This dramatic change in the nature of the publishing industry is sure making for a rough ride! Price differences seen on the internet have frustrated me too.
I have bought most of my ebooks from Whitcoulls so far because for the books I have wanted the prices have been not that high. And it is only recently that companies like Kobo and TheBookDepository have started trading in New Zealand Dollars. (Buying in USD with a NZ credit card does incur foreign exchange fees, which for a small value purchase like a book is a put off).
There is a part of me that does want to support a NZ bookstore chain like Whitcoulls for fear that they might be practically wiped out by the global market, and I am not sure if I would like that.
But at the same time the internet is effectively a single global market and regional price differences for digital content just make all customers, myself included, very grumpy. That won't change. If I wanted to by the Jobs biography I would be very reluctant to pay NZD 49.99 for it. I will only support a local business if it doesn't cost me too much, and by too much I mean very little extra!
But I thought the following article in the New Yorker last year is a very interesting insight into the changes occurring the book business at the moment.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...a_fact_auletta