Tourists are taking a reading on cost difference of books
Peek into the bags of just about any Canadian returning from a cross-border shopping trip and you're bound to find books. Hardback or paperback, books offer visitors from the north some of the best deals found in the United States - even at full price - now that Canadian currency has caught up to the US dollar.
That's because US publishers preprint dual book prices on back covers anywhere from a month to a year before the titles hit store shelves, and bookstores say they can't absorb the shock of lopping off the Canadian premium all by themselves. While American publishers have slowly been reducing prices of books sold in Canada, they aren't leaning toward eliminating the higher list prices because their distribution costs remain higher outside the United States.
"It's a hot button," said Kevin Hanson, president of Simon & Schuster Canada and of the Canadian Publishers Council. Consumers are "expecting instant parity on book prices," he said. "That's a challenge for us."
Hanson said many publishers with inventories in Canada are scrambling to plaster their stock with lower-price stickers. Others are trying to intercept print runs, but the ink has already dried on many titles due in November.
St. Martin's Press decided in August to cut the prices of its forthcoming general-interest hardcovers and trade paperbacks by 8 percent as it watched the value of the loonie rise. That means a book that retails for $50 in the United States will be listed for $57.50 in Canada, down from $62.50.
"Now that we've learned the dollar is at parity, we understand that we're still a little bit higher" in Canada, said Steve Cohen, chief operating officer of St. Martin's Press. "But we will continually look at the price differential and make necessary adjustments based on how the business goes over the next few months in Canada."
Canada is an important market for US publishers, on average accounting for 5 to 10 percent of their business. Of course, Canadian bookstores are free to discount their inventory to spur sales. But there is no incentive for them to do that, said Steve Budnarchuk, co-owner of Audrey's Books in Edmonton, Alberta, and past president of the Canadian Booksellers Association. "If we take the markdown, we take a loss on it," he said.
