :-)

Ripwave

Originally posted by eth0_
I always buy books in Hodges Figgis (or Amazon, if I can wait), they're probably slightly more expensive than Easons, but Easons have such a RUBBISH selection of books it's laughable! And hodges figgis is so much more homely and comfortable, you don't feel like someone is going to throw you out for browsing through the books like you do in Easons.

H&F have gone to the dogs altogether since they were bought by Waterstones.

eclectichoney

the actual euro conversion of the sterling price is approx. €37, so that is the official rrp i suppose, but most shops always get it in at a special price for such a big selling book, and so can knock the price down to €30 or thereabouts.

alleepally

Originally posted by eclectichoney
the actual euro conversion of the sterling price is approx. €37, so that is the official rrp i suppose, but most shops always get it in at a special price for such a big selling book, and so can knock the price down to €30 or thereabouts.

Yeah, I just noticed that as well. I'd love to know what Waterstones in England, Scotland and Wales are charging though. Such big buying power would mean they could charge a lot less.

alleepally

I'll answer my own question - they have it for sale for £21 (£4 off sticker), so amazingly, we're being charged exactly the same as customers in England etc.

parsi

Originally posted by alleepally
So I headed into closest bookshop today to buy Bill Clintons book. Whooopee, I see a €6 off sticker on it. Open cover and look at the base price and it's €37.35, so the price would be €31.35.

Easons have it for €30, no gimmicky €6 off stickers or anything like that.

Waterstones have to be taking the piss. I didn't have time to talk to a manager, but I'll be going back tomorrow and asking why their basic price is €37.35 and Eason's is €30. I'd have thought Waterstones buying power was bigger than Easons.

This isn't a rip-off - this is competition in action. Reads here in Cork have some books cheaper than Easons/Waterstones, the other two have differing 3-for-2 offers. Its all about shopping round really.

A ripoff is where you have to play an inflated price for a good or service that no-one else is offering - how can it really be a ripoff if you can get it cheaper in a shop that's close at hand (i.e. without scouring the ends of the earth..)

oneweb

There was a similar situation around when the most recent Harry Potter book came out. Just out of the blue we checked the price along Nassau Street - there was a massive difference between Reads, Easons and Hodges Figgis - around €10, for the EXACT same book!

Johnny Versace

OK, maybe I can clear this up.

I work in a bookshop and the reason Clinton's book in some places is EUR30 is because the publishers have made deals with the bookshops. The correct price for the book is actually 37.50.

This is the same for all books. The publishers control the 3 for 2 deals, and then special offer prices.

It is not controlled by the bookshops.

Also, the books in the 3 for 2 deals are NOT the crap. They are normally excellent books (just so you know...)

So technically, this is not a rip-off situation.

alleepally

Originally posted by parsi
This isn't a rip-off - this is competition in action. Reads here in Cork have some books cheaper than Easons/Waterstones, the other two have differing 3-for-2 offers. Its all about shopping round really.

A ripoff is where you have to play an inflated price for a good or service that no-one else is offering - how can it really be a ripoff if you can get it cheaper in a shop that's close at hand (i.e. without scouring the ends of the earth..)

Ah, right. I had ripoff Ireland all wrong. THe media must be brainwashing me about the cost of living in Ireland.. shucks, silly me...

parsi

Originally posted by alleepally
Ah, right. I had ripoff Ireland all wrong. THe media must be brainwashing me about the cost of living in Ireland.. shucks, silly me...

So being able to get a book in one shop at a heavy discount is a rip-off ? Another poster pointed out that the book was the same price in Waterstones Uk & Ireland - is that a ripoff ?

Why is every price issue labelled a ripoff ? Booking fees for concert tickets are ripoffs - you can't avoid them - the recent Chili Pepper concert had a 12.5% charge for internet bookings or 2.50 per ticket bought from agents - now that's a ripoff because you just cannot avoid it by shopping around.

Wine is a ripoff - mainly because of higher duties than anywhere else though it can be found cheaper , beer is usually dear but sometimes you can get the cheap offers by shopping around.

Eircon is a ripoff because we can't shop around for line rental. Eircon broadband is dear but we can get it cheaper with IOL / UTV so its not a ripoff..

There has to be a variation in prices - soemtimes we can shop around easily and find cheaper and in fairness shopping for books lends itself to browsing.

alleepally

Yes. I consider €7 price differential to be a ripoff.

As to the question "why is every price issue labelled a ripoff".. The answer is simple. We're living in the most expensive state in the EU (look at a previous post highlighting a news article in the Examiner). Therfore, is this forum not supposed to highlight these price differentials?

dub45

In fairness to Easons - the Dawson St branch have a special offer every fortnight where they sell a hardback which is pretty popular for 50% of the full price. No other shop matches that as far as I know so its worth keeping an eye on them. Also Eason's in O'Connell St keep a vast stock of books - they have a branch of Tower and a decent coffee shop thats not bad to be going on with:)

parsi

Originally posted by alleepally
Yes. I consider €7 price differential to be a ripoff.

As to the question "why is every price issue labelled a ripoff".. The answer is simple. We're living in the most expensive state in the EU (look at a previous post highlighting a news article in the Examiner). Therfore, is this forum not supposed to highlight these price differentials?

The whole ripoff thing is really to show how much more we are paying than people in other countries for the same items eg Lavazzo 4x250g Coffee in France is around eur4 but 250g alone here is around eur3 -

Really your post should be in "Bargain Alerts" telling us that Easons are fierce cheap (honest, and anyway is the book any good ?)

alleepally

Originally posted by parsi
(honest, and anyway is the book any good ?) [/B]

Haven't had a chance to start it yet unfortunately.

Also, You're right when I think about it again - shoulda posted this in the Bargain forum.

parsi

Originally posted by alleepally
Haven't had a chance to start it yet unfortunately.

Also, You're right when I think about it again - shoulda posted this in the Bargain forum.

ah no I was wrong - we can't have people agreeing with each other on boards , it's just not natural..

eth0_

The Clinton book is only €25 in the Wise Owl book shop in Drogheda :->

dub45

That's quite a nice shop deserves lots of support.

Typedef

Err, I'm a nice guy.

How's about supporting my bank balance?

It's for a good cause, I like to call, err, whing, dining, sixty...

dub45

Originally posted by Typedef
Err, I'm a nice guy.

How's about supporting my bank balance?

It's for a good cause, I like to call, err, whing, dining, sixty...

Nice guys dont post the equivalent of begging letters!

For a local bookshop they try to keep a good stock and are imaginative in their displays.

parsi

sorry..couldn't resist.. had to...

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=172960

thediceman

alleepally wrote: »

So I headed into closest bookshop today to buy Bill Clintons book. Whooopee, I see a €6 off sticker on it. Open cover and look at the base price and it's €37.35, so the price would be €31.35.

Easons have it for €30, no gimmicky €6 off stickers or anything like that.

Waterstones have to be taking the piss. I didn't have time to talk to a manager, but I'll be going back tomorrow and asking why their basic price is €37.35 and Eason's is €30. I'd have thought Waterstones buying power was bigger than Easons.

Eason’s hold a monopoly in Ireland, they are also a wholesaler, all Trade paperbacks come from them as do most books in this country, therefore Waterstone’s Ireland must buy their books from Eason warehouse, whereas Eason can save buy not having to buy wholesale. Waterstone's booksellers have more passion for books and are far more helpful, Eason is a newsagent that happens to sell books, essentially. You also get what you pay for, in Waterstone's, they will go out of their way to help you, and Eason won't in my experience.

CH3OH

This has to be a record. The thread is 4 years old!!!

I think I hear a lock closing!