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Originally Posted by octothorp
Not at all true. In most cases, it's the distributors who are making the obscene profits in the book industry, while most retailers are forced to buy books at the same prices that they bought books in the past.
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Is there something stopping these retailers from buying books at the US prices from US distributors? Are you saying that if I call up some American distributor, and say I want to buy 2000 copies of Harry Potter, then I am forced to pay a different price because I am in Canada? Or are they all forced to buy from the Canadian divisions of these US distributors, who set different (higher prices)?
I find it difficult to believe someone like, say, Chapters, could not set up an American division to purchase all their books, and then ship them over the border. Surely if the gap is as wide as it seems (still paying around a 30% premium over American prices), their own profits could be substantially increased even after discounting the books well below what other Canadian book chains could afford to set their prices at. Something doesn't seem right here - the small retailers have little clout, but I just don't see the big players standing for that.
I find it much more likely that both distributors and retailers are making more money, and that neither is willing to disturb the status quo. Or that there is some stupid Canadian law intended to promote "culture" in Canada that prevents foreignly produced books to enter the country without paying stiff tariffs, thus allowing the domestic market to be all about making copies of American stuff at greater expense for no discernable benefit.