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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mhacdebhandia" data-source="post: 3618090" data-attributes="member: 18832">I think there are definitely limits, as you say. Even if I paid the exact same price for Complete Divine from Amazon as I would from my local gaming store, the "real price" is affected by several factors:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">My ability to shop at Amazon from my desk</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">My need to travel to the store and its related costs (transport fares, petrol, parking)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Shipping costs and time from Amazon</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">My ability to pay with my American Express card at Amazon</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">My ability to pay with my American Express or EFTPOS (direct debit) card at a store</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">My ability to look through a prospective purchase in a store</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The chance that I will notice something else I want in a store which never comes up while browsing Amazon</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Stores sometimes do carry things which Amazon does not</li> </ul>It's not really as simple, for me, as saying that of course a full-service store will suit me better if the prices are the same. There are a great many touted advantages of full-service stores which aren't relevant to me at all:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I don't need to meet new gamers in a store - I have SUTEKH for that</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I don't need to play games in a store (and, in fact, would not) - I have SUTEKH for that</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I don't need to hear advice or rumours from the staff - I am on EN World, after all</li> </ul>Of course, it's all pretty much personal. For instance, since I live in Australia and the nearest store worth visiting is in the city, 45 minutes' one-way drive from my home, it's actually much better for me to buy my books from Amazon even including shipping, what with petrol and parking - not to mention the effect of the current severe weakness of the U.S. dollar against our own. If I lived or worked closer to a gaming store, and/or the Australian dollar began to fall against the U.S. dollar, those advantages would disappear.I'm also not sure that this change will drive me back to the gaming store - not that the Australian market will be of much concern to American companies - simply because Australian stores price their books much higher than the U.S. recommended retail price, due to the cost of international shipping.Even shopping online with a Sydney retailer like Napoleons, I'd pay A$50.00 for the Player's Handbook - US$42.40, $12.40 more than the R.R.P. Shipping might even it all out, but Amazon has a much larger range - and, as I have done the last few times I've ordered from Amazon, I've added fiction and nonfiction to the order. There's no way to do that with Napoleons!</blockquote>

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