E-book stores in the UK

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by Halk

I was surprised at the prices at whsmiths, I expected them to be a lot higher. The American stores are still noticably cheaper, but not hugely so.

When you filter in the current dollar / (scottish) pound exchange rate - the US shops are significantly cheaper than the WHSmith prices. Alos, of course, there are no 'added' costs such as p&p - certainly makes any UK store less likely to be able to commercially compete at the moment...

[astra]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

one of the books i was looking at is 6.92$ in adobe format, 7.24$ for LIT, and 12.97$ for mobi !!! for the same book !! why ???

When I was buying my digi camera I could buy it for £1120 at Jessops, £1250 on another website and £1450 yet on another. The same kit. Why?

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by astra

When I was buying my digi camera I could buy it for £1120 at Jessops, £1250 on another website and £1450 yet on another. The same kit. Why?

well, also a completely valid question, but these were the same book, on the same site, only in a different format. far more inexplicable, to me.

[astra]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

well, also a completely valid question, but these were the same book, on the same site, only in a different format. far more inexplicable, to me.

Oops. I am sorry. I missed this point (the same site).
My apologizes.

[zelda_pinwheel]

no worries !

[Halk]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

When you filter in the current dollar / (scottish) pound exchange rate - the US shops are significantly cheaper than the WHSmith prices. Alos, of course, there are no 'added' costs such as p&p - certainly makes any UK store less likely to be able to commercially compete at the moment...

I'm not sure I agree... looking at Fictionwise compared to WHSmiths the prices are the same before rebate for the (limited) number of prices I checked. Didn't check a load, and I don't have time now, back to the Cup Final on the telly!

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

well, also a completely valid question, but these were the same book, on the same site, only in a different format. far more inexplicable, to me.

this kind of thing happens because the books in the different formats are posted at different times and were priced independently. Generally sending an email to the dealer will get this kind of thing fixed. Over time the price of a book changes but some sites do not update their databases in a timely fashion.

Dale

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

this kind of thing happens because the books in the different formats are posted at different times and were priced independently. Generally sending an email to the dealer will get this kind of thing fixed. Over time the price of a book changes but some sites do not update their databases in a timely fashion.

Dale

so there might in fact be a rational explanation ; thanks for the info. i remember some books were only available in one or two formats, not all ; this makes it seem even more plausible.

i still find it rather surprising ; on this site (diesel books), at least among the books i looked at, the different format / different prices were the *rule* rather than the exception (although it was not always double ; usually it was a fairly small difference), including for books which specified "price just reduced from XX$ !". i was intending to buy LIT format but some of the books i wanted were much more expensive in LIT than mobi for example, so i began to hesitate. i will definitely send an email to ask whether the prices will be aligned.

[GeoffC]

Well,

I looked at a list of some 25 books , comparing prices across 5 e-shops . The dearest $ was Fictionwise ( 'cause I added in one year's club - that came out at somewhere around $160 .
That figure was only dearer by $10-20 to the others - but didn't take into account any of the micropay discounts - so my figures will be somewhat skewed .

Of those 25 books , WHSmith had only 18 , but the cost came to £150 .

Go figure !

Luckily with e-books there is no p&p, no international custom 'extras'.

All "we" need to do is pick the correct day for the best currency rates ( but I bet there'll be a 'banker's' delay which will upset those plans !! )

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

Luckily with e-books there is no p&p, no international custom 'extras'.

Depending on where you buy it, however, you may be charged VAT.

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Depending on where you buy it, however, you may be charged VAT.

um ,
not had that ' problem ' with art dvds I've bought from the US .

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

um ,
not had that ' problem ' with art dvds I've bought from the US .

Generally speaking, small packages sent through the normal post will avoid VAT, but things sent via a Courier will always get "hit" for it.

Anyone who runs a web site in the EU has, by law, to charge the appropriate VAT to any customer in the EU. For example if you buy a book from the MobiPocket web site in France, you'll get charged the French VAT rate of 19.6%. Books are "zero rated" for VAT in the UK, but not in France.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Anyone who runs a web site in the EU has, by law, to charge the appropriate VAT to any customer in the EU. For example if you buy a book from the MobiPocket web site in France, you'll get charged the French VAT rate of 19.6%. Books are "zero rated" for VAT in the UK, but not in France.

You claimed that before and I told you it was wrong. It is still wrong. Amazon UK for example charges the Swedish VAT when I buy books from them. If you sell above a certain amount to a country you have to us the VAT of the country you are selling to.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by tompe

You claimed that before and I told you it was wrong. It is still wrong. Amazon UK for example charges the Swedish VAT when I buy books from them. If you sell above a certain amount to a country you have to us the VAT of the country you are selling to.

No, Tommy, as a general rule it's correct. There are very few bookstores who are sufficiently large companies to fall under that particular law - Amazon is probably the only one. I operate a VAT-registered company myself, so I am aware of the rules.

MobiPocket, for example, are probably the largest eBook store in the EU, and they charge all EU customers the French rate of VAT.

[GeoffC]

Which , therefore , makes the US a more economical source for e-books ?