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Waterstone's is selling titles online at above recommended retail prices, despite cheaper deals being offered by other online retailers including Amazon and Borders. Some instore titles are also being sold above r.r.p.
Publishers including Osprey, Taschen, Ordnance Survey and Michelin do not print r.r.p.'s on all of their products and Waterstone's in some cases is pricing titles above those set by publishers. OS Land-ranger maps have an r.r.p. of £6.99, however, Waterstone's charges £7.50 both instore and onine. Meanwhile, Amazon is advertising OS Landranger Map Sheet 190 for £6.29 while Borders is selling it online for £5.24.
The publishers that The Bookseller spoke to said that Waterstone's had not informed them of the move. Water-stone's has also upped the price on Michelin maps by between 50p and £1, while Amazon and Borders are selling the range up to £1 below r.r.p.
Paul Cordle, PR manager at Michelin, said Waterstone's was "at liberty" to charge whatever it wished "irrespective" of r.r.p. Taschen sales director, Roy Enticott, said the decision was Waterstone's to make. He added: "The book-buying public will decide if it is the right decision or not."
Taschen's Movie Icons series, including titles on Woody Allen and Marilyn Monroe, has an r.r.p. of £5.99, the price they are sold for instore by Waterstone's. However, on Waterstone's website the books are £6.99—an increase of more than 16%. Amazon is selling the Allen title for £5.39 and the Monroe book for £4.49, while Borders is selling both for £5.39 each.
A spokesperson for the retailer said: "Waterstone's reviews its prices on a regular basis and we aim to offer the best range of titles on the high street, with a huge amount of them discounted or available as part of a promotion at any one time. We have changed the prices on a very limited number of products and are now looking at how customers respond to the changes within the context of wider promotional activity."
However, one un-named Waterstone's employee said: "They say they are doing this to protect margin. To us at our shop it is more like price fixing." One publisher who asked to remain anonymous added: "Waterstone's is not the only book retailer on the high street and it has a long way to go to match Amazon in UK sales. Increasing prices may be a short-term fix if the bottom line needs to be protected, but the consumer will have the final say."