There is frequent discussion as to the price of E-books on this forums and how expensive they are. Tonight I purchased the e-book version of Stephen King's latest book. It cost me $11.00 AUD. Below are the AUD prices of the paper versiosn. These are the usual prices although you can at times find Trade Paperbacks for around $20 AUD.

Duma Key Stephen King Trade paperback $35.00
Duma Key Stephen King Hardcover book $59.99

Woa! What are they making books of down under? Dropbear hide?

The paper book prices seem kind of excessive to me. As in, they should be cheaper by at least about a third or so.

Woa! What are they making books of down under? Dropbear hide?

The paper book prices seem kind of excessive to me. As in, they should be cheaper by at least about a third or so.

I'd guess it's because Australia is a country with a small population, a long way away from the places where the books are actually printed. It's probably pretty expensive to ship books there, and that cost gets passed on to the customer.

Hmm, 21 million people isn't that small, but the shipping might very well be a factor. AFAIK, Australia mainly gets the British editions, so how does this compare to the prices in the UKoGBaNI?

Hmm, 21 million people isn't that small, but the shipping might very well be a factor. AFAIK, Australia mainly gets the British editions, so how does this compare to the prices in the UKoGBaNI?

It's a LOT more expensive. Amazon UK are selling the hardback of "Duma Key" for £9.49, which is A$20.11 at today's exchange rate. That's about a third of the price the original poster quoted. Even at the UK list price of £18.99 it's still only two thirds the A$ price.

Australian pricing is still is "slowly moving to match the currency" mode - the south pacific peso used to be about two to the $US and three to the pound, but that's no longer even close. Pricing is often still set on that basis though, leading to a lot of grey market imports. It's common for Australians to buy stuff via eBay or whatever direct from the manufacturer or closest English language distributor - I play with cameras a bit and a huge number of people buy stuff over the net from Hong Kong because it's ~20% cheaper even though camera prices in Australia have dropped dramatically in the last few years.

One example: I can buy the Oxford English Dictionary on CD for $AUS750 locally or for #250 in the UK. 250 quid is about $AUS550... I believe the CDs are carried from Britain by naked Nubian slaves riding bicycles.

I believe the CDs are carried from Britain by naked Nubian slaves riding bicycles.Sorry, mate, you're quite wrong there. They're not naked at all, and I hear a couple have even been issued with mopeds.

:offtopic: I know.

Back on it, I think Australia and indeed the whole of the former British Empire (except ?Canada) form a traditional sales territory for UK publishers. The shipping costs can't be all that much. I suspect there's a bit of profiteering going on.

Moz, I buy a lot of my photographic gear from B&H in New York, substantial savings even after import fees if they are applicable. Just bought a lens with a $400 saving and was here within a week. www.lightforceimages.com is where my images reside. As for books, I buy a lot of non fiction items from Amazon, but when it comes to fiction, I tend to have an "I want it now" attitude so end up paying more, or at least I did until the advent of e-books at a fraction of the cost of the paper versions.

Shipping costs from the US east coast to Australia/New Zealand/ Pacific Rim are significantly cheaper than shipping to Europe via the US Post Office. I ship a lot all over the world and I'm always amazed at how the costs vary.