Re: Books (was Re: tlug: TLUG Finances)

[Alberto Tomita <atomita@example.com>]

> We're better off buying in Japan, I think.  Skysoft books sells at U.S. cover
> price converted to yen, and if we pick up the order (they will ship to any
> Bunkyodo store in Japan), the shipping is free.

I went to http://www.sky.co.jp and found there's a 25% overcharge for
technical books (I think UNIX-related books are considered "Academic"
according to the classification given below):

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     PRICE POLICY

     [Image]Skysoft believes that it is our mission to make titles
            from the U.S. available to our customers with the price
            as close as possible to what you pay for in the U.S. We
            are working very hard to break the Price-barrier of the
            foreign books. English titles are no longer expensive
            in Japan.

     [Image]"TRADE BOOKS"
            Adult and Children's hardcover books, trade paperbacks,
            mass market paperbacks, what we call "Trade Books", we
            offer those with the price in YEN realized after
            calculation of U.S. retail price multiplied by $/YEN
            exchange rate (Weekly Updated TTS Rate). (Delivery fee
            will be charged when requested.)
            For instance, a title with the U.S. retail price of
            $15.95 will be sold at Skysoft for :

               $/YEN Exchange Rate :\ 140.00 /$
                     Skysoft price :$15.95 x 140.00 = \ 2,233

     [Image]"ACADEMIC BOOKS"
            Academic reference, statistics, specialized technology
            report and references, etc, what we call "Academic
            Books", we offer those with the price in YEN realized
            after calculation of U.S. retail price plus 25% of the
            retail price, then multiplied by $/YEN exchange rate
            (Weekly Updated TTS Rate). (Delivery fee will be
            charged when requested.)
            For instance, a title with the U.S. retail price of
            $55.00 will be sold at Skysoft for :

               $/YEN Exchange Rate :\140.00/$

                     Skysoft price :$55.00 x 125% x 140.00 =
                                     9,625

            Our price policy is usually 20-40% lower than prices at
            other bookstores.

     [Image]Exchange Rate : $/YEN Exchange Rate (TTS RATE) at the
            end of previous week will be applied to calculate YEN
            price. This rate will be changed on a weekly basis
            following the foreign exchange market condition.

     [Image]Please note that all your purchase, as in the example
            shown above, will be subject to 5 % sales tax.

     [Image]The U.S. retail price of titles are subject to change
            without prior notice. If the price of the title you
            ordered increases more than 25% while you are waiting,
            Skysoft will contact you to hear your choice, however,
            in case that price increase is less than 25%, your
            order will be kept processed and new price will be
            charged when you purchase.

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