Inflation and historical cost of paperbacks - Page 2

Kumabjorn · 10-18-2010, 10:32 AM

Interesting information.
I would be curious to know how the relative price between paperbacks and hard covers have changed. Intuitively I would postulate that they are much closer in prize today than they were 40 or 50 years ago.

GA Russell · 10-18-2010, 08:36 PM

What's important to me is the debate about the percentage of the price being allocated to the content and the remainder being allocated to the medium.

I remember 1960 and 35 cent paperbacks. In my view, the content should not be valued as more than that, adjusted for inflation.

So if that amount is worth $2.58 in 2010 dollars (as was stated in the first post), in my view that should be the price of a back catalogue eBook.

theducks · 10-18-2010, 09:28 PM

In the 60's and 70's, the cover price was pretty much what I paid. There were not a lot of choices.
It wasn't until "Crown Books" opened, that any discounts were offered for anything other than "remainders".

speakingtohe · 10-19-2010, 02:55 AM

What I can't get my head around is why used books have gone up so much.
For an independent retailer I can almost understand as urban rents have skyrocketed. For charity shops, such as the Salvation Army or Value Village, why does an old tattered paperback which they have 20+ copies of sell for more than a pair of designer jeans or a microwave oven.

ManosHandsOfFate · 10-19-2010, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

What I can't get my head around is why used books have gone up so much.
For an independent retailer I can almost understand as urban rents have skyrocketed. For charity shops, such as the Salvation Army or Value Village, why does an old tattered paperback which they have 20+ copies of sell for more than a pair of designer jeans or a microwave oven.

I refuse to pay the $2.95 my local used bookstore charges for a beat-up 120 page sci-fi novel that has a cover price of $0.50.

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10-18-2010, 10:32 AM	#16
Kumabjorn Basculocolpic Posts: 4,356 Karma: 20181319 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Kindle 3 WiFi, Kindle 4SO, Kindle for Android, Sony PRS-350 and PRS-T1	Interesting information. I would be curious to know how the relative price between paperbacks and hard covers have changed. Intuitively I would postulate that they are much closer in prize today than they were 40 or 50 years ago.

10-18-2010, 08:36 PM	#17
GA Russell Ticats win 4th straight Posts: 7,694 Karma: 31487351 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Raleigh, NC Device: Paperwhite, Kindles 10 & 4 and jetBook Lite	What's important to me is the debate about the percentage of the price being allocated to the content and the remainder being allocated to the medium. I remember 1960 and 35 cent paperbacks. In my view, the content should not be valued as more than that, adjusted for inflation. So if that amount is worth $2.58 in 2010 dollars (as was stated in the first post), in my view that should be the price of a back catalogue eBook.

10-18-2010, 09:28 PM	#18
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,062 Karma: 60358908 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	In the 60's and 70's, the cover price was pretty much what I paid. There were not a lot of choices. It wasn't until "Crown Books" opened, that any discounts were offered for anything other than "remainders".

10-19-2010, 02:55 AM	#19
speakingtohe Wizard Posts: 4,812 Karma: 26912940 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: sony PRS-T1 and T3, Kobo Mini and Aura HD, Tablet	What I can't get my head around is why used books have gone up so much. For an independent retailer I can almost understand as urban rents have skyrocketed. For charity shops, such as the Salvation Army or Value Village, why does an old tattered paperback which they have 20+ copies of sell for more than a pair of designer jeans or a microwave oven.

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