BadgeIsBack

I'm surprised that noone has mentioned this. And I am not surprised it has happened.

What it partly tells me is that Australians are refusing to pay the prices for books. Read the comments in the Age article. People are finding alternative means.

This is an updated article.

http://www.theage.com.au/business/ow...217-1ay6w.html

killerhales

I only buy books from bookdepository.co.uk unless I need something last minute. Good prices and free delivery

Amazon.co.uk also recently announced free delivery to Aus for orders over GBP25.

Prices for textbooks are a particular scandal.

The "book industry" in Australia needs to get real.

bcworld

It's tucked away in a thread about banks.

Australian Banks May See Their Credit Rating Cut

My OH was a manager at Borders and bailed out of there late last year. Many other former colleagues have been doing the same.

It's not just the internet, my OH says it's also just very poorly managed. They'd regularly sell out of stuff and not be allowed or able to order more.

They think that A&R would've been doing OK without being lumped in with Borders by RED.

Aussie retailers of course also have their hands tied with the local protectionist laws regarding publishers.

Oh and yes, even with 35% staff discount we still found it cheaper to order from bookdepository, and did.

Swerv-o

Yes, this certainly hasn't helped. The government's ridiculous decision to continue the protectionism for the Australian publishing industry will eventually see that industry wither and die.

As a result, it comes as no surprise that Borders/AR have gone into voluntary receivership.

But I have noticed that protectionism seems to be a theme in Australia - Just yesterday some guy from a transport union was demanding legislation to protect domestic workers within Qantas. But in what is becoming an increasingly global marketplace, there just is no room for protectionism. It's time that businesses realised that the only way to be profitable is to be lean and efficient. They have had the luxury of protectionism and isolation for too long, and now don't want to adapt to changing conditions.


S

Rambi

I was thinking the wholesalers and publishers will be wondering if they've milked the cow to death.

And it reminds me of union practice (worldwide - not just Aus) of screwing the cash cow to the point it dies and then complaining about the industry failing.

GarryP

Too right.

Protectionism seems to be a theme. Over decades Oz businesses have been able to get away with implicit or explicit protectionism. They've not had to change and adapt as other countries have been forced to. They have become flabby.

Now, with the exchange rate so unbalanced, the mass of the Australian public is beginning to wake up to how much they've been overcharged for so long. They are ordering online, shipping from around the world to their home in less time than it takes the local retailer to sort out stock. And when the retailers bleat, they are looking on unsympathetically.

Frankly Australia needs to sort out its exchange rate pronto, and Australia businesses have to learn the lessons and revolutionise their business models. Otherwise there will be large numbers of redundancies in the retail chain, in fact it may collapse and with it the valuation of commercial retail space.

As for books, well bookstores were always on the way out - along with publishers in the near future. eBooks allows the author to publish and keep most of the profit - the business model there is about to change massively as a result. Bookstores only really have a place as a 'try-before-you-buy' gatekeeper come coffee shop. Stock on the shelves makes little sense.

BadgeIsBack

I love old books and old bookshops but I know the newer ones will never be the same again - this is not a concern for me and I'm all for the ebook movement.

Amazulu

I go into Borders during my lunch break to read their books and magazines - i'll have to find something else to do.

BadgeIsBack

Yes indeed! I'm reading some of the comments now - and that's what people did. I did the same in the UK.

There is one person saying that even the pasta and fruit spin-off books from junk TV tie-ins weren't enough.

Another reports the industry has died from a series of paper cuts...and that the protectionism had been renewed umpteen times since 1998. I said that last time this happened that the industry was on notice. Even if that protectionism stays ...people find alternatives.

4500 Times

I recently bought 4 novels from Big W for $80....walked about 100mtrs past an Angus and Robertson and would have paid double...no wonder they're going out of business...robbin gits....

bcworld

At least you just read them.

My OH would have to chuck people out of the store who were sitting in the coffee shop tearing the recipes they liked out of the magazines!

Amazulu

I do buy magazines there and if I find books that have been heavily discounted or have 40& off vouchers. They often have really cheap kids books. For most of their books they are not even remotely competitive.

Interestingly, on our trip to Europe last year, I noticed that the very large Borders store on Oxford street is no longer there and that many other Waterstone's, Books etc stores have closed.

Kim67

Have you been to Hay on Wye in Wales? The whole town is a mass of book stores with masses of old books everywhere. It's a good day out if you're ever that way.

Amazulu

He should have made them pay for the magazine.

jimbo_d

I think you guys are missing a big point here -Borders is an American owned bookstore that has been losing loads of money from it's US operations