"I have a feeling the price differential is, well, slightly exaggerated."
"E.g. Eat, Pray, Love = $7 new at Amazon, Mange, Prie, Aime is $9 at Amazon.fr."
Does that $9 include the 19% VATS? Still not too bad. If you buy a lot of books it might add up. It wouldn't for me anyway. I buy few "big sellers".
Although I have a few "old" science fiction books, one of of the oldest that I bought new was "The Ship That Sailed the Time Stream" by G. C. Edmondson. By today’s standards this is no great work of literature. But in 1965 it was a Nebula Award nominee for best novel. The price on the cover is 75 cents.
Taking a quick Google search for
amazon "nebula award nominee", I see the name of an author that I have enjoyed before: Robert Silverberg. That book
Sailing To Byzantium isgoing for $9.94. That might be a more accurate comparison.
No reason to go on, but you do realize that most people use
as a joke and not a real indicator of shock?