Archive for March, 2011

• HK LIFE – Cheapest Books

  Date: 2011.03.03 | Category: Living in HK | Response: 4

  Bookdepository.com already deliver free to HK, beating local Paddyfield, Dymocks, Swindon, Page One etc.. and Amazon et al. But I noticed recently that – when you click through to their website – their prices didn’t correlate with the prices thrown up on comparison websites like bookbrain.com (or megashopbot.com which compares the comparison sites!). Often prices doubled.

  For instance, a search for ‘Korea Lonely Planet’ throws up Book Depository as cheapest, with free worldwide delivery, at £11.81.

  

  Splendid, until you click the link through and find it at £15.14 on their website…

  

  To test if they were using IP geolocation to offer higher prices to foreign site visitors, I looked at the same page through a UK proxy… 54% off?  Jackpot:

  

  As this would be the view my sister in England would have of the page, I asked her to order the book for HK delivery – and it worked!

  

  That’s right readers, you can now burn a copy of Tony Blair’s memoirs for just £15.84, instead of £19.88.

  So if you’re not in the UK, it’s best to use Bookbrain.com to search the true prices of Book Depository titles, and then employ an internet or human proxy to buy!

  

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