Booksellers seeking more than €16 for the latest Harry Potter book are "fleecing children", the manager of one of Dublin's best-known bookshops has said.
Mr Niall Mescall, manager of Reads on Nassau Street, agreed his profit margin on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was "very slim" but insisted he was making a profit selling the book for 15.75. Reads is selling the book at the cheapest rate here, though between the Internet and shops the price varies from 10.97 to 22. The next cheapest outlet at which to buy the book is Tesco, where it's for sale at 17.95. Tesco in Belfast however is selling it for £9.97 (14.32).
Crannóg Books in Cavan was selling it for 20 but reduced the price to €18 at noon on Saturday, when owner Mr John McEvoy heard of the Tesco price.
The recommended retail price here is 24.99 with all shops marking the price down. The recommended price in Britain and Northern Ireland is £16.99 (24.40) though again prices have been marked down, with Waterstone's in Belfast selling the book for £11.99 (17.22). Waterstone's in Dublin is charging €19.99.
The cheapest place to get it however appears to be on Tesco's web-site, Tesco.com, where it can be bought for £7.64 or 10.97.
Reads's Mr Mescall said yesterday that sales had been "huge". "Since Friday night we've sold 5,500 copies. We are the cheapest and I've had this out with people before.The other booksellers don't have to charge as much as they do to make a profit. They really are creaming it. There were kids in here on Friday night and some had been saving their pocket money for months. It's not fair to rip them off."
Mr Dermot Jewell, spokesman for the Consumers' Association, agreed, and called on other retailers to reduce their prices, describing the discrepancies as a "classic example of the enormous profit margins" in the publishing trade here.
"I absolutely would call on them to bring their prices down. Unfortunately the biggest selling of the book has probably already taken place."
He said the fact that shops such as Reads could make a profit, however slim, on the book indicated there was no need to charge the higher amounts. It was "particularly cynical", he added, to charge such prices when the product was aimed at children.
"It's sad to think that it's young people and their enthusiasm that is being ripped off. Young consumers are learning earlier and earlier the importance of shopping around."
Other retailers however said they marked the price down as far as they could. Mr Kevin Barry, owner of the eight shops in the Dubray Books group, said the retailers that marked the price below 20 were not primarily booksellers and were using their sales of the Harry Potter book as a "publicity gimmick".
The book is 21.99 in Dubray Bookshops.
"Tesco is selling it cheaper to get customers in who'll then buy their groceries too and Reads' main business is photocopying and stationery. Book selling is very much a side business for them," he said.
Mr McEvoy of Crannóg Books said it was unfair of retailers such as Tesco to undercut the "small independent booksellers when times are tough in the industry".
