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Do you think books are overpriced?

Vampenstine

Vampenstine

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Simple enough question.

By this I mean buying them from bookshops and whatnot, places where they charge the full price for them.
I used to buy a lot of my books from Waterstones, but at ?8.99 a paperback and over a tenner for a hardback, I've had to switch to looking in charity shops for books. I can usually pick up a paperback for no more than ?2.00-?2.50 from charity shops, no more than ?3.50 for a hardback.
I only ever buy books I really want and know will be a good read from Waterstones now, I simply can't afford to buy any book that takes my fancy.

I've heard bookshops aren't doing too well lately and quite a few have been closing down, but with the prices they charge, are they asking for it?
 
I personally think a good read is worth a tenner but the problem is that it's a lot of money to spend on a potentially crappy book :p
 
I don't think most books are at all overpriced. Authors gotta eat somehow. And hey- libraries exist for a reason. :p

Manga, on the other hand... I go through those in under a half hour a volume, and they cost like ten bucks apiece. :/ Not worth buying it anymore.
 
Personally, I don't think books are overpriced. But then, it depends on the book.
If the book is a novel with a hard cover and delicate pages, especially one that I really wanted, I would be willing to pay $15-$25 for it. If it's like... a flimsy teeny bopper story that's paperback and it's not very popular, then I wouldn't pay so much for it.
 
Night said:
Manga, on the other hand... I go through those in under a half hour a volume, and they cost like ten bucks apiece. :/ Not worth buying it anymore.
Click to expand...

I used to buy manga, but it's much too expensive to keep up with. It's nice having them as a psychical copy, but I just read my manga online/on my mangareader app now.
 
I'm no manufacturing professional, but I guess a reasonable price is established by how much time and money it takes to create the specific product, right? Sure, there are more variables than that, but in essence it comes down to how much money and resources it takes to publish that item. Are books overpriced? Well, it depends on how much it is selling for compared to how much it took to make it. Do I think they are overpriced? I'm not sure. I think some stores give great deals, but others try to get as much money as possible. In totality, however, I'd say they probably are. Then again, I don't read many books. Google=learning.
 
I guess its all about market forces then you books sold on clear out at supermarkets for very much less than the original price.

Libraries yes - but very many here in the UK are closing or cutting back hours and stock - publishers can and do set limits and costs on libraries.

charity shops benefit so much by sales - maybe you could even set up a book swap with friends.
 
I don't think so, no.

Anyone with a printer will tell you how expensive ink is. Then there's paper costs, printing costs, publishers will take a chunk of it, and the shop it's sold in needs a chunk too. Lets not forget the amount of effort that goes into them too. Authors (probably) live pretty reclusively for months, even years at a time to get the book done.
 
Some books are really expensive, but a book contains so much potential knowledge that it can most of the time be justified. I'm plotting to buy the ASOIAF books soon, in english, and the price I'm getting them for is really accessible, considering there are 5 of them.

Fortunately I'm inheriting a whole library (my grandfather's, who has been gathering books for me for more than 10 years now) so I'm served for a lifetime, at least when it comes to older books.
 
I pay good money for books which I know I'll read, hopefully multiple times. I'm also a sucker for buying books in good condition rather than the somewhat slightly damaged books in a charity shop.
 
The majority of my purchases are on my Kindle now, but I generally buy physical books in charity shops. A book I had wanted for some time was on Amazon for ?11.85, and was unavailable in Waterstones, the only physical bookstore I have nearby. I found it with just minor creases for 50p in a charity shop. When I'm saving that kind of money, minor damage really isn't an issue.
 
Textbooks can cost a fortune. Really a lot! If you know what books you want, but them from Amazon where many of the millions they stock are reduced in price. For example: Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology on Amazon.co.uk is reduced to ?37.81 down from ?72.99 Which is a big saving! Also Medical Care for Cancer Patients by Sai-Ching Jim Yeung and other authors cost ?91.00 but my doctor who is mentoring me loaned me his. I'll visit Waterstones and then check on Amazon for "best price". I have at least 70 medical books in my study room.

Mum Gannet recommends AbeBooks. They supply vg condition books with dust covers, many at huge discount prices. Its worth paying postage because parking fees in town are getting ridiculous.
 
If there's an item I would be very much willing to shell out a fortune, it would be for books. Yeah, I agree that some books can be so pricey that I won't even consider buying them, especially those written by authors I have not heard of yet. However, for literary geniuses and for remarkable literary masterpieces, I won't really mind.

I also love to write so I believe in giving credit to whom it is due. The books we read are products of imagination and creativity of the authors. Their ideas could even be priceless.
 
Yes, books are overpriced. With their exorbitant prices and the surfacing of ebooks, it's sad that bookshops are closing down, but I still love my physical books and it is my advocacy to encourage everyone, especially kids, to take an interest in reading. I usually buy marked down books and books from used bookstores, or second hand books online. That was, I don't spend too much because I'm a book hoarder.
 
Textbooks are not overpriced. They are priced high because of the very limited market they were originally written for. Authors spent countless hours researching vital information. I doubt any textbook author has made any money at all. Maths, the sciences, English - it's all out there in textbooks that every school, college and unversity people need including professionals like myself. @Alexxa you made a very good point in telling everyone about the 2nd-hand book market found with Abebooks.

The cost of printing also contributes to the high cost. Consider a print run of approx 10,000 books up to 100,000 and really, when adding full colour seps on glossy art paper, this is what jacks the price up. Sure, textbook prices and other limited print-run books are high. But publishers require getting money for their business, so profits have to be made. I had a full colour brochure printed for my company. It only ran to 100 pages, produced on highest quality glossy art paper, a limited print run for prospective clients. Cost? ?185,000 plus VAT (reclaimable on my part), but that was only after my shopping around various countries for the best possible deal.

I have a great many books. More than my daughter. Some go way back and are out of print. I learned from them, loved feeling the paper between my fingers. In some I could have read the print off them. XD Books for me are hugely enjoyable, but we don't have to visit Waterstones. Cheaper can be found if we take the trouble to look. That said, whenever I go away on vacation, that's when I'll take my e-book reader. Into my bag go a library's equivalent of 2,000 books, hahahahaaaa! :D Not forgetting Shakespeare's Sonnets and the classics that my daughter and I so love. For travel, e-books are cheap 'n' cheerful. Hell yeah. ;)
 
Personally, I would never pay $20+ for a book unless I've been waiting for it to come out for ages. The HP series for instance.
Other than that, I download e-books for free and now and then I look for them in thrift stores where they're usually decently priced.
 
Books here are outragerously expensive. Knowledge is valuable and no doubt worth paying for, but sometimes I wonder if they really expect people to buy books here, their price is so heavy, that if I buy 2 books I automatically have no money to go out anywhere, it's also impossible to buy more than 2 per month because otherwise I'd have to cut on essential things.
I won't even mention the Bio-Medicine and Medicine textbook prices... -_-
 
I've found that most of the classics are actually quite inexpensive. Some newer books are set at a higher price, but not to an insane degree. The only books I've found that are truly overpriced are programming manuals. :p
 
There is a book store located on my side of town that I like to shop at. Now, if I'm watching what I'm spending then usually I'll browse the "clearance" section where the books are quite a bit cheaper. Also, if I'm not sure if I'll like the book then I'll usually just go to my local library and just check the book out.
 
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