[niklasmerz]

As a German I don't have to worry too much about the prices of books. We have Buchpreisbindung https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchpreisbindung

[Alex_X-PressOne]

It's funny how this comment seems to have most upvotes. Good morning fellow germans ;) It adds no real feedback to the original post but shows how much we germans love our Buchpreisbindung.

[MrGilbert]

Another German here. I don’t know… Buchpreisbindung sucks when it comes to eBooks. It would be awesome if you could get the eBook at a reduced price if you have the physical copy.

[acatton]

Exactly, the cheapest and fastest way to get a book in Germany is most likely your neighborhood book store on the way back from work. (And if they don't have the book in store, they can order it for the next day.)

[lupire]

I find it hard to believe that local bookkstore catalog is nearly large enough.

[PinguTS]

The local bookstore can even do same day delivery.

[gadders]

We used to have a similar price-fixing thing in the UK called the Net Book Agreement [1]. Thankfully it got repealed and books became cheaper for all.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Book_Agreement

[PinguTS]

"Thankfully" is an interesting view from the reader side. Would be interesting to know what was the impact on the authors side.

Got it cheaper because the authors got now less money or got it cheaper because the publisher got now less money?

Because I know, that (at least for technical books) the pay for the authors is not really great. It's more like a reputation than making money out of it.

[elcapitan]

One of the reasons why I routinely check used books first to get around that high price guarantee.

[l5870uoo9y]

Thanks for sharing, reminds me of another old revered law in Germany, the Reinheitsgebot. Buchpreisbindung was introduced in 1888 and according to the Wikipedia article it fails to deliver cheaper books and even indirectly subsidize large bookstores like Amazon.

[moooo99]

I really don‘t like Buchpreisbindung. It frequently makes books significantly more expensive than their English originals (I‘ve seen prices 10€ higher than the English version). That’s the primary reason why I choose to buy the original English versions instead (Buchpreisbindung does not affect non-German books as long as they are not specifically targeting the German markets like educational materials). A nice side effect is the noticeable improvement tin my comprehension skills for English texts.

[ghusto]

Can't be bothered to translate this page to English, but from the comments I'm guessing it's the decision by the government to not tax books the same way they do leisure items?

I moved to the Netherlands a while ago, and was shocked at how much books cost. I learned that they're taxed the same as everything else, which seems short-sighted.

[lolinder]

For those who don't speak German, this is the English-language article: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed_book_price

[rogierhofboer]

Same in The Netherlands: https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0017452/2021-07-01/0

[baud147258]

We have the same thing in France too.

[hk__2]

As well as Greece, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, and a couple others: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Countries-with-a-Fix...

[greenie_beans]

does that apply to used books, or just new? i think (?) the target for this website is used because there is a fixed price for newly published books. (however sometimes big box stores will mark them down or run a sale)

[shnksi]

That's a great system that you have in Germany! Does it apply to used books also?

[FinnKuhn]

It doesn't, only for new books. Used or damaged books as well as clearance sales for example aren't part of this.