Book prices - Page 3

Moiraine · 07-21-2001, 07:23 AM

And you from Anglo-Saxons countries are complaining about book prices !

Know that in France an average paperback book costs about 60 FF (around £6 or 8 USD) - and these are much smaller than your paperbacks : every Robert Jordan book, for example, has been split in 2 French paperbacks ...

And French paperbacks are much less solid too - after no more than one or two readings, pages start to fall away.

This is one of the reasons why I started reading Fantasy books in English, you know - even by buying them via Internet (and adding the delivery price), paperbacks still are much less expensive - plus, I don't have to wait for the French translation !

------------------

The world is my oyster !

Kinslayer · 07-21-2001, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sir Taliesin:
<font color=>Actually, I hate to say it, but with inflation, book costs are probably in line with what they cost 10 or 15 years ago. Yeah, I know that they have doubled in price, but what hasn't?</font>

Maybe that's the case in the states but in the UK book prices have soared above the rate of inflation for the last few years. I can't help but feel that this could be because kid's nowadays have all there playstations and internet which means less books are being sold? Maybe reading books will go the way of the Dodo as it's so much effort to use your imagination to picture a scene when a computer can draw it for you. The world is unfortunately becoming a lazier place.

[This message has been edited by Kinslayer (edited 07-21-2001).]

Fljotsdale · 07-21-2001, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Desuma_Malevois:
[Sigh, I still remember buying paperbacks for one US dollar. God, I feel old!]

YOU feel old?!! Huh! I remember buying American sci-fi paperbacks when I was a kid for 1 shilling/1 shilling and sixpence - think that works out at 10/15 UK new pence! And I thought they were expensive - I only got 1 shilling a week pocket money (10pence)

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Fljotsdale · 07-21-2001, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Djinn Raffo:
The price of books is outrageous!
Where the hell does the world come off
selling books...books!...for such ridiculous
prices?!
Has the cost of paper gone up 1000% in the last 15 years?

I'm the type of person who loves to have a big book collection.
A personal library so to speak. The only books i buy anymore are from
the used book stores...i just can't afford to buy new books...which sucks.
How soon until the used books are charging too much?
How long until the library charges?
The price tag on knowledge is getting to the point where
only the rich can afford it.

I own over a thousand books. About half and half hard/paperback. I am a Pensioner, low income, not at work. I buy books. I don't find them expensive - in fact, in recent years the relative price of books compared to average income has come down a lot. It is usually only non-fiction that remains pricey. It is really a matter of what your priorities are! Paying £10-£20 for a book is peanuts when compared to the amount most people spend on music and clothes! I don't go for expensive music equipment and fashionable clothes and such. I just buy books and games.

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Djinn Raffo · 07-21-2001, 03:12 PM

I feel more justified buying an
expensive book than clothes or what not...
But i think the price of paperbacks is too much!
Right now in Canada most paperback novels are going
for about 10 dollars. (I saw a dnd paperback for 12.99) Canadian dollar!
Thats around 6.50ish american or 4.5ish british pounds.
Now I can read pretty fast...
I've also got my issues with what i like and don't like.
I can't afford to buy all the books that i want to buy and
this makes me a little angry...
I'd rather spend my cash on tales than food...and my cash does not go as far as it once did...
Can any of the Elders tell me if the price of books is equal
to what it was 20 years ago? Relatively speaking and all that?
Did buying books regularly back in the day take the same size chunk
out of your wallet as buying books today?

Fljotsdale · 07-21-2001, 04:58 PM

I think I can class myself as an 'elder' at age 64

Books 20 yrs ago cost less cash but took more from my greater income then than they do from my lesser income now. Does that help? I've been able to afford more books since I retired 3 yrs ago than I could while I was still at work. Not that I can afford as many books as I'd LIKE....

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07-21-2001, 06:26 PM

I'm 41 now. 25 years ago I usually paid 1 USD for a normal sized paperback. I don't have CPI figures at my fingertips to compare prices with, but I'd bet paperback prices have exceeded the ratio.

Fljotsdale, I'm not doubting your word - after all, things may have been different over on your side of the Atlantic - but how many books did you buy back then compared to now? Twenty years ago I would buy almost everything I could get my hands on; now I find that I am considerably more selective when it comes to parting with my hard earned pay

BTW, I greatly enjoyed the Phillip Pullman books that you recommended. Did you ever pick up the third volume?

Sir Taliesin · 07-22-2001, 04:27 PM

<font color=orange>The cheapest I can ever remember buying books was in the early seventies. I could buy a Louis Lamor Western paperback for about $1.50, which I could read in a night. They were only about 125-150 pages. The last book I purchased and read was David Gremmell's MIDNIGHT FALCON. I paid $6.99 for a 430 page novel. All in all not a bad deal in my opinion! I do agree that our kids play way to many Playstation and Nintindo games. This will be the first generation not to have an imagination. Of course they don't grow up like we older ones did. We were out playing cowboys and Indians or War or Gangsters or knights and stuff like that. A Bicycle made a great horse and you didn't have to feed it at the end of the day. We used our minds for a playground. They don't do that anymore. I digressed slightly there. Sorry about that.</font>

------------------
Sir Taliesin

If they take my gun can I still use my Axe?

Fljotsdale · 07-23-2001, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Desuma_Malevois:
I'm 41 now. 25 years ago I usually paid 1 USD for a normal sized paperback. I don't have CPI figures at my fingertips to compare prices with, but I'd bet paperback prices have exceeded the ratio.

Fljotsdale, I'm not doubting your word - after all, things may have been different over on your side of the Atlantic - but how many books did you buy back then compared to now? Twenty years ago I would buy almost everything I could get my hands on; now I find that I am considerably more selective when it comes to parting with my hard earned pay BTW, I greatly enjoyed the Phillip Pullman books that you recommended. Did you ever pick up the third volume?

How many then and now? Hard to say really... but like yourself I picked up anything that took my fancy. Now, I am much more discriminating. I actually buy fewer books than I used to - but that is not because of the price of the books! Its because of the price of the Computer games I buy as well! I didn't have that problem 20 years ago...

Yes, I did get it - but I've loaned it to my ex-son-in-law while I'm reading Anne McCaffrey's Skies of Pern.

------------------

Virgil · 07-24-2001, 05:14 PM

I agree that books are way to expensive. I remember getting four books for a twenty, and getting some change too.

It makes me reluctant to buy any book shorter than 400 pages. Paying $8 for a 200 page book really leaves me feeling cheated. Buying a 1000 page book for that same price doesn't feel as bad.

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07-21-2001, 07:23 AM	#21
Moiraine Anubis Join Date: March 1, 2001 Location: Up in the Freedomland Alps Age: 61 Posts: 2,474	And you from Anglo-Saxons countries are complaining about book prices ! Know that in France an average paperback book costs about 60 FF (around £6 or 8 USD) - and these are much smaller than your paperbacks : every Robert Jordan book, for example, has been split in 2 French paperbacks ... And French paperbacks are much less solid too - after no more than one or two readings, pages start to fall away. This is one of the reasons why I started reading Fantasy books in English, you know - even by buying them via Internet (and adding the delivery price), paperbacks still are much less expensive - plus, I don't have to wait for the French translation ! ------------------ The world is my oyster !

07-21-2001, 03:12 PM	#25
Djinn Raffo Ra Join Date: March 11, 2001 Location: Ant Hill Age: 50 Posts: 2,397	I feel more justified buying an expensive book than clothes or what not... But i think the price of paperbacks is too much! Right now in Canada most paperback novels are going for about 10 dollars. (I saw a dnd paperback for 12.99) Canadian dollar! Thats around 6.50ish american or 4.5ish british pounds. Now I can read pretty fast... I've also got my issues with what i like and don't like. I can't afford to buy all the books that i want to buy and this makes me a little angry... I'd rather spend my cash on tales than food...and my cash does not go as far as it once did... Can any of the Elders tell me if the price of books is equal to what it was 20 years ago? Relatively speaking and all that? Did buying books regularly back in the day take the same size chunk out of your wallet as buying books today?

07-21-2001, 04:58 PM	#26
Fljotsdale Thoth - Egyptian God of Wisdom Join Date: March 12, 2001 Location: Birmingham, West Mid\'s, England Age: 88 Posts: 2,859	I think I can class myself as an 'elder' at age 64 Books 20 yrs ago cost less cash but took more from my greater income then than they do from my lesser income now. Does that help? I've been able to afford more books since I retired 3 yrs ago than I could while I was still at work. Not that I can afford as many books as I'd LIKE.... ------------------

07-21-2001, 06:26 PM	#27
Desuma_Malevois Guest Posts: n/a	I'm 41 now. 25 years ago I usually paid 1 USD for a normal sized paperback. I don't have CPI figures at my fingertips to compare prices with, but I'd bet paperback prices have exceeded the ratio. Fljotsdale, I'm not doubting your word - after all, things may have been different over on your side of the Atlantic - but how many books did you buy back then compared to now? Twenty years ago I would buy almost everything I could get my hands on; now I find that I am considerably more selective when it comes to parting with my hard earned pay BTW, I greatly enjoyed the Phillip Pullman books that you recommended. Did you ever pick up the third volume?

07-22-2001, 04:27 PM	#28
Sir Taliesin Silver Dragon Join Date: March 4, 2001 Location: Knoxville, TN USA Age: 62 Posts: 1,641	<font color=orange>The cheapest I can ever remember buying books was in the early seventies. I could buy a Louis Lamor Western paperback for about $1.50, which I could read in a night. They were only about 125-150 pages. The last book I purchased and read was David Gremmell's MIDNIGHT FALCON. I paid $6.99 for a 430 page novel. All in all not a bad deal in my opinion! I do agree that our kids play way to many Playstation and Nintindo games. This will be the first generation not to have an imagination. Of course they don't grow up like we older ones did. We were out playing cowboys and Indians or War or Gangsters or knights and stuff like that. A Bicycle made a great horse and you didn't have to feed it at the end of the day. We used our minds for a playground. They don't do that anymore. I digressed slightly there. Sorry about that.</font> ------------------ Sir Taliesin If they take my gun can I still use my Axe?

07-24-2001, 05:14 PM	#30
Virgil Dungeon Master Join Date: May 8, 2001 Location: Manchester, CT, USA Posts: 80	I agree that books are way to expensive. I remember getting four books for a twenty, and getting some change too. It makes me reluctant to buy any book shorter than 400 pages. Paying $8 for a 200 page book really leaves me feeling cheated. Buying a 1000 page book for that same price doesn't feel as bad.

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