Quote:
Originally Posted by Solicitous
Going back to the Kobo it appears only Borders US have them for $99, Australia they are still $179AUD (given dollar par we are paying an almost 100% premium).
I might sound like a poor Aussie but Amazon sell the Kindle for $139 regardless of where you live and other than the UK don't offer local sale (ie: must buy from the US and have an internationally warranty). Kobo and Jetbooks are available both locally in Aus or internationally from the US at completely different prices (and I assume if I bought either from the US I wouldn't be able to in the event of a warranty claim send it to a local store).
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Borders Australia is a separate company from Borders US, so I suspect that until there is serious competition from another store selling e-ink readers they will have no incentive to lower the price. A&R are owned by the same people - REDGroup - as Borders AU, which is why they are selling the same devices. Dymocks, are you listening? Most people still prefer to buy in person rather than online, especially for something they are unfamiliar with or if they think they might want local service.
It has actually improved since Borders/A&R brought the Kobo and Sony to Australia. When I bought my Sony in May, I paid USD149. The exact same model was retailing at a specialist store for about AUD485. The exchange rate at the time was about 1AUD=0.90USD. Last time I looked the Sony Pocket was AUD229 compared to USD129, which still isn't good, but it's better than before.