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Charging postage by publishers

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Taunton

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I always understood that the principal cost in making publications (books or magazines) available in shops was the distribution costs; retailers' costs and margin (a substantial amount), wholesalers' margin, physical transport costs at multiple stages, wastage (sometimes considerable), etc. All which is borne within the cover price.

One wonders why, therefore, publishers doing mail order by direct dispatch from them to consumer then feel they have to add a substantial amount (over 10% seems common) for "postage". Let alone not admit that they do this until the last stage of ordering.
 
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Baxenden Bank

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I always understood that the principal cost in making publications (books or magazines) available in shops was the distribution costs; retailers' costs and margin (a substantial amount), wholesalers' margin, physical transport costs at multiple stages, wastage (sometimes considerable), etc. All which is borne within the cover price.

One wonders why, therefore, publishers doing mail order by direct dispatch from them to consumer then feel they have to add a substantial amount (over 10% seems common) for "postage". Let alone not admit that they do this until the last stage of ordering.
Basically, because they are a business, and their experience tells them that their customers will pay it.

If we take the Baker Rail Atlas, I had mine for £14.00, postage included. Which shows just how much the direct selling publisher is potentially making with a RRP of £20.00. However the publisher needs to make back that trade discount somehow! Mine was from Amazon but other retailers also had copies for sale around the same price, so it wasn't simply Amazon's bargaining power.

Any additional costs are supposed to be made clear at an early stage of the buying process. Dodgy practice by airlines ensured that was introduced!
 

Taunton

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Any additional costs are supposed to be made clear at an early stage of the buying process. Dodgy practice by airlines ensured that was introduced!
Just doesn't happen.

Platform 5 :

See book at 21.95. Click for more detail.
Price 21.95. Add to basket.
Click on basket at top, now showing 21.95.
Says subtotal 21.95 and Grand Total 21.95.
All done, click View Basket. Now says 21.95 PLUS Delivery Total 2.20
Grand Total now 24.15. Click Go To Checkout.
 

Baxenden Bank

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Just doesn't happen.

Platform 5 :

See book at 21.95. Click for more detail.
Price 21.95. Add to basket.
Click on basket at top, now showing 21.95.
Says subtotal 21.95 and Grand Total 21.95.
All done, click View Basket. Now says 21.95 PLUS Delivery Total 2.20
Grand Total now 24.15. Click Go To Checkout.
On the website home page, at the bottom, there is a tab saying 'shipping charges'. Its not the largest text on the page, but it's certainly not miniscule or hidden.
Click on the books page, for example, it is still there.
I'm not a trading standards person but it seems clear enough to me.
 

swanhill41

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Volume titles say a print run of more than 2.0k print inc postage,whereas the like of Lightmooor Press,1.0k print run ,no discounts and plus postage..
Lightmoor never discount,sell out very quickly,so no need to inc postage.
 

EssexGonzo

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I think this entirely reasonable. We all seem unreasonably to want our stuff delivered for free now, hence the underpaid (IMHO) harassed courier and Amazon delivery drivers with 100+ drops in a day. Our local Hermes guy drives a really rubbish car as his van and looks permanently ill. Why should someone else pay to bring it to you? The previously priced-in distribution that you referred to didn't include getting it to your house.

And as for "Let alone not admit that they do this until the last stage of ordering": have you ever used Amazon and a gazillion other sites? Postage is routinely the last thing to get added on once you've given your address. It's not underhand, just logical.
 

Taunton

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Why should someone else pay to bring it to you? The previously priced-in distribution that you referred to didn't include getting it to your house.
Well as I believe that the bookshop trade generally work on a 35% margin between publishers' and cover price, let alone other distribution costs, and as publishers commonly distribute by post anyway between them and bookshop, not separately charged, it seems there's quite a mismatch.
 

David Goddard

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If you sold something on eBay, would you expect the buyer to pay the postage, or would you cover it yourself?
 

Mcr Warrior

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If you sold something on eBay, would you expect the buyer to pay the postage, or would you cover it yourself?
You have the choice. Always seems surprising when second hand books are listed on online platforms at just one penny, obviously that's before any postage and packing charges are applied; at the end of the day it's the overall price charged that really matters.
 

PeterC

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Several issues here:
Displaying postage costs - I have seen this an issue when people simply put websites together like Lego with Wordpress plugins. The plugin only displays postage at checkout so that is where it gets displayed. It doesn't occur to the assembler to create a FAQ page with postage details as that isn't in the package that he bought.

Postage on individual items - I used to be a magazine editor, the cost of mailing a single copy was an order of magnitude higher than the per copy cost of mailing a wholesale order. I would have effectivelty been paying people to take single copies without charging postage.

Items costing silly low prices are down to platforms like Amazon passing on a standard P&P suitable for a parcel. If the product is under 250 grammes and will mail as a large letter you will make a small amount on the deal. Have something that will go as a standard letter (eg a CD in a slip case) and you can be a couple of pounds up.
 
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