On books and the exchange rate

[teddog]

A while back I had a discussion with Von about how the prices of books haven't been falling as the exchange rate has become closer to the American dollar. For those of you outside of Canada, book provide us with a look at the differences between the markets; for example, a book from... say... Viz can cost $9.99 US and $13.99 CND. It's very annoying at times.

Behold! I have noticed a change in the prices of Viz's graphic novel releases. Examples:

Fullmetal Alchemist 1 - 9 are $13.95.
Fullmetal Alchemust 10 (to be released in November) and onward are going to be $12.99. This might be a change because the length of the series, but there's other series changing too.

Read or Die 1 - $13.95
Read or Die 2 (released last month, I think) and onward - $12.50

Monster 1 - 4 - $13.95
Monster 5 (to be released in October) and onward - $12.99

Note that these are only releases that I personally follow, but I'm willing to bet there's other ones changing too. In terms of "heavy hitters", Bleach, InuYasha and Naruto all have upcoming price changes. No word on Ouran High School Host Club, though, Katers.

Also, the American list prices are remaining the same, so this is Viz performing a Canadian price correction based on the higher Canadian dollar. Actually, the American price for Read or Die is falling by a dollar but that's not happening until volume 3, so the Canadian one is happening first.

It's not a massive change, but that's the first response I've seen to the higher dollar on the manga front. Admittedly, manga is easier to judge since the amount and time of releases provides an easy way to compare. If anyone else has seen any changes, I wanna know!

Comments

[moonygirl.livejournal.com]

Well it's usually $12.50 but I paid $11.88 because of the nifty card I've got.^^

However, something like descendants of darkness the prices are still like almost $14 or $15. I really hope Viz drops the prices on that manga. Since I want to finish collecting it one day. ;_;

[commanderteddog.livejournal.com]

Descendants of Darkness won't be affected by the price drop because the series is already completely released. It would have to wait for a reprint (thus letting them reprint the covers) and those don't happen a lot, I think.

[moonygirl.livejournal.com]

;_; You have destroyed any dream I had to getting the rest of the series at a decent price.

[vonandmoggy.livejournal.com]

Interesting and good to know!

Von

[commanderteddog.livejournal.com]

I figured you'd find that interesting.

The new lower prices are going to take effect in the fall, if you're looking for a rough timeframe.

[urufudo.livejournal.com]

Woah, sweet! I was wondering when they'd do that again. Usually when the dollar changes, it takes a looonnnnggg time before any reflection is made on the backs of the covers. Good to know, thanks! :D Now collecting the rest of Bleach will be that much more tempting~ (I still only have 1-5).

Ouran High School Host Club is love. XD Big fuzzy love. Is it already licensed here or something? O_o;

[commanderteddog.livejournal.com]

The "sudden" change is probably Viz's Canadian end covering their asses. Someone on my friend's list explained it to me, so I'm going on memory here and might not be 100% correct. But, in publishing, if you're selling books in Canada then you need to buy your stock from a Canadian distributor. I think this goes back to copyright law and the control over imports.

However, there's a legal loophole that allows you to buy from a supplier from outside of the country if the Canadian supplier is charging too much for the stock. If Viz's prices remain high, then Chapters or our local comic stores can get their stock from Viz's American distributor to get a fairer price and less business for the Canadian distributor. I'm not sure what the exact terms are for this to go into effect, but at the moment Canadian customers and stores are getting hosed and publishers and distributors are making a killing.

As it currently stands, Chapters has been suffering from customer service problems because the printed prices on the books are still high compared to the American. For example, someone on my flist wants an X-Men collection that's about $99 US and $160 CDN. Apparently, some stores have had so many complaints that they've put up posters explaining that the high sticker price is set by the publishers, not the store.

Yeah, I rambled, but I found it interesting. :D

Viz has the license to the Ouran High School Host Club manga and is already at volume 6. Katie's been following it and told me it's a little different. Apparently minor characters in the anime are more important, like Umehito (whom Katie really like).