# Yet another Harry Potter thead . . . (This one involving cash, money, bucks, etc.) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 23, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-harry-potter-thead-this-one-involving-cash-money-bucks-etc/183760 "2003-06-23T14:05:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fibber\_McGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a6a055/32.png) [@Fibber\_McGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fibber_McGee)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-harry-potter-thead-this-one-involving-cash-money-bucks-etc/183760/1 "2003-06-23T14:05:55Z")
Back when it was first announced, much ado was made over the$29.99 cover price for _Harry Potter and Order of the Pheonix_. What I remember thinking when I heard was, “Who are they kidding?”. Considering how well the book was guaranteed to sell I think it is safe to say the book’s length (Inevitably mentioned in articles regarding the price.) had nothing to do with its price. It isn’t like 850 page books are an unprecedented occurance. It seems to me that the book was priced as high as it was to give the advantage to big chains and online retailers who could afford to give deep discounts . . . Which is all just an overly complex lead in to my question: How much did you pay for the new Harry Potter? $15.79 right here. Very close to half off. 30 bucks? I laugh at 30 bucks! ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-harry-potter-thead-this-one-involving-cash-money-bucks-etc/183760/2 "2003-06-23T14:20:40Z")
$17.99 at B&N. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-harry-potter-thead-this-one-involving-cash-money-bucks-etc/183760/3 "2003-06-23T14:29:16Z")
$15.72 at Sams Club. Yes I’m ashamed I gave money to the Walmart Empire but hey, I took the other 15 bucks and bought the supplies for the lemonade stand at which my kids made 60 bucks on Saturday 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-harry-potter-thead-this-one-involving-cash-money-bucks-etc/183760/4 "2003-06-23T14:51:50Z")
$16.50ish at Target. Booyah. And I just resold it at work for $15. ---
**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-harry-potter-thead-this-one-involving-cash-money-bucks-etc/183760/5 "2003-06-23T15:00:50Z")
$19.07 after tax at Barnes and Noble. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-harry-potter-thead-this-one-involving-cash-money-bucks-etc/183760/6 "2003-06-23T15:06:56Z")
19.07 tax included from b&n. mikeg was that your daughter i saw on the news? the one who’s neighbour called the police because the lemonaid stand didn’t have small business license. ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-harry-potter-thead-this-one-involving-cash-money-bucks-etc/183760/7 "2003-06-23T15:38:29Z")
Um, $8.50 for two at Borders. (Okay, I had a gift certificate worth $30, but still). ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-harry-potter-thead-this-one-involving-cash-money-bucks-etc/183760/8 "2003-06-23T15:43:50Z")
$16.17 at Walmart after B&N told us they wouldn’t be getting any new copies for a week. That seems weird. One store selling out (at a higher price, even), and another store having plenty of copies. Julie ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-harry-potter-thead-this-one-involving-cash-money-bucks-etc/183760/9 "2003-06-23T15:44:00Z")
About nineteen dollars apiece from B. Dalton, though I was more than willing to pay the thirty. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-harry-potter-thead-this-one-involving-cash-money-bucks-etc/183760/10 "2003-06-23T16:52:22Z")
At a 29.99 cover price, what is the publisher charging per copy? Are bookstores making less on this than they normally would? I am fascinated that stores are discounting the book so deeply when it is selling out in hours. ---
**Author:** ![NotWithoutRage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NotWithoutRage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotWithoutRage)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-harry-potter-thead-this-one-involving-cash-money-bucks-etc/183760/11 "2003-06-23T18:52:20Z")
19.07 and B&N ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-harry-potter-thead-this-one-involving-cash-money-bucks-etc/183760/12 "2003-06-23T22:35:52Z")
1 at Amazon’s price ($17.99?–I forget) and 1 at $19.99 from Albertson’s (grocery store). We will be donating the second copy to a local underbudgeted children’s center, and encourage others to do so as well. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-harry-potter-thead-this-one-involving-cash-money-bucks-etc/183760/13 "2003-06-24T00:25:42Z")
FREE! Ok, really it cost me $2,500 on my credit card to get that $30 gift certificate from Amazon, but damn, it seems like free…at 2000% interest rate…so, in 10 years when the card is paid off, the cost will really be $750. Feh. ---
**Author:** ![hyperjes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df705f/32.png) [@hyperjes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hyperjes)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2003, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-harry-potter-thead-this-one-involving-cash-money-bucks-etc/183760/14 "2003-06-24T00:59:10Z")
It cost us $60.00 plus tax at a Barnes & Noble in Wilmington, NC. We were on vacation and missed the midnight release party. Rushed over to the store 1st thing the next morning and got the very last copy. Granted, it came with frameable artwork and a very nice cardboard display case, but it was definitely more than we were looking to spend. Worth it? Oh, definitely! (Actually, what happened is that they had NONE left and I was crushed. **d\_redguy** , my wonderful husband, saw some guy put the book down, asked him if he was sure he didn’t want it, paid for it and surprised me in the parking lot. 😃 )