Why do we still get shafted?

I am really getting sick and tired of the companies that, for some reason I am still loyal to, screwing us over every chance they get. Surely with online shopping opening the world to the consumer they would be a bit more cautious?

Why the rant?

Let me tell you...

Yesterday I was killing time in Exclusive Books (computer books section) when I found this book.

After paging through it I glanced at the price and felt a little spasm in my eye. R554.00! This for a book with only 360 pages and very few illustrations... or colour for that matter. I assumed that it was probably one of those special out of print limited edition printed on the paper from the ashes of the author after he died books. Turns out it isn't.

A little online shopping revealed the following:

www.take2.co.za:  R382.00 - shipping included.


Buying the book directly from the publiser(O'reilly)  will cost you $59.73 (Priority Air Mail shipping included). This means that for R455.41 (conversion from XE.com at the time) I can have the book delivered to me  - from experience ussualy within 10 days. But wait, there is more, I can also choose another book free of charge and the shipping cost won't change. If I can get that deal buying one - surely our friendly local distributor receive a bulk discount also? hmmmm....

Let's dig a little deeper.

The sticker on the back of the book reveals the local distrubutor is Intersoft (www.intersoft.co.za).

If I buy the book from them it will cost me R 349.97.

Much less than the price of importing it myself. So they do get a bulk discount....hmmm.


In other words the Exclusive books markup, if we assume they dont get a bulk discount, is R204.03 per book ... hmmmm

I know they have to pay the rent but they might want to keep in mind that it is far more convenient to shop from my PC than to sit through the waste of time called shopping at the mall (traffic, parking, attendants - i could do another rant on this too).

and on that note. If you want to argue that I pay for the conveneince of not having to wait. For an additional $4.00 (R30.00 - still cheaper than buying at store) I can download the ebook version (about 5 mins download time) meaning I can happily read it on my Ipod, PC, laptop or cellphone while I wait for the delivery.


I am turning my back on you EB, our friendship is over...