Non agency pricing - kobobooks.com

kiwipippa · 07-28-2011, 11:59 PM

This probably only effects New Zealanders and perhaps Australians. Something weird has happened to kobobooks.com pricing this morning. Most of the NON AGENCY books appear to have almost doubled in price.

This morning I went to buy a book for the weekend that listed ("Our Price" non agency) at $5.29 NZD (Girl at the Lion d'Or). When I went "Buy Now" it said the order total was $10.59.
Dance with Dragons was $10.59 - order total then showed as $20.69
I cleared my cache thinking perhaps I'd added it twice or something, then tried on my phone, Kobo touch and son's ipod - same problem on all of them (except touch just had the single - higher - price). I randomly checked a whole bunch of non agency books and they all did the same thing.

This afternoon it got worse, all the "Our prices" are the same as the Order total prices were this morning - ie doubled in price. But the weird thing is that the "list price" has also nearly doubled, as has the "Our Price".

I have logged a ticket for this as there is no way I am buying books at that price and I am hoping it is simply a glitch of some sort given they are non agency books.

Can someone else in NZ check to see if they are seeing the same thing? If you have had books in your wish list you may recall what they were priced at and have a look and see if they have increased.

It had better be a glitch - with their recent move to agency price Hachette and associated books, pricing is already non-competitive, yet alone adding this to the mix. Poor Nathan at Kobo will be getting sick of me complaining about prices, but this really is weird as it is non-agency related!

melmac · 07-29-2011, 12:28 AM

Aussie site seems to be working correctly when I bring up Dance with Dragons it has Buy Now $15.99 no Our price is offered, When I try Girl at the Lion d'Or it comes up List price $11.54 out price $9.01 when I try to buy it correctly stays at $9.01
Must be a kiwi thing

TedJ · 07-29-2011, 12:36 AM

It's been a while since I've browsed the site, but I'm certainly not seeing a huge price hike.

Based on the 2 purchases I've made in the last month or so, I'm seeing a price increase of approximately $0.40 AUD on each although I'll take that with a grain of salt since I have to factor in the discount coupons I used at the time.

melmac · 07-29-2011, 12:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TedJ

It's been a while since I've browsed the site, but I'm certainly not seeing a huge price hike.

Based on the 2 purchases I've made in the last month or so, I'm seeing a price increase of approximately $0.40 AUD on each although I'll take that with a grain of salt since I have to factor in the discount coupons I used at the time.

Which discount codes are these ?

TedJ · 07-29-2011, 01:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by melmac

Which discount codes are these ?

The ones G0AT tracks in the following thread.

viviena · 07-29-2011, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TedJ

Based on the 2 purchases I've made in the last month or so, I'm seeing a price increase of approximately $0.40 AUD on each although I'll take that with a grain of salt since I have to factor in the discount coupons I used at the time.

Ha! I thought I was going completely crazy, but not so much (just a bit as usual). I haven't been seeing the extreme price hikes that KiwiPippa has been describing, but I have noticed prices inching upwards the past few days in particular.

I remember seeing A Dance With Dragons and A Stolen Life going up a dollar or so the past few days. I've also been comparing past with current prices for books listed in the Kobo newsletters, and the price increases range from 50c to $2 AUD more. It's a pretty obvious trend once you have an eye out for it, but I don't mind the current non-Agency prices, they're still reasonably fair for Aussies. Horrid if it's doubled for NZers though.

taming · 07-29-2011, 02:13 AM

I wonder if that new partner you guys have there is involved in setting prices for you, rather than Kobo on its own.

kiwipippa · 07-29-2011, 03:25 PM

Reply from kobo -

There's good news and there's bad news.

The good news is our NZD exchange rate has been corrected.

The bad news, as you've seen, is that prices in New Zealand have just now been set to where they should be based on exchange rates against NZD.

That's why the change affected only non-agency books: agency prices need to be indicated specifically for each currency, whereas non-agency prices can be and commonly are converted between currencies.

Regards,
Nathan Maharaj
Director, Merchandising

Not sure where the good news is in that! Except for kobo of course. I suspect that the rate has been incorrect for months, prices have been so low.

07-28-2011, 11:59 PM	#1
kiwipippa Fanatic Posts: 578 Karma: 613022 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: New Zealand Device: kobo glo, kobo touch (dead), kindle touch, android phone	Non agency pricing - kobobooks.com This probably only effects New Zealanders and perhaps Australians. Something weird has happened to kobobooks.com pricing this morning. Most of the NON AGENCY books appear to have almost doubled in price. This morning I went to buy a book for the weekend that listed ("Our Price" non agency) at $5.29 NZD (Girl at the Lion d'Or). When I went "Buy Now" it said the order total was $10.59. Dance with Dragons was $10.59 - order total then showed as $20.69 I cleared my cache thinking perhaps I'd added it twice or something, then tried on my phone, Kobo touch and son's ipod - same problem on all of them (except touch just had the single - higher - price). I randomly checked a whole bunch of non agency books and they all did the same thing. This afternoon it got worse, all the "Our prices" are the same as the Order total prices were this morning - ie doubled in price. But the weird thing is that the "list price" has also nearly doubled, as has the "Our Price". I have logged a ticket for this as there is no way I am buying books at that price and I am hoping it is simply a glitch of some sort given they are non agency books. Can someone else in NZ check to see if they are seeing the same thing? If you have had books in your wish list you may recall what they were priced at and have a look and see if they have increased. It had better be a glitch - with their recent move to agency price Hachette and associated books, pricing is already non-competitive, yet alone adding this to the mix. Poor Nathan at Kobo will be getting sick of me complaining about prices, but this really is weird as it is non-agency related!

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07-29-2011, 12:28 AM	#2
melmac Wizard Posts: 1,399 Karma: 5573651 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Perth AU Device: Sony PRS650, Sony T3	Aussie site seems to be working correctly when I bring up Dance with Dragons it has Buy Now $15.99 no Our price is offered, When I try Girl at the Lion d'Or it comes up List price $11.54 out price $9.01 when I try to buy it correctly stays at $9.01 Must be a kiwi thing

07-29-2011, 12:36 AM	#3
TedJ Groupie Posts: 189 Karma: 86778 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Brisbane, Australia Device: Kobo Touch	It's been a while since I've browsed the site, but I'm certainly not seeing a huge price hike. Based on the 2 purchases I've made in the last month or so, I'm seeing a price increase of approximately $0.40 AUD on each although I'll take that with a grain of salt since I have to factor in the discount coupons I used at the time.

07-29-2011, 02:13 AM	#7
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	I wonder if that new partner you guys have there is involved in setting prices for you, rather than Kobo on its own.

07-29-2011, 03:25 PM	#8
kiwipippa Fanatic Posts: 578 Karma: 613022 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: New Zealand Device: kobo glo, kobo touch (dead), kindle touch, android phone	Reply from kobo - There's good news and there's bad news. The good news is our NZD exchange rate has been corrected. The bad news, as you've seen, is that prices in New Zealand have just now been set to where they should be based on exchange rates against NZD. That's why the change affected only non-agency books: agency prices need to be indicated specifically for each currency, whereas non-agency prices can be and commonly are converted between currencies. Regards, Nathan Maharaj Director, Merchandising Not sure where the good news is in that! Except for kobo of course. I suspect that the rate has been incorrect for months, prices have been so low.

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