Harry Potter and the deathly price wars

Every time I walked by this bookstore for the last two months, I'd see the poster asking me to pre-order the book. But every time I looked at the poster, I'd tell myself, maybe later. Sometimes I'd intend to order, but decide not to at the last minute. In fact, it crossed my mind that if I'd wait till the hoo-ha died down, I might actually get it cheaper. Yea, I'm still a kid, I like reading the thing, but I'm not like a die hard fan, not about to camp outside in robes, wands and cash a-ready. Puh-leeze.

So when the hoo-ha began, and everyone was anticipating today, I just thought..if can buy, buy lar, if not...wait lor. Was sure my boss would pre-order, and then probably boast a little about it. Was also expecting the shelves to get emptied out pretty fast, leaving us "stupid" flers who did not pre-order waiting while everyone else who did, finish the book and tell us all about it. Little did I nor anyone else know that some magic was at play and at breakfast yesterday, I almost choked on my cereal.

A quarter page add by hypermarket T, announcing the sale of the book, at 7.01 am, at 69.90!!!! ( pre-ordered books were sold at 109.90). I was flabbergasted..I thought it must be some kinda joke. Then I thought hmm, T's too far, too much hassle, have to get to work, no time. I flip the page..and there it was. A similar ad, by hypermarket C, for the exact same deal, same price some more! You should have seen my grin..my megawatt smile could light up the entire neighbourhood!

Heh...so my plan was to rush to work, get to C and buy the thing. Which I did. I anticipated a huge crowd, bustling over limited copies, many disgruntled parents and kids making noise as the hypermarket ran out of copies...but NO. There was NO crowd, No queue, and No empty shelves. The book was in stock at 9.30 am, with many more unsold copies. C had set up a booth outside the main mart, with a checkout counter, so convenient. I had time to decide which cover I wanted, the adult one or the kid one. Obviously I picked the kid one.

So there I was, walking up the escalator to work, grinning from ear to ear. I passed a girl seated on a bench, reading her Potter, the one with the mug and nice paper bag from the bookstore and I thought..hehe...SUCKER!( no offense to all you flers who pre-ordered).I was happy. I got my book, the day of the worldwide release, at 40 BUCKS CHEAPER! Who needs a mug?

My boss meanwhile, sure enough, had pre-ordered and was grumbling. He wasn't happy at paying more than me and many others. He claims it's piracy! Shouldn't be allowed to discount so much! Unfair! Bla,bla...I think, C and T did us consumers all a big favour..they are helping the poor kids who can't afford 109.90 for a book,buy it at a reasonable price, and enjoy it. They are making the bookstores realise that they can't twist our (consumers) arms into buying something that they have absolute control over, price wise.We don't have to pay 109.90 to read it.We don't have to pre-order the book for fear it will be "out of stock". And it definitely makes reading more a joy than a financial burden. 109.90 for a childrens book...think about it.

What I'm not happy about though is this news that even if you had 109.90 to pay, these bookstores won't entertain you, if you didn't pre-order.My money isn't good enough, because I wasn't kiasu enough to order 3 months in advance. Well then, to the kids who didn't pre-order and don't have 109.90 to spend, hop over to you-know-where. It's 69.90 and you could also pick up Milo.

And now, this kid's got a 69.90 book to read.