I just went onto the Amazon website to order five of the Flashman books- they’re AUD$25 each here, versus AUD $12.50 on Amazon, and was amazed to discover that the shipping costs of five paperbacks was going to be AUD $44 for “standard” shipping!
Whisky Tango Foxtrot?
There is no way that it costs Amazon $44 to mail five normal sized paperback novels to any civilised country, especially somewhere like Australia, and especially not when they can all fit in the same box.
The shipping charges are so much that it’s actually about the same price for me to go to my local bookshop and purchase the books off the shelf. Not only would I not have to wait a fortnight to get the books, I’d be keeping someone local employed.
Usually Amazon is cheaper than anywhere in Australia by orders of magnitude, so I’m gobsmacked that in this case it’s actually cheaper (with the time factor) to go and buy the books here.
I feel a little disappointed in Amazon, to be honest. The books are half the price they are here, yet the shipping is astronomical!
There is an Australian equivalent to Amazon that I’ve discovered- fishpond.com.au- but I don’t know how reliable they are and there’s still a fair wait on the books (6-10 days), along with the fact they’re not actually a lot cheaper than the bookshops in some cases.
So did Amazon suddenly put their shipping rates up, or has there been a dramatic fall in the price of books here all of a sudden? Anyone got any insights?