the book people stg v euro prices

B

big bird

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Just looking for opinions here. I recently contacted The book people asking about the huge difference between the sterling and euro prices on their website. This was their reply

We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience or confusion that might have arisen out of our pricing policy in Southern Ireland. The prices offered in mainland Britain reflect the much greater population density and lower mailing costs and we are able to pass these savings directly on to those customers. The discounts offered in Southern Ireland remain incredibly competitive and we are very keen that customers in Southern Ireland are not disadvantaged by not being offered our mail order service at all.
If you have any further enquiries regarding this matter please do not hesitate to contact us.

Now if I don't order €55 worth of books I have to pay postage anyway. Or am I absorbing the price of postage for people who qualify for free postage. I hope this makes sense. I have used this company for quite a few years but the difference has never been this noticable.
 
Personally I wouldn't buy from any shower that doesn't even know the name of the country they are selling into.
 
I agree with mathepac. I once had a lengthy correspondance with my local newspaper about the same topic. When I pointed out that the northernmost point of Ireland was in what they called Southern Ireland they agreed that they were wrong.
 
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Of course most people add on their own little bit to the price if people will buy it, but prices are not there to reflect a genuine exchange rate. There IS still a higher cost of doing business here- wages, VAT...light, heat, electricity, water. Whatever about adding on something for profit, it is still going to cost more than the exchange rate says so.
 
CatherineB said:
... There IS still a higher cost of doing business here- wages, VAT...light, heat, electricity, water. Whatever about adding on something for profit, it is still going to cost more than the exchange rate says so.
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The point of the original post is that the books are being shipped from their UK offices, they are not in business here; my point is they don't even know the name of this country, not to mind running a business here.
 
The only plausible difference that could be expected is the VAT difference. Postage if you are paying it is already covered by you so the only other possibility is that they are picking the competitor they wish to compare to (Irish bookshops). Work out the numbers and see exactly what the VAT difference means. Then go back to them and give them a geography and a maths lesson ... sounds like they need both.
 
I just had a look at their .co.uk and .ie websites. same book vastly different prices... I'd avoid them - they're gouging you.

I thought I'd drop them a line outlining why I wouldn't buy from them but they only allow comment via a form and it's limited in size.. ho hum.. maybe they'll read this thread
 
Surely you should be comparing the cost of buying the books from these people with the cost of buying them from others?

If Amazon or ABE is cheaper, then buy from them.

Of if you feel very strongly about it, but they are still the cheapest, don't buy the books at all.

Brendan
 
Mathepac is right. The books are shipped from the UK. I am aware I can buy elsewhere or not at all, but the reply I recieved from the Book People does'nt make sense to me. If I am being charged postage, why should I have to pay so much more than a Uk resident. I have been a customer for quite a few years and yes there has always been a slight difference between UK and Irish prices, which you could expect with the flucuation of Sterling, but now I think they are taking it too far.
Galleyslave thanks for taking the time to even trying to reply to them, maybe if others did they might reconsider thier prices.
 
We are letting off steam a bit here:
stick to Irish authors / publishers
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So, we should not read anyone except the Irish authors? De Valera would be proud of you. Let's stop watching nasty English and American TV programmes as well. We should all be happy with Fair City and the Irish copies of the UK makeover shows.

Brendan
 
I got the exact same reply from them a year ago but to be honest as Brendan said, you need to compare their prices with those from other sites and I still found their prices to be a lot cheaper so I still went ahead and ordered from them. Personally I don't take offence at their use of Southern Ireland!
 
Brendan said:
Let's stop watching nasty English and American TV programmes as well. We should all be happy with Fair City and the Irish copies of the UK makeover shows.

Brendan
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Dear God no... please no... I'd burn my tellie first
 
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