Books and CD prices

[G4G]

We pay something like 11 £ for a new CD. How much do you pay in England?

depends where you go. Big stores like tesco do them for 9.99. But it's mostly all shite. between 9.99 and 15.99 as a rough guide.

 

[Flowerdk4]

You can get CDs for like 7,7 £ on sale over here!

I am very surpriced as I thought our prices were very high

 

[G4G]

You can get CDs for like 7,7 £ on sale over here!

I am very surpriced as I thought our prices were very high

It's cheaper here if you go online and get things. Same with everything really.

 

[Motokid]

It's cheaper here if you go online and get things. Same with everything really.

Which could be an interesting thread. By buying things online are you effectively putting the store in your neighborhood out of business?

Isn't buying online like buying from Walmart and cutting the throats of the small business owner?

 

[G4G]

Which could be an interesting thread. By buying things online are you effectively putting the store in your neighborhood out of business?

Isn't buying online like buying from Walmart and cutting the throats of the small business owner?

Yes, I do see what you are saying and I entirely agree. However, in the case of CDs, the only way I can get what I want sometimes, is to get it off the internet.

 

[Motokid]

Yes, I do see what you are saying and I entirely agree. However, in the case of CDs, the only way I can get what I want sometimes, is to get it off the internet.

Using the internet for obscure purchases is totally understandable. I wonder though, how many would rather buy from Amazon.com than Joe's Book & Music simply because they can get it from Amazon a dollar or two cheaper?

I mean besides the people who would rather rip them off then buy them.....

 

[G4G]

Using the internet for obscure purchases is totally understandable. I wonder though, how many would rather buy from Amazon.com than Joe's Book & Music simply because they can get it from Amazon a dollar or two cheaper?

I mean besides the people who would rather rip them off then buy them.....

Personally, I prefer to actually handle a CD before buying it: sometimes listen to it, if it's seomthing I'm not sure about, and look at the packaging etc. And the whole thing of going into a shop and coming out with a purchase is far more appealing than merely ordering something. Well, I guess I'm talking about books and CDs here. But yes, I'm sure many people will take that slightly cheaper option.

 

[abecedarian]

The sad fact is, there aren't too many independent book or record stores left. I can think of two, maybe three independent,retail bookstores in Wichita. Record stores are all chainstores. The record shops are so expensive as to push people like us to either finding it at Walmart or the internet.

 

[Motokid]

The small business stores can't operate on volume, they have to survive on higher profit margins from fewer goods sold.

So you either have no local choices from small independant businesses, or you shop Walmart or internet. The problem is that people complain about the Walmarts and no alternative, independant choices, yet they won't pay for having the alternative.

Some times the extra dollar gives you extra choices....just a thought.....

 

[Kookamoor]

From the conclusion of an independent study done at Harvard Business school:

You can find the entire article here.

Thanks for the post!! I had a look at the paper, and while I'm no economist, it did seem to be built on some fairly broad assumptions. For example their empirical model depended on:

There is a one-for-one relationship between song length and
the size of the resulting digital file: longer songs result in bigger files.

I haven't ripped a CD in years, but from memory there are different qualities and thus file sizes that one can rip at, correct?

There's a few more asumptions that leapt out at me, but I'll run this by an Economics friend of mine before I embarrass myself. Great to see some actual evidence, though, I must say! I have been skeptical about the downloads = decreased CDs concept because it is perpetuated by the record companies, but it does make some sense at the same time. Interesting... .

 

[sirmyk]

...there are different qualities and thus file sizes that one can rip at, correct?

Correct. Ripped songs have a much lower quality than those on the CD.

 

[Fantasy Moon]

Economics is really not my strong point so I can't really say much about that aspect. I also take advantage of upcoming holidays to request books, CDs, movies. Although lately I've taken to purchasing used books and CDs when they're not reduced prices... or take advantage of inter-library loans.

 

[SFG75]

Which could be an interesting thread. By buying things online are you effectively putting the store in your neighborhood out of business?

Isn't buying online like buying from Walmart and cutting the throats of the small business owner?

Survival of the fittest MOto-the beauty of capitalism.