Quote:
Originally Posted by Kali Yuga
For example: At the moment, the Australian and American dollar are close to equal. However, the AUD exchange rate was once closer to 1.9 AUD per USD, and could easily return to such figures. As a result, if we got rid of any tariffs, VAT or additional fees and allowed Australians free access to US ebook retailers: an ebook that costs USD $10 could cost AUD $10 today, AUD $12 next year, AUD $15 the following year and AUD $19 six months later. This is hardly a setup that can indefinitely guarantee price parity.
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Price parity means charging people the same US10 whereever you are - doesn't have anything to do with exchange rates. Yes, the dollar has climbed - and when it goes down dead tree books jump significantly. Back from the time you state some mass market paperbacks went up to $24. They have only recently started to get a bit cheaper, years later, because of competition and discoverability. If that is because of a UK tax haven, then good! Because the UK companies have been getting plenty of free money from Australia for a long, long time. They would keep pocketing a bigger chunk of now-parity exchange rate purchasing of their books. Books would jump in price within weeks and never come back down in price when the exchange rate went the other way.
Local retailers here would much prefer the product to be cheaper and more competitive, so they can stay in business.