9 ms·

As a German I don't have to worry too much about the prices of books. We have Buchpreisbindung https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchpreisbindung https://de.wikiped

As a German I don't have to worry too much about the prices of books. We have Buchpreisbindung https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchpreisbindung https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchpreisbindung

elcapitan 4y ago
One of the reasons why I routinely check used books first to get around that high price guarantee.
Alex_X-PressOne 4y ago
It's funny how this comment seems to have most upvotes. Good morning fellow germans ;) It adds no real feedback to the original post but shows how much we germans love our Buchpreisbindung.
- MrGilbert 4y ago
  Another German here. I don’t know… Buchpreisbindung sucks when it comes to eBooks. It would be awesome if you could get the eBook at a reduced price if you have the physical copy.
  - wink 4y ago
    Isn't that 100% on the authors/publishers? Such deals exist, bundling the ebook version for technical books. Might be misremembering, but some authors (of tech books, fwiw) always were happy for that feature. But then again they usually don't live off the royalties, but are developers/consultants anyway.
    - mynameisvlad 4y ago
      Amazon did this for a bit with some of their physical books, especially if bought from their retail stores. Looks like they shuttered this system in 2019: https://the-digital-reader.com/2019/09/30/amazon-is-shutting-down-kindle-matchbook-its-printebook-bundling-program/ https://the-digital-reader.com/2019/09/30/amazon-is-shutting... They do offer a discounted Audible book if you own the eBook: https://www.amazon.com/hz/audible/matchmaker https://www.amazon.com/hz/audible/matchmaker
acatton 4y ago
Exactly, the cheapest and fastest way to get a book in Germany is most likely your neighborhood book store on the way back from work. (And if they don't have the book in store, they can order it for the next day.)
- PinguTS 4y ago
  The local bookstore can even do same day delivery.
- lupire 4y ago
  I find it hard to believe that local bookkstore catalog is nearly large enough.
  - martin_a 4y ago
    They can get you everything through their wholesalers. Might take three days then, but there's a pretty tight-woven net.
  - FlyingSnake 4y ago
    You can always check out https://medimops.de https://medimops.de for used books.
shnksi 4y ago
That's a great system that you have in Germany! Does it apply to used books also?
- FinnKuhn 4y ago
  It doesn't, only for new books. Used or damaged books as well as clearance sales for example aren't part of this.
gadders 4y ago
We used to have a similar price-fixing thing in the UK called the Net Book Agreement [1]. Thankfully it got repealed and books became cheaper for all. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Book_Agreement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Book_Agreement
- PinguTS 4y ago
  "Thankfully" is an interesting view from the reader side. Would be interesting to know what was the impact on the authors side. Got it cheaper because the authors got now less money or got it cheaper because the publisher got now less money? Because I know, that (at least for technical books) the pay for the authors is not really great. It's more like a reputation than making money out of it.
  - chrisseaton 4y ago
    Poor people should be able to buy books without having to subsidise your bookshop aesthetic.
    - gadders 4y ago
      Exactly. Enabling poor people to buy books is a far greater social good than having somewhere comfortable for hipsters to sit with their laptops and middle class mums to push their three wheeled buggies round.
      - lupire 4y ago
        Why? If you are poor you probably also have less real estate and so purchasing a non-trivial quantity of books is less convenient than borrowing. Also not sure why you blast that sexism around.
        gadders 4y ago
        Haha. "It doesn't matter if we make buying books expensive because poor people can't afford shelf-space." Nice.
l5870uoo9y 4y ago
Thanks for sharing, reminds me of another old revered law in Germany, the Reinheitsgebot. Buchpreisbindung was introduced in 1888 and according to the Wikipedia article it fails to deliver cheaper books and even indirectly subsidize large bookstores like Amazon.
baud147258 4y ago
We have the same thing in France too.
- hk__2 4y ago
  As well as Greece, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, and a couple others: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Countries-with-a-Fixed-Book-Price-Agreement.svg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Countries-with-a-Fix...
rogierhofboer 4y ago
Same in The Netherlands: https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0017452/2021-07-01/0 https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0017452/2021-07-01/0
moooo99 4y ago
I really don‘t like Buchpreisbindung. It frequently makes books significantly more expensive than their English originals (I‘ve seen prices 10€ higher than the English version). That’s the primary reason why I choose to buy the original English versions instead (Buchpreisbindung does not affect non-German books as long as they are not specifically targeting the German markets like educational materials). A nice side effect is the noticeable improvement tin my comprehension skills for English texts.
ghusto 4y ago
Can't be bothered to translate this page to English, but from the comments I'm guessing it's the decision by the government to not tax books the same way they do leisure items? I moved to the Netherlands a while ago, and was shocked at how much books cost. I learned that they're taxed the same as everything else, which seems short-sighted.
lolinder 4y ago
For those who don't speak German, this is the English-language article: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed_book_price https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed_book_price
greenie_beans 4y ago
does that apply to used books, or just new? i think (?) the target for this website is used because there is a fixed price for newly published books. (however sometimes big box stores will mark them down or run a sale)

As a German I don't have to worry too much about the prices of books. We have Buchpreisbindung https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchpreisbindung https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchpreisbindung

elcapitan 4y ago

One of the reasons why I routinely check used books first to get around that high price guarantee.

Alex_X-PressOne 4y ago

It's funny how this comment seems to have most upvotes. Good morning fellow germans ;) It adds no real feedback to the original post but shows how much we germans love our Buchpreisbindung.

MrGilbert 4y ago
Another German here. I don’t know… Buchpreisbindung sucks when it comes to eBooks. It would be awesome if you could get the eBook at a reduced price if you have the physical copy.
- wink 4y ago
  Isn't that 100% on the authors/publishers? Such deals exist, bundling the ebook version for technical books. Might be misremembering, but some authors (of tech books, fwiw) always were happy for that feature. But then again they usually don't live off the royalties, but are developers/consultants anyway.
  - mynameisvlad 4y ago
    Amazon did this for a bit with some of their physical books, especially if bought from their retail stores. Looks like they shuttered this system in 2019: https://the-digital-reader.com/2019/09/30/amazon-is-shutting-down-kindle-matchbook-its-printebook-bundling-program/ https://the-digital-reader.com/2019/09/30/amazon-is-shutting... They do offer a discounted Audible book if you own the eBook: https://www.amazon.com/hz/audible/matchmaker https://www.amazon.com/hz/audible/matchmaker

acatton 4y ago

Exactly, the cheapest and fastest way to get a book in Germany is most likely your neighborhood book store on the way back from work. (And if they don't have the book in store, they can order it for the next day.)

PinguTS 4y ago
The local bookstore can even do same day delivery.
lupire 4y ago
I find it hard to believe that local bookkstore catalog is nearly large enough.
- martin_a 4y ago
  They can get you everything through their wholesalers. Might take three days then, but there's a pretty tight-woven net.
- FlyingSnake 4y ago
  You can always check out https://medimops.de https://medimops.de for used books.

shnksi 4y ago

That's a great system that you have in Germany! Does it apply to used books also?

FinnKuhn 4y ago
It doesn't, only for new books. Used or damaged books as well as clearance sales for example aren't part of this.

gadders 4y ago

We used to have a similar price-fixing thing in the UK called the Net Book Agreement [1]. Thankfully it got repealed and books became cheaper for all. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Book_Agreement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Book_Agreement

PinguTS 4y ago
"Thankfully" is an interesting view from the reader side. Would be interesting to know what was the impact on the authors side. Got it cheaper because the authors got now less money or got it cheaper because the publisher got now less money? Because I know, that (at least for technical books) the pay for the authors is not really great. It's more like a reputation than making money out of it.
- chrisseaton 4y ago
  Poor people should be able to buy books without having to subsidise your bookshop aesthetic.
  - gadders 4y ago
    Exactly. Enabling poor people to buy books is a far greater social good than having somewhere comfortable for hipsters to sit with their laptops and middle class mums to push their three wheeled buggies round.
    - lupire 4y ago
      Why? If you are poor you probably also have less real estate and so purchasing a non-trivial quantity of books is less convenient than borrowing. Also not sure why you blast that sexism around.
      - gadders 4y ago
        Haha. "It doesn't matter if we make buying books expensive because poor people can't afford shelf-space." Nice.

l5870uoo9y 4y ago

Thanks for sharing, reminds me of another old revered law in Germany, the Reinheitsgebot. Buchpreisbindung was introduced in 1888 and according to the Wikipedia article it fails to deliver cheaper books and even indirectly subsidize large bookstores like Amazon.

baud147258 4y ago

We have the same thing in France too.

hk__2 4y ago
As well as Greece, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, and a couple others: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Countries-with-a-Fixed-Book-Price-Agreement.svg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Countries-with-a-Fix...

rogierhofboer 4y ago

Same in The Netherlands: https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0017452/2021-07-01/0 https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0017452/2021-07-01/0

moooo99 4y ago

I really don‘t like Buchpreisbindung. It frequently makes books significantly more expensive than their English originals (I‘ve seen prices 10€ higher than the English version). That’s the primary reason why I choose to buy the original English versions instead (Buchpreisbindung does not affect non-German books as long as they are not specifically targeting the German markets like educational materials). A nice side effect is the noticeable improvement tin my comprehension skills for English texts.

ghusto 4y ago

Can't be bothered to translate this page to English, but from the comments I'm guessing it's the decision by the government to not tax books the same way they do leisure items? I moved to the Netherlands a while ago, and was shocked at how much books cost. I learned that they're taxed the same as everything else, which seems short-sighted.

lolinder 4y ago

For those who don't speak German, this is the English-language article: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed_book_price https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed_book_price

greenie_beans 4y ago

does that apply to used books, or just new? i think (?) the target for this website is used because there is a fixed price for newly published books. (however sometimes big box stores will mark them down or run a sale)