11 replies to this topic

[TTHQ Staff]

By Mike Collett-White

LONDON (Reuters) - The publisher of the Harry Potter books called in the lawyers after a British supermarket chain accused it of "blatant profiteering" for charging 17.99 pounds ($36) for the final novel in the series.

The dispute between Bloomsbury and Asda, the British unit of Wal-Mart Stores Inc, erupted on Tuesday, just four days before the launch of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", widely expected to become the fastest selling book of all time.

Bloomsbury said it cancelled a delivery of 500,000 copies to Asda stores across the country because of unpaid bills, but Asda believes the real reason is a statement it issued on Sunday in which it criticised Bloomsbury's pricing policy.

"Today, Asda pointed the finger directly at Bloomsbury for attempting to hold children to ransom by raising the recommended retail price on the final Harry Potter installment," it said, adding that the pricing was "blatant profiteering".

The retail price of 17.99 for "Deathly Hallows" compares with 11.99 pounds for "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", the first book in the series published 10 years ago. That book was 223 pages long, compared with 608 pages for the seventh and last installment.

:stupid:


I don't know if this is of topic or not, but after reading this type of cr@p, it just infuriates me.
How stupid are people to simply not grasp the concept of supply and demand? Of Capitalism?
They actually accuse the British publisher of the Harry Potter books of.....profiteering.

Can someone please tell me what the difference is between profiteering and profiting? Is it just someone's moronic interpretation of what they *think* someone *should* be paying for a product or service?

I mean come on... "holding children ransom"???? I loathe stupidity.

[Rogerdodger]

It's way off topic. I love people who want to take other people's money while the takers call the producers greedy.

[TTHQ Staff]

I know.... If the demand for the last book is up 500% from the first, shouldn't they consider themselves lucky it's not costing them $120?

[mss]

Per page cost is almost 1/3, therefore less cost, but shipping is 3 times heavier, cost to bind up, but more to bind, reduces cost per unit............. What the heck, they just wont more for the book, good for them

Edited by mss, 17 July 2007 - 11:08 AM.

[Russ]

Harry Potter is rip-off of the movie Young Sherlock Holmes, very similar story lines.

[Drano]

Cool, we can have an off-topic "literary" discussion. It's very hard to come up with a plot idea that no one has ever used before. The genius of the Harry Potter series is the characterizations, humor, and incorporation of huge numbers of folk tales etc. into the matrix of the created world. The movies are mediocre (at least the couple of them that I saw, I stopped going because the books were so much better.)

[Drano]

I don't know what to make of the fact that 20 minutes seems to pass between posts here, and one of the last couple is about a children's book series.

[mss]

I don't know what to make of the fact that 20 minutes seems to pass between posts here, ....

.....and low number of posts, MARKET CHANGE coming

Edited by mss, 17 July 2007 - 01:19 PM.

[Sentient Being]

I believe the government should provide us all with free copies of the book and free health care and free anything else I want.

[TTHQ Staff]

Russ, it may be similar, it may be total garbage full of magic and miracles and whatever, but you got to give J.K. Rowling credit for pulling herself out of welfare and getting kids to WANT to pick up a book and READ. I hope she makes another heap of cash for it, and I hope she continues to benefit by providing products that are in demand. Good for her.