Chapters Prices are Spooky!
A week ago I was at Chapters Bookstore on Robson Street. I decided to browse through some calendars for 2008 and found an interesting one:
The Haunted Realm 2008 Wall Calendar
The Chapters prices is $16.99 The US price printed on the calendar is $13.99. I called Chapters today and they said the price of the calendar was $17.99. I’m not sure if they made a mistake while we were talking, regardless I have no intention of buying the calendar from them at their rip-off price!
November 02 Update (OOPS!! It seems the lady at Chapters that I spoke with on the phone on October 31 was correct, the price at Chapters is $17.99. I thought the Chapters price was $16.99 as it is printed on the calendars back cover on the internet BUT when I went to check the price again at Chapters this afternoon the price printed on the back cover at Chapters Bookstore on Robson Steet is actually $17.99! This means the publisher is actually printing a seperate edition for Chapters Bookstores!)
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The above image is from the Haunted Realm 2008 Wall Calendar posted on the US Publisher’s website and also at Amazon.ca The Canadian Price printed on the calendar is $16.99 but at Chapters Bookstore on Robson Street in Vancouver the Canadian Price printed on the back cover is $17.99! |
The Haunted Realm calendar is published by Amber Lotus Publishing in the US. It is printed in Korea. The photographs and text are from Simon Marsden who resides in the United Kingdom.
In Canada the calendar is also distributed by Dempsey Distributing of Vancouver at a Canadian retail price of $13.99. I can’t buy the book from Dempsey because I am not a licensed book seller but their website quotes a minimum order of $100 wholesale at a 40 percent discount which makes the most basic cost of the calendar $8.39 and free shipping with a $150 retail order.
Retail Prices for The Haunted Realm:
From the US Publisher: $13.99 US or $13.52 plus shipping = $19.33
From the UK Author: 8 Pounds or $16.23 plus shipping = $28.40
From Amazon. ca: $12.17 plus shipping and GST = $19.15
From Amazon.com: $11.19 US or $10.82 plus shipping = $19.50
From Chapters store (not available online): $16.99 plus GST = $18 (See November 02 Update above — the price is actually $17.99 plus GST = $19.07!)
So is Chapters the best deal?
Only if you want to keep paying higher prices for books and calendars!
Chapters is their own distributor so who knows how big their discount is from the publisher. Who knows even where the Haunted Realm calendars are shipped from to Chapters. Do they even come from the US or are they shipped directly from Korea where they are printed?
Chapters argument for their high retail price is because they bought the calendar 6 months ago and that was the price then and they have higher overhead with a physical location and staff. We all know our dollar has been on the rise for well over a year, so a 20 percent plus currency markup is complete nonsense. Plus the calendar was just released in July or August. The bricks and mortar debate applies to bookstores throughout North America yet bookstores in the US still sell the Haunted Realm calendar for $13.99 US, they don’t mark it up because they have a retail outlet.
I will order my calendar from Amazon.ca even though it will cost me an extra $1.15 because there is no way Chapters can justify their high prices and I know it costs money to ship a calendar. Why should I pay Chapters an extra $4.82 profit (see November 02 Update above — the profit is now $5.82!) for trying to over charge me for a calendar just because I’m Canadian?
Its Halloween but at Chapters Bookstores its all tricks and no treats.
*** It gets worse, while I was at Chapters on November 02 I noticed a 2008 Wall Calendar from the CBC, it seems our own Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is ripping us off too! (more on that this weekend)