The price of books

[Dohchos]

Hi all

I was wondering if I have missed something, but I am genuinely baffled by the price of childrens books ( I am aware of library's) but for those who want to own their own. I went into the local bookstore and saw the new David Walliams book is out, the cost is ?12.99, it's a childrens book, am I just completely out of touch or is that a lot ( it's was a hardback) I looked on amazon and it was reduced to ?5 as well as it being sold in sainsburys for ?5. So my point is shouldn't these books be more realistically priced, then the average family would be better placed to support local book shops, I know they cannot compete with amazon, but if the books were priced at say ?7.99 wouldn't that be more reasonable? I love book shops, being able to browse, read the back of the books, I just can't afford to purchase books from them for the whole family.

[oimissus]

what do you think goes into publishing a book?

[bawdy-nan]

those big reductions are loss leaders (ie they are sold at much cheaper than they cost to actually produce)- generally, as you'll be aware, I;m sure, its cheaper to wait for the paperback if you want to own the book. We tend to use a mixture of the library (they'll order and reserve books you want), second hand (swaps and amazon) and waiting for book tokens to arrive for birthdays and christmas.

[sanity girl]

You can find lots of bargains at the Oxfam bookshop in Herne Hill. They have a good selection of children's fiction. Most children's books there cost between ?1.99 and ?2.99.

[bawdy-nan]

another thought - maybe we could set up a thread for book swaps / sales?

[Dohchos]

Thanks everyone, I think I have been on a general "wow, how much!" Charity shops are brilliant, but not so much for books for boys, my eldest is 9.

I love the idea of a book swap.

[bawdy-nan]

So maybe it could run along the lines of:

a single thread in the family classifieds section where the format would be that you post

Books Wanted:

Books offered:

If there's not a direct swap available maybe we could allocate a nominal price (?1? 50p? something like that?) might be easier than trying to establish a edf bookswap token...

might that be a goer?

[mrs.lotte]

My boy is 9 and a voracious reader - book a day. We get a lot from charity shop (big one on LL always has several books that suit us), regular visits to our brilliant libraries deals on kindle and some book swapping with friends.

We do amazon and sainsburys and the book house but Chener has such a great range that we sometimes push the boat out.

Also try the boot fairs regularly held by St John's Heber or DKH schools - lots of parent stalls with books

[sanity girl]

I'm surprised you haven't found anything for your boys at the Oxfam bookshop - they have a great selection - lots of Harry Potter, Lemony Snicket, Michael Morpurgo etc etc

Dohchos Wrote:

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> Thanks everyone, I think I have been on a general

> "wow, how much!" Charity shops are brilliant, but

> not so much for books for boys, my eldest is 9.

>

> I love the idea of a book swap.

[Otta]

Book People do some great bargains.

[uncleglen]

I always give my books to, and get some of them from, the charity shops

[Dohchos]

I will try again, I know I can find books, I just thought new books were a little pricy, but I would love the idea of a book swap.

[KalamityKel]

Otta Wrote:

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> Book People do some great bargains.

The Book People are indeed very cheap - whole collections for peanuts. A fab selection of books for younger readers although not much for older kids (but then there's sooo many other places for older age group)

AND surprisingly (compared to other retailers etc) amazing customer service. It's easy to get replacements on damaged goods/wrong items sent and even returning because you no longer want an item is fairly easy.

[cactus]

Another vote for the Oxfam book shop in Herne Hill.

I have a 9 year old boy and I was spoilt for choice in there today.