I got an email about a new online tool for price comparisons. A Froogle for the book biz, it seems.
Here’s the price comparison for James’s book. It looks like it’s a better tool if you live in the US. I don’t see Indigo.ca in the list of retailers, and the majority of the other listings are American based.
A number of studies about the publishing industry indicate that price is a major factor in book buying behaviour. The deep discounts provided by stores like Amazon and Indigo have created a consumer expectation for hardcover books that are under $40, often under $30.
The sad thing is that for the domestic publishing industry, who can’t print huge numbers to bring down the unit cost, consumer expectation is out of line with the actual production costs the publisher incurs to print and distribute the book. The margins in publishing are extremely low so I understand wanting to shop around and get a good price on a book, but I also want to support local stores, and independent stores often charge the full price. I’d rather pay the list price and support a local store than price shop and buy from an American giant.
And if you’re American, where are the independents in this BookPrice list? Where’s Powell’s?