RM106.60 vs. RM69,90
Duh.....It's a no brainer. Even the kid in preschool can tell which is the better offer. What am I talking about? It's the price war between the top bookstores in Malaysia and the hypermarkets. Sure, they'll throw in some t-shirts, and goodies but what I am more interested in is the book. No disrespect to Potter fans (i may be one..i'm not so sure myself), I have no interest in the goodie bags but reather the book itself.
I can't wait to start reading it. But I've already "accidentally" and "indavertently" seen some spoilers online. People will post major plots in MSN messages, forums, and even Chinese newspapers (from a friend).
So, back to the topic at hand, the bookshops in Malaysia seemed bent on holding on to this monopoly on pricing. I think RM 109.90 for a book is outrageous. The average Malaysians don't earn enough to justify such a quantification and most certainly would discourage anyone to buy the book and read it. Is this the event that we want happening despite our clarion calls for our citizens to embrace the reading culture? Contradictory and downright ironic. Stupid? Yea. Greedy? Bloody right!
On the other side of the coin, the profits from this very profitable title will be able to generate enough income to promote other reading-culture-promos but is this a legitimate excuse for raising the price so exorbitantly? Asda in the UK has already been under the spotlight for selling the book at a loss at £5 ... down from their intial pricing of £8.87. I especially welcome the reasoning for their actions:
Other UK retailers have priced their HP7 books at a higher price but still way lower than ours when converted. Waterstone's and Woolworths have set their prices at £8.99 per copy while WH Smith will charge £10.99 (from the link). Does this mean that our import tax is so high? Or is the blatant monopoly secretly hoarding profits from their collective pricing?
Very mysterious and suspicious... I wonder if Voldermort is behind all this...
Updates : Now we're getting 20% discount but only we purchase something else in the bookstore...right...very comforting.. Ava kedavra to you too... I've suffered enough expensive titles to last my life here.
I can't wait to start reading it. But I've already "accidentally" and "indavertently" seen some spoilers online. People will post major plots in MSN messages, forums, and even Chinese newspapers (from a friend).
So, back to the topic at hand, the bookshops in Malaysia seemed bent on holding on to this monopoly on pricing. I think RM 109.90 for a book is outrageous. The average Malaysians don't earn enough to justify such a quantification and most certainly would discourage anyone to buy the book and read it. Is this the event that we want happening despite our clarion calls for our citizens to embrace the reading culture? Contradictory and downright ironic. Stupid? Yea. Greedy? Bloody right!
On the other side of the coin, the profits from this very profitable title will be able to generate enough income to promote other reading-culture-promos but is this a legitimate excuse for raising the price so exorbitantly? Asda in the UK has already been under the spotlight for selling the book at a loss at £5 ... down from their intial pricing of £8.87. I especially welcome the reasoning for their actions:
Spokesman Ed Watson said: "Kids trust Asda as the place to get a copy of the Deathly Hallows at a great price and that's exactly what we'll be giving them.
"Harry Potter has reignited children's passion for reading and our colleagues and customers are gearing up for the biggest book launch we've ever seen."
Is this not a noble cause? It is not like you have to sell it at a loss. A minimum profit should be enough since the popularity of the book is enough to bolster that profit into a huge margin.
Other UK retailers have priced their HP7 books at a higher price but still way lower than ours when converted. Waterstone's and Woolworths have set their prices at £8.99 per copy while WH Smith will charge £10.99 (from the link). Does this mean that our import tax is so high? Or is the blatant monopoly secretly hoarding profits from their collective pricing?
Very mysterious and suspicious... I wonder if Voldermort is behind all this...
Updates : Now we're getting 20% discount but only we purchase something else in the bookstore...right...very comforting.. Ava kedavra to you too... I've suffered enough expensive titles to last my life here.
