Buying books in Australia is becoming an expensive game.

That said, I spend more money on books than on any other “luxury” item I buy. I love supporting Australian industries, but the Australian Publishing industry is making that really hard.

Some people have already noticed that there is a problem. In Rosemary Sorensen’s Book Wars article in The Australian (July 26, 2008), she says:

It’s not that long ago that Australian readers could expect to pay under $20 for a paperback and under $30 for a hardback; now it’s likelier to be $33 and $50, a disincentive of a different kind for readers.

I have only recently encountered this rise in prices. My Girlfriend works for a publisher, my little heart did a leap for joy when she told me that she got a 50% discount on retail. So I quickly jumped over to their website and started making my list. As with all publishers site, the book blurbs where the only info available. I toddled off to Amazon.com and started looking for some realistic reviews of the books in my wish list.

On average Amazon was AU$2-5 cheaper per book than the discounted price I had direct from the publisher. Oh and that was including shipping via surface mail (20 odd days). I don’t mind waiting.

Now I saw a book review in my news feed from the Guardian. A new book called Coming of Age in Second Life. So I called Dymocks in Collins St to see if they had it. No, but they could get it in for me. Oh and the price? “… about $90″ the shop assistant kindly informed me. A quick check on Amazon… $38.01 inc. shipping.

Now as I write this I thought I should look around for a better price in Aus. So I fired up Google and found that the Melbourne University Bookshop has it for $57.95 ($46.95 + $11.00 delivery) or $42.26 in store.

As much as I want to support Australian Publishers and Booksellers, I can’t afford it.