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I travel frequently and take great joy in spoiling myself with a book to pass the time... But not anymore.
I just cannot blow R350 to R380 on a book anymore, which I'll finish in a few hours (that's almost two months' ballet class fees).
Local authors are not cheaper (Deon Meyer's Icarus is a book I long for but I simply cannot afford it) and I simply don't buy the "exchange rate pushes up prices" argument.
But nowadays, you're lucky to find a book under R170. Today, my daughter prefers a bookshop to a toy shop.
And my son is going to have to learn to love hand-me-down books with pink fairies and princesses. – Camille
And even online is expensive
I buy 99% of my books from Amazon.com – ebooks only – delivery of physical books is far too expensive.
If someone is coming out here from the UK (once every three years or so), I buy on amazon.uk – one or two paperbacks, only because of extra weight for the traveller.
All the second-hand bookstores in my area have closed down – the nearest one now is in Pretoria and I live in Randburg.
I am NOT happy with the prices of Amazon.com’s ebooks, as they have gone up astronomically in the last six months or so, to the extent that they are often more expensive than their paperbacks and why is that?
I simply cannot afford books from bookstores in South Africa (and I include Takealot here).
I think mark-ups should be smaller (more books would be sold and the authors, publishers, bookstores would probably make a bit more money) and VAT on books in South Africa should be zero-rated.
I do support my local library, but their stocks are woeful and libraries should be 100% subsidised and well-stocked, but I guess that is another subject on its own. – Shannon
Charity is always the best policy
Buying new books from bookshops is way out of my income bracket, they are just too expensive. Instead I buy tons of books - often brand new books - from my favourite animal charity, SAINTS (Saving Animals in Needy Times).
Publishers often donate over runs to them and even their second-hand books are in excellent condition. On the last and first Saturdays of every month they have sales where you can buy books for R20 and R25 each (up to 10 books).
10 and more books cost you R15 each, so I go mad every month and buy 20 books for only R300. One new book will cost close to R300 or more from a normal bookstore.
Not only am I indulging myself, but also supporting a very worthy cause too – BARGAIN. - Tessa
