[Timbo]

We are just doing our insurance itinery (sp) for the shippers, and got to wondering just how expensive are books in NZ compared to the UK.
OH reads as her main form of entertainment (no comments please), and is counting up for valuation purposes. The figure so far, for replacement purposes, is around the £700 mark.
If we had to replace that amount of books in NZ, roughly how much would it cost?

[StevieD]

I have heard that books are really expensive down there Timbo.... although Amazon has helped a lot of people. But aren't books expensive here too? Only the likes of the supermarkets and discount book shops sell books cheap. Go to Waterstones or Smiths and you pay full whack!

Tara lar

Steve

[Smiler]

Timbo

Tell Sarah to bring them. I'm a bookworm and I haven't bought any yet because the price has put me off . I've joined the library instead for free and I'm scouring the hospice shops too. Oh and bidding for job lots of books on Trademe.

$16.95 + up to $26.00 is the prices I've seen in the bookshops etc. So difficult to say what Sarahs book would cost individually here.

Haven't really seen any in the supermarket. There's nothing I've found like the big stand of books in Asda Burgh Heath @£3.99 a book. :eek: or 3 for the price of 2.

We paid $29.00 for our Map of NZ and it's comparable with the Collins/AA map of the UK that you could pick up for £2.99.

Our books are all in the container. Good :D

D x

[kiwidebs]

Hi Timbo

Tell Sarah to check out this site - should give you a rough guide as to what books retail for in NZ. This is Whitcoulls (???NZ equivalent to WHSmiths but dearer???). http://www.whitcoulls.co.nz/top100.asp?storeurl=whitcoulls

Everyone I know in NZ belongs to their local library - mostly due to the exorbitant cost of books.

Debs

[Smiler]

Crikey Debs $28.99 for Bridget Jones Diary GULP!!


Good site. It's scaring me though. :wah

D

[Timbo]

Thanks Debs & Deborah, exactly what I was looking for. We need to give replacement values for everything in case of loss/damage in transit.
Sarah would be devastated if she didnt have Terry Pratchet for company.
Deborah. How did you know that we shop at the Burgh heath Asda? SPOOKY!!

[Smiler]

Deborah. How did you know that we shop at the Burgh heath Asda? SPOOKY!!

Da da da dah ( ok anyway the spooky tune from the telly) Good guess :laugh . I did all my shopping there on the way home from work in Epsom to Sutton. :D

Can't find comparable store here yet, clothes, books, food, everything else under one roof. :wah

D

[katandbob]

Da da da dah
Can't find comparable store here yet, clothes, books, food, everything else under one roof. :wah

D

OH No!

What will I do without ASDA! most of my wardrobe is full of my George collection! ha ha....will have to get Daughter to send 'asda' care packages!

seriously, their books start at £3.74, I started to read the time travellers wife last night....but I had to stop as my eyes were too tired after driving home in the rain from Manchester!....I think I will have a BIG shopping spree b4 I get the shippers in next yr.

[ruthyroo]

Definitely tell her to bring all her Pratchetts - they are out of the library all the time, and the most recent one (Thud) still in hardback costs..............

$54.00 !!!!! For a flippin book!!! I phoned my mum to bring her copy from the UK and then take it away with her when she leaves again.

OTOH I have found the library really good here - regular updates of the collection and loads of good non-fiction.

[mechidna]

I hate to hijack a post, but speaking of libraries...there is a charge on some of the books. It's $1 here in Rotorua and .50 in Tauranga. It's not much and only on adult fiction. It's just something that surprised me. You don't generally pay to check out books in the US.

Michele

[Moorf]

In Chch you can borrow up to 20 books, per person, for free. No charge. Zip. Even membership is free - you're paying for it in your rates. As a member you also get online access to a huge amount of online databases (including Ancestry.com) that you'd normally pay a premium price to have access to, and you can put reserves/holds on books ($1.50 per hold) via your online account and check where you are in the queue!

You will, however, be charged for books marked "bestsellers" ($3 a week) and for most Audio/Visual stuff ($1 - $3).

You can also arrange interloans (i.e. loans from other academic and private/public libraries) from any library throughout NZ. These cost approx $7 - depending on source.

Also, if you want cheap books, and don't mind second hand, find out when your Council's library sales are held. We have "mini" sales in each library (where you can pick up a paperback for $1 and a hardback for $3!!) and there is a large annual sale too - can't remember date off-hand.

[real_sunfire]

The main thing to remember especially for those coming from the UK is that unlike the UK books in NZ are not zero rated for VAT (called GST in NZ).

Last time I was in the NZ I did some quick calculations that without
GST the books I looked at would be roughly the same price as in the UK.

Rgds.,
Nick.

[RJLink]

For those coming from the U.S., be prepared to pay about double the price you're accustomed to for books. Also, foreign newspapers are very expensive. I once saw a copy of a Sunday edition of the New York Times on sale for the equivalent of US$35!

[Voice]

I was really shocked at the price of books here too, and as one of the first things I did on getting here was joined a book group, I am finding it an expensive business! Still, as others have said, the libraries are great even if they do make a small charge. The problem is that I really like to 'own' a book, rather than borrow it, so at the moment I'm asking for lists of books from Amazon for my birthday and Christmas presents from my Mum and Sister in the UK.

[Moorf]

The problem is that I really like to 'own' a book

Ditto!!

[becca]

Hello all, I have been reading the book post with interest. I am not sure if anyone has discovered the huge number of second hand bookshops yet. I know when I spent a few months travelling around that they were everywhere. The books vary in condition but you can usually find some really good titles and some shops will track stuff down for you. I know my Dad goes to one about once a month and if he doesn't want to keep what he buys then he takes it back for a credit against his next purchase. The prices depend on the condition and the age but most will buy books off you for a reasonable rate as well. I remember one particular road in central Christchurch that had 3 massive bookshops. Spend a long afternoon on a particularly cold day browsing all of them. Was a few years ago, so not sure if they are still there.

Hope this helps as I remember how expensive they are in Books and more and Whitcoulls.

Becca

[willsken]

OK, the book thing worries me. I read sooo much and I also like to own my books. :D I have recently sold about 300 of my books in my clearing out stage before we move to NZ. The second hand value in the UK isn't very much so I wonder if it would be worth keeping the rest of my books to bring and swap in the second hand stores? (I've got about 200 left) :uhoh

[Moorf]

Good idea - the book shop around the corner from me does trade ins - shame I can't bring myself to sell any!! :uhoh

[Avalon]

We are just doing our insurance itinery (sp) for the shippers, and got to wondering just how expensive are books in NZ compared to the UK.
OH reads as her main form of entertainment (no comments please), and is counting up for valuation purposes. The figure so far, for replacement purposes, is around the £700 mark.
If we had to replace that amount of books in NZ, roughly how much would it cost?

My book valutaion came in at over £9000 :o (actually more than my furniture!)

Seriously - im really not kidding. That includes fiction and non fiction. many of which are hardbacks.

Roughly I allowed £7 for a normal novel, £12 for a hardback novel, and about 15-25 for a non fiction hardback book. (though its nearer £9/10 for a novel in NZ)

All in all there areover 1000 books, and thats after we sold the stuff we could bear to part with.

And then my parents books arrived!

We HAD to buy such a big house just to get all the books in.

I can only say - Thank you Amazon - its saving my life and my wallet. :o