Cheap books vs real value: why price isn’t the whole story for Australian readers
By Peninsula Records & Books
You might have seen this recent article suggesting we should stop wasting money in bookstores and buy our books from Kmart or Big W because they’re always cheaper. It even called bookstores “on the way out”, which feels a bit rich when it ends with a disclosure about a paid partnership with Kmart.
Yes, price is real. Some books are cheaper. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is $16 at Big W, and the RRP printed on the back is $32.99. It’s a solid deal, no argument there. But the broader “bookstores are doomed” claim doesn’t hold up.
The real numbers
Nielsen BookScan data show that in 2024 Australian print sales totalled about $1.29 billion, down 3 percent in value and 1 percent in volume compared with 2023. Hardly a collapse. Bookshops are still opening. QBD and Dymocks both expanded last year, and QBD says over 90 percent of its sales happen in store. People still want the experience of walking into a bookshop. They’re just more selective about when and how they buy.
What the cheap prices don’t show
Discount department stores use bestsellers as loss leaders. They drop prices on a handful of huge titles to draw people in and make their margin on everything else. It’s not exactly a commitment to literature. It’s a marketing strategy.
As Robbie Egan, CEO of BookPeople, put it in a CPA Australia interview:
“There is a bit of a grotesque pricing issue in books in Australia. Discount department stores have a loss-leading strategy. They can sell books for less than my members can buy them, but they do not carry the range the independent bookstores carry.”
And he’s right. Range matters. Indies are where discovery happens. The next great Australian novelist isn’t necessarily going to be launched from a Kmart aisle.
The community side of it
Pan Macmillan’s sales director Katie Crawford said something I think about a lot:
“One of the reasons the good indies thrive is they make a big effort to create a community hub, not just a retail store.”
That’s it. It’s the “hub” part that’s hard to quantify. A place where someone recommends a debut you’ve never heard of. Where an author shows up to sign their first book (thanks Bethany Clark). Where you overhear a kid fall in love with reading right there in the aisle or you can offer suggestions to someone that is returning to reading now that they have some spare time...
When discounting cuts too deep
Author Michael Robotham summed it up on ABC Radio National’s Big Ideas:
“This constant discounting devalues the work that goes into a book, the effort, the writing, the publishing. You grow a generation of readers that think a book is only worth a few bucks.”
He also said, “It was independent bookstores that launched me. My second book was picked up and championed by independent bookstores everywhere.”
That support network doesn’t exist when the focus is purely on lowest price.
Why range and loyalty still matter
Richard Flanagan put it plainly in an ABC interview:
“The people who sell cheaper books don’t sell the extraordinary diversity of writing. They just sell a handful of the biggest bestsellers. They don’t really care about books, they just use them as a way of getting people into the store.”
That line sounds harsh, but it’s not an attack on readers who want a bargain. It’s about how the system values creativity. If we want a thriving book culture, we need more than a bestseller table and a barcode.
From the shop floor
We price at RRP because that’s the structure that keeps Australian publishing sustainable. It means authors, publishers, distributors, everyone in the chain, gets paid fairly. We get it. Sometimes the budget only stretches to the discounted copy, and that’s fine. But if you choose to buy local, you’re supporting more than paper and ink. You’re helping keep the ecosystem alive, the discovery, the events, the serendipity.
So, are bookstores on the way out?
No. They’re adapting. As Egan said, independent stores trade on expertise. When people walk in, they’re excited by the service and the conversation. It’s “never just transactional”, he said, “but an exchange of information or knowledge.”
That’s what makes a bookshop different. It’s not nostalgia for its own sake. It’s loyalty, curiosity, and community.
So yes, grab the $16 copy if it helps your wallet. But also wander into a local bookstore next time you can. Especially in a regional town... it keeps it there for the next time you visit but also there for the locals that rely on that as they are nowhere near a Kmart. Ask what’s new, what’s Australian, what’s good. Because cheap isn’t the whole story, and never was.
Why we still tell these stories
We’re a small micro bookshop in a coastal town with a huge passion for books, but this story plays out in every community that still values physical books. It’s not about competing with big-box retail. It’s about preserving choice, culture, and connection.
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