28 Sep, 2011
2011-9-28 6:54:41 PM UTC
I recently purchased the deluxe limited edition of The Children of Húrin from HarperCollins (#230 much to my surprise). Being very impressed by it's quality I was considering purchasing the deluxe limited edition of The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún too.
However, after reading through some old threads on this forum I've learned that this book doesn't sell so well (presumably). Yet it is still listed for £350 at tolkien.co.uk. I really want the book but I don't want to pay £350 if I can get it for half that price two years from now.
So my question is if anyone can make an educated guess on what will happen with this book if it keeps selling like this (max 25 copies per year?).
I worry especially that they will eventually just purge the complete stock and I'm missing out on a potential great book.
28 Sep, 2011
2011-9-28 8:40:39 PM UTC
I wouldn't worry about missing out. If they dump all the stock to the market discounted, you will end up getting a good deal later on. The market for the book is limited. They won't pulp them jst because they can't get top dollar. If you want one quicker, make HC an offer (at least 100 off). They may well accept, especially as the original price was 250 when they first came out.
28 Sep, 2011
2011-9-28 9:43:54 PM UTC
Well, altho' not stated anywhere on the site, HarperCollins are still willing to sell CoH with the 30% discount --as a new member here phoned & asked them; & they obliged. That's £245. I'd be very surprised, frankly, if they wouldn't apply this discount to S&G.
BH
14 Jan, 2012
2012-1-14 10:09:54 PM UTC
From time to time I checked the tolkien.co.uk site if they still sold the book. It always showed up when I clicked "exclusives". However I can't find the book anymore. I was wondering if anyone could double check. Maybe the stopped selling it?
15 Jan, 2012
2012-1-15 1:54:51 AM UTC
SonOfDolf wrote:
From time to time I checked the tolkien.co.uk site if they still sold the book. It always showed up when I clicked "exclusives". However I can't find the book anymore. I was wondering if anyone could double check. Maybe the stopped selling it?
Certainly doesn't seem to be listed, but tolkien.co.uk are astonishingly good at hiding their books in odd categories and their search is dead ropy. Just give them a call or drop them an email, I guess.
However, I wouldn't worry about missing out. They might remainder these books but I don't think they would pulp them (what would be the point?).
Stu
Edit: Book Depository has it for GBP 280 (might be cheaper if you are using a UK IP Address).
15 Jan, 2012
2012-1-15 3:12:23 AM UTC
Not sure about the UK tax laws, but here in the States when they started counting inventory as assets (ie taxable) it made publishers do strange things like remaindering and pulping - cheaper than keeping the books in stock, which now has an annual cost. So if a book title isn't selling quickly, it may make sense to pulp rather than hold on to or remainder (which would flood the market and likely devalue future super-deluxe editions since collectors would just wait for them to go on remainder too).
15 Jan, 2012
2012-1-15 2:02:29 PM UTC
Edit: Book Depository has it for GBP 280 (might be cheaper if you are using a UK IP Address).
Thanks :) From my IP it is €318.19, which is around GBP263 right now.
15 Jan, 2012
2012-1-15 3:11:28 PM UTC
It's a shame the book was selling at the same price as COH but with only a cow leather binding instead of full morocco. Still think I'm going to buy it at the Bookdepository at the reduced price. I'm not prepared to wait another two years, though I think the price might go down to around GBP200 in due time. Thanks for the link to the old thread Trotter.
15
2863