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Letter to the editor

Harry Potter conjures up price war

As its release nears, the final Potter book casts a spell over fans and bookstores alike.

By MARK ALBRIGHT Times staff writer
Published July 19, 2007

For the last Harry Potter book two years ago, Haslam's Book Store staged an early morning event and posted a costumed goblin to pass out copies. This time, the St. Petersburg retailer is just dropping the price 42 percent to $20.32.

"That's in lieu of a special event this time," said Ray Hinst, owner of the independent bookstore that expects to make a scant $1 a copy. "We carry it because our loyal customers expect us to do more than to a make a lot of money."

While the publishers of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on Wednesday fought to keep pilfered pages of the secret ending off the Internet and eBay opportunists from profiteering at the peak of the advance hype, another development surfaced. Rampant discounting has broken out among retailers for Muggles non-magical people in the Potter series who can wait until the seventh and final book in the series hits the shelves at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

Author J.K. Rowling jacked up the suggested retail price $5 to $34.99, supposedly because this one has 784 pages vs. 672 in the last one. But the big bookstore chains already cut the price 40 percent to $20.99 and discounters such as Toys "R" Us slipped below $20. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Wednesday cut deeper, lowering its hard-cover price for the second time in a month to $17.78 to beat Target by 21 cents.

"We aim to be the low price leader," said Melissa O'Brien, Wal-Mart spokeswoman.

Like many big chains, Wal-Mart is selling Potter at a loss to get more people in the stores to buy other stuff, including related Potter paraphernalia.

That's made it tough for independent booksellers who live off a book industry standard 40 percent markup, but make little profit on high-volume crazes like Harry Potter.

The Potter series so far sold 325-million books and the five films have generated $3.5-billion and counting. But discounting this time already brought the real price closer to the same $16 to $17 the last one fetched after discounts.

"We've had more people come to ask what our price will be this time," said Michael Dunn, assistant manager of Waldenbooks in University Mall in Tampa. "Some are surprised it's not much higher than last time."

Months ago, many independent booksellers were refusing to stock the Potter book because of the expected deep discounts by volume merchants. Many relented and will have late-night Potter Parties like those slated at selected Borders and Wal-Mart Supercenters on Friday anyway.

"The Potter books are great for making reading fun and creating excitement, but they are not big money makers for independents like us," said Carla Jimenez, co-owner of Inkwood Book Store in Tampa, which will sell the book at $34.99 (10 percent off with a loyalty club membership and a coupon deal) but nonetheless will have an 11:15 p.m. Potter Party with snacks, costumes and a storyteller reading the end of the last book during the countdown for the next one.

"For independent bookstores, Potter is more a labor of love," said Haslam's Hinst.

Even Book Stall in Brandon, a paperback exchange, felt compelled to stock a half-dozen copies of Deathly Hallows at a 10 percent discount.

"It's a convenience for customers," said manager Arlene Stein. "Or we'll rent the Potter book for $4 a week."

Mark Albright can be reached at albright@sptimes.com">href="mailto:albright@sptimes.com" mce_href="mailto:albright@sptimes.com">albright@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8252.

Many big chains are selling Potter at a steep discount to lure more customers into their stores to buy other Potter products. A sampling of prices at area retailers:

$34.99: Inkwood Books, Tampa; Book Stall, Brandon

$20.99: Most big bookstore chains

$20.32: Haslam's Book Store, St. Petersburg

$17.99: Target

$17.78: Wal-Mart

[Last modified July 18, 2007, 22:48:32]