Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
I don't know anything about increases in book prices relative to inflation, but it won't stop me from theorizing! I think one important factor in somewhat flat book prices, if such indeed be the case
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I just grabbed a handful of paperbacks off a shelf to do a quick check. Now prices are RRP from Amazon UK. Should-be prices are from
The Bank of England's inflation calendar to say what the original purchase price is worth in 2018 pounds.
C J Samson - Dissolution. £7.99 in 2003, £8.99 now. (Should be £12.43)
Michael Jecks - The Crediton Killings. £6.99 in 1998, £8.99 now. (Should be £12.10)
Paul Doherty - Murder Wears a Cowl. £4.99 in 1993, £6.99 now. (Should be £10.01)
Dorothy L Sayers - Unnatural Death. £2.95 in 1987, £9.99 now. (Should be £8.64)
Patricia Wentworth - Pilgrim's Rest. £1.10 in 1980, £9.99 now. (Should be £4.63)
Anne McCaffrey - Dragonquest. 40p in 1974, £8.99 now. (Should be £4.09)
Ngaio Marsh - Died in the Wool. 3 and 6 in 1963, £9.99 now.
On that very small sample size, book prices now are more expensive than they were in the eighties and earlier, but cheaper now than since then.
In reality the difference is greater, because in the nineties and earlier the RRP was what you paid under the
Net Book Agreement, the price was just the price.
Now there is a reasonable chance of paying noticeably less.
Interesting that on my unscientific sample, the end of the NBA also coincides with RRPs dropping.
[Rearranged the inflation-adjusted figures to hopefully make them more understandable.]