globalcitizen

Bookdepository.com already deliver free to HK, beating local Paddyfield, Dymocks, Swindon, Page One etc.. and Amazon et al. But I noticed recently that – when you click through to their website – their prices didn’t correlate with the prices thrown up on comparison websites like bookbrain.com (or megashopbot.com which compares the comparison sites!). Often prices doubled.

For instance, a search for ‘Korea Lonely Planet‘ throws up Book Depository as cheapest, with free worldwide delivery, at £7.79.

Splendid, until you click the link through and find it at £15.04 on their website…

To test if they were using IP geolocation to offer higher prices to foreign site visitors, I looked at the same page through a UK proxy… 54% off?  Jackpot:

As this would be the view my sister in England would have of the page, I asked her to order the book for HK delivery – and it worked!

That’s right readers, you can now burn a copy of Tony Blair’s memoirs for just £15.84, instead of £19.88.

So if you’re not in the UK, it’s best to use Bookbrain.com to search the true prices of Book Depository titles, and then employ an internet or human proxy to buy!