Monday, July 23, 2007

Harry Potter Boycott Saga Continues

For some reason or another, I am finding this quite amusing. The saga continues with more news reports from the Star Online. And I would like to highlight this from theStar Online



Original Story Here

JOHOR BARU: The price war in the sale of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows novel will benefit the people, said Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Mohd Shafie Apdal.

“If there is a drop in price that the suppliers can afford, this is good and is not violating the law.

“If traders can reduce their prices and not sell at a loss, we should encourage this as it really benefits the people,” he said.

Carrefour and Tesco hypermarkets sparked a controversy when they sold the book at RM69.90 compared to RM109.90 by MPH, Popular and Times bookstores.

Mohd Shafie said high book prices have burdened the people.

“Since we are encouraging the public to read, to be well-informed and knowledgeable, it is important that books be sold at affordable prices,” he told reporters after opening the Gelang Patah Umno general meeting here yesterday.



In another report, apparently Borders sold out by noon. Wah not bad ah, sell at 109.90 also can sell out.. so the Bookstores' boycott alliance

I still don't quite understand why anyone would want to choose to buy a book for 109.90 when you can actually buy it at 69.90 somewhere else. Oh ya, with that additional RM40, you could buy yourself lots of YOGURT drinks, Ice Cream, your favorite potato snacks, and junk food on your way out. To add to that, most of these places gives you free parking, or convenient parking places.

Check out Britain's news, some independent bookstores are queing up to buy Harry Potter books from Tesco. Smart move for these guys.

More clips from the above link:

He said: “The magic of Harry Potter has gone mad. Nobody is making any money in the distribution of this book. Amazon, Tesco . . . are either breaking even or losing money.” Asked why he bothers to sell it, he said: “Because we are a community bookshop. We do it because we have a lot of fun. But I’m pleased this is the last one.”


Meanwhile I am going to leave this topic and go back to blogging about food. Watch this space though as I am very interested in how this story will turn out, after the Boycott Alliance meets up with Penguin Books.

I leave you with all these links:

Pro Bookstore Blogs:

Sharon Bakar

Kervin - comments on this post shows a mixed feeling about this issue too.
Jefferey Quah - who wrote an Econs Thesis on this whole harry potter thing


Pro Hypermarket Gang:

Most people in this forum supports the hypermarkets
Daily Rantings
william soo
Wegna.com
I think this fler is selling the book online

A compilation of related Harry Potter Boycott Stories




[Latest Update - Dropped by a MidValley's Careffour , Harry Potter's new release, sold out liao]

7 Comments:

Anonymous said...

This is for SC, hope you dont mind, BH :- Thanks dear,....short hair is infectious! haha

smallkucing said...

I was shocked when I realised hypermarkets are selling at a cheaper price than what I've pre-order from the bookstore. Initially feel "cheated"

However, I've revised my opinion. The actual price I've to pay is RM7-03 extra. On top of that I get a goodies bag, snap photos with The Fat Lady & Hogwarts students and join in the festivities. RM7 is worth all that.

And I read the hypermarket is actually selling at a loss. Crazy ah? What's the "noble intention" of the hypermarket selling it at a loss? Only to bring cheaper books to the consumers?

I view their action are like stealing. Stealing the hardwork done by the bookstores. if they have intention to sell the book at that low price, they should have announce it a few months early instead of the eve of the launching date.

Anonymous said...

You can't use the word stealing la. How much did the Boycott Alliance spend on advertising the book ? They were riding on the Wave of hype created by the author, Rowling what ?

Everyone knows its a sure sell, everyone has been anticipating this, and I believe Penguin Books, Bloomsbury and Rowling did a good job marketing this release, somemore LAST ONE.

Cannot say steal la. Its business as usual. An Oh ya, I saw in Careffour they are selling Half Blood Prince at 69.90 also. And yes they also have a section that sells books ( at least thats what I saw in Midvalley Careffour la)

Jeffrey Hardy Quah said...

"Econs thesis"? Coming from an Arts student, I'll take that as a compliment!

bh: I think the word "stealing" is appropriate. Borders reported that sales on the day the last Harry Potter book came out were the equivalent of six months' worth of revenue.

Bernsy said...

wakakaka, its was a compliment, and it was a good post( part 1 and 2).

Anonymous said...

heren in germanu, it only costs about 10euro, thats equivalent to rm46.00

Bernsy said...

thats very cheap , considering the fact that one German company quoted me about 80 Euros for a technician to service my equipment.....