boon's log 3007.01: Crazy about Harry...
21st July, 2007 - the day where certain group of muggles1 were summoned to the nearest bookstand, or bookstore, or any store that sells the latest and greatest and last instalment to the Harry Potter Saga. Hoards of people came on broomsticks, flying cars and flying horses and submersible 14th century ships and invisible double-decker busses... and the likes. They came and they camped at the front door of the bookstores, brought half of their living room and half their kitchen together with them. Most came 3-4 hours prior to store opening hours. I was told that in London, folks began their outing as early as 2 nights before the clock stroke 12midnight - just to make sure that they get their "muggle-ish hands" on the "magical book" as soon as possible and then FINISH is as soon as possible so that when they arrive back the next day at their work place / classrooms, they can actually conduct a conversation with other muggles and provide their respective humble opinions on the last episode.
......
Dudes! Really...
What's more, there is a price war and the major bookstore giants turned out to be a bunch of cry-babies!
"Since you sell your books cheaper than us, we don't want to play with you anymore"
C'mon, for crying out loud! Where's their sense of competition. I believe if bookstores such as MPH, Times or Popular were to open in the States or the UK (with that kind of mentality), they would not have survived.
How would a US bookstore face up to this sort of challenge? Well, if Borders or B&N are really up to it for a sale, they would publish things such as "Guaranteed Lowest Price. We'll match the lowest price in the market." That's the way - healthy competition...
I mean imagine... if shops such as Tesco or Carrefour start selling books (similar titles to those found in MPH, Popular, Times) cheaper than MPH, Popular and Times and one by one, the 3 giants starts to whine and pulling those titles out of their shelves, soon, they'll find themselves selling only Newspapers (where price is pretty much controlled).
Then the newspaper uncles down the street start giving free ice-potong if you buy newspaper from them, then MPH, Popular and Times starts to merajuk again and starts to pull out newspapers from their shelves!
So, to MPH, Popular and Times: Stop whining like a baby and pick up your swords (or wands) and fight! Well, I told IL that eventually, these 3 jokers will come out and declare that due to "popular demand or request from our Priveledge Card Members, we will start to sell Harry Potter 7". To me, they just made a fool of themselves and a lot of the readers angry. What's more, they even canceled the respective Harry Potter promotional events. What a load of crap...
Anyway, one of the MPH representatives came out and say that they surveyed the market and is confident that the hypermarts will run out HP7 by noon on Saturday. But guess what? The papers reported that they were still packed with stocks and folks lining up for the books at 5PM on that very day! MPH - you sucked AGAIN!
Last night at 10-ish PM (this is D-Day PLUS 39hrs), IL and I decided to get some groceries at Tesco on our way home and guess what (again)? We saw racks and boxes of HP7 at the entrance going at RM69.90!
So, MPH, Sttttrrrrike Three! You're out!
IL and I stared at the rack in disbelieve. We did not even have to line up for the books or the counter to pay for the books - which by the way, Tesco Penang was very effective to open up a dedicated counter ONLY for HP7 customers. In fact, they even have a security guard to assist the Tesco salesgirl to ensure that everyone goes directly to the counter to pay for their books before they continue shopping!
IL started to call her rellies to see if they wanted a copy of the book. In the end we ended up buying 3 copies. When the security guard saw us taking 3 books, he felt compelled to escort IL to the counter and ensure that she does not run away with the books! Ha ha! Never before, have we felt so safe buying a Harry Potter book! Don't think any of the book stores have security to escort you to the counter from the bookshelves... ;)
Anyway, here are some pictures...
[22/07/07 22:21] Tesco Penang. High Volume Inventory - secured by a security guard...
[22/07/07 22:25] No need to fight for your own copy at Tesco Penang
[22/07/07 22:26] Dedicated Counter for HP7 customers only - no Queue at all...
My final say, I always believe in going for the best bargain for your money (duh!). Somtimes you may have to wait a little (i.e. like you have to wait for a cheaper bargain weeks (or months) after the official launch). I am not blaming the 3 giants for over-pricing - they can charge whatever they want. But they should take up the challenge to compete and fight instead of curling up like a spoilt brat and complain about it. Yeah, in a way, it is to show their fair-ness to the customers who'd already pre-ordered. But I believe there are other avenues to handle this situation other than what they have decided.
Some other reads:
Magic gone with Major Bookstore Chains
Price wars? Who wins and who loses
It's a Scramble!
1 muggles. noun, non-magic folks. Refering to people who does not have magical abilities, according to J.K. Rowling.
boon out...
posted by Boon @ 23:06
8 Comments:
brader, can take photos in Tesco one ar?
really? Didn't notice. But I guess, they were too busy making sure that the books are safe rather than some guy taking photos of them - I practically took the picture under their noses ;)
Wow I didn't know tesco is selling it so much cheaper compare to major bookstores. I thought they would be giving good discounts. Target is selling for $18, which I think is pretty cheap. KY told me chinese newspaper headlines on sat was HP7 ending. :D
This comment has been removed by the author.
Seriously, is it dat big a deal? I haven't seen any of the movies but have been told of the ending to HP7. Can u believe it, some ppl already finished reading the book!!!!!
GP: Seems like Target is still cheaper than M'sia (based on 3.4)... ;) Did you get yours already? Yeah, I was told the same. And what's more there were some "rumours" that a Filipino youth commited suicide on a HP-spoiler that HP actually died in the last book - but I guess it was a hoax...
WH: Yeah! Exactly. The stoopid appeared on the headlines of the media for at least 3 days! Do we have nothing else to report in this country?! I think this whole thing was blown out of proportion!
BK,
Those pics are super hillarious. I can't believe that they even have "pak jaga". I got mine the boring way--pre-order from Amazon. :)
aimes: boring way or not, as long as you get the best bargain...
Oh, I forgot to mention in ym blog that I asked the "Pak Jaga" whether Harry Potter died in the story and his response was, "Eh, tak boleh bagi tahu... 'tu secret! Kena bacala..." I was laughing! Yes indeed, it was hilarious!
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