I’ve mentioned the Australia Tax a couple of times before – this is where we in the antipodes pay quite a lot more than the rest of the world for stuff. Some of the more egregious examples are with things digital: music, ebooks and software, but it happens a lot in the real world too, ikea being a notable example, and books …
When I read about food lab: better home cooking through science on
kottke, I knew that Don would really love it. So I resolved to buy it for him (despite our best frugality intentions) and took to The InformationSuperhighway for a source.
What I found were insanely varying prices:
amazon: $27.47
(+ $23.71 shipping = $51.18)
book depository: $55.85
(free shipping)
I then I stumbled across booko which appears to be an aggregator of book prices from various retailers – pretty neat! But just reinforces the we’re *really* gouged with the prices of books.
Lest you think Amazon is an anomaly barnes and noble: $30.08.
Yes, the book is quite heavy (3kg!), but really, double the US prices? Nuts! Little wonder I am almost exclusively digital now.
I think we might hold fire on the purchase for a while and stick to the website!