PRICE war or not, hardcore Harry Potter fan Zaid Ahmad Husni, 23, did not mind paying more for the seventh and final instalment of J. K Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Zaid, a graduate, was spotted buying the most talked-about book at an MPH outlet in the city by The Malay Mail yesterday.
“I don’t mind paying a little more for convenience,” he said.
Zaid, a huge Potter fan, said he had never missed a book from J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Accompanied by his brother, Huzir, Zaid said he was looking forward to getting the book.
MPH Bookstore (M) Sdn Bhd operations manager Zaffri Hassan said yesterday said he was optimistic that sales would pick up in the next few days.
“Since opening our doors this morning, our outlets had received promising response.”
He added that the Harry Potter books sold at their bookstores may now appeal more to the general readers, as opposed to true blue Potter fans.
When asked if there were any regrets over their decision to pull the book off their shelves at the eleventh hour last Saturday, Zaffri said that there were no regrets. He added that the interests of booksellers should be protected.
“Hypermarkets, which are selling the book at RM69.90, are selling it at a loss. We cannot afford to sell below the cost price.”
A similar price war happened in Britain as hypermarkets there had also decided to sell the book at a lower price.
He said this had forced independent bookstores in Britain to stop selling the books.
Controversy erupted here on the eve of the worldwide launch of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows.
A price war over the recommended retail price of the title between three of Malaysia’s largest booksellers and several hypermarkets yielded some surprises.
In an unprecedented move, MPH Bookstores (M) Sdn Bhd, Popular Book Co (M) Sdn Bhd and Times The Bookshop Pte Ltd declared on Friday that the Harry Potter title would not be sold at any of their stores.
The three bookshops had claimed that the title’s local distributor, Penguin Books Malaysia, had placed the recommended price at RM109.90.
On Monday, the three bookstores issued a joint statement that they had resolved the matter with the distributors and were offering a 20 per cent discount on the book to customers who make any other purchase, and 25 per cent of the price for members.
Readers who have paid in full, will get a RM15 book voucher upon collecting their books, while those who have paid half the price will have RM15 deducted from the sale price.
Penguin managing director Eddy Teo confirmed that books sold at RM69.90 were being sold at a loss.
He said the public should understand that bookstores don’t make much profit as their main source of income is only books, unlike hypermarkets.
