More Online vs Offline Pricing Craziness

This evening I went shopping in my local Dunnes Stores. As is common in most supermarkets there’s a section of the shop where they sell books, DVDs and other items, and I often browse the shelves to see if there are any bargains to be found.

This evening one of the books that caught my eye was the new Jamie Oliver one, which ties in with a new TV series, called ‘Save With Jamie – Cook Smart, Cook Clever and Waste Less’. It’s a good title and topic for the current economic climate. And I like cooking.

However Dunnes Stores have the book listed at  €29.95:

The same book, same edition is listed on Amazon UK £9.99 – under €12 :

Even if you paid full price for shipping the book (and there’s no reason why you’d have to .. ) you’d still save considerably compared to the price you’d pay in Dunnes.

Is this Dunnes’ fault?

I don’t think so. I’ve no idea what their margins on books are like, but I doubt they’re “huge” and they do offer quite a few paperbacks at much more reasonable (and attractive) prices.

Is it Amazon’s fault?

Maybe a small bit.

But as a consumer I obviously want to get the most value from my money.. so if I buy the book I’ll probably get it from Amazon as they’re so much cheaper.