Ordinary Gweilo

I’m always on the lookout for places to buy books at reasonable prices and  Fishpond.com.hk has some eye-catching discounts.  But hang on…

They claim that the RRP for The Second World War by Antony Beevor is HK$496 (US$64).  Eh?  I don’t think so.

• The US list price is actually $35 and Amazon.com are offering it for less than $20.
• The UK list price is £25.00 ($40.00) but Amazon.co.uk are offering it for £12.46, or you can buy it from Book Depository for £20.70 with free delivery.

So, the price of HK$234 (US$30.20, £18.60) is cheaper than Book Depository, but it is nothing like a 53% discount.

So where does that RRP of nearly HK$500 come from?  Hong Kong book shops tend to add 20% to the official price, but that only brings us to around HK$325.