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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask for a discount on a book?

52 replies

sterlitza · 22/04/2020 22:38

I was on ebay and saw a book that I've really wanted for a while. It's a fairly academic/history book so expensive. Turns out the seller is the author.

I sent a very very polite message saying that I would love a copy of his book as the subject is of interest. I explained that money is short at the moment, and wondered if he would be willing to offer a discount. I then thanked him and wished him well.

I received a fairly short reply explaining the price of the book is already heavily discounted, and if I were to go to Waterstones I would pay double the price. He would not be willing to offer a discount, but he would offer a "cheek discount" of 5% off. Now I can't tell if this was a joke or if I had upset him.

I bought the book in the end, as I need something to read over lockdown.

Was I unreasonable?

OP posts:

Goandplay · 22/04/2020 22:40

No of course not. They could’ve said no. You politely asked.

TheReluctantCountess · 22/04/2020 22:42

I think that’s cheeky of you.yabu.

LouiseTrees · 22/04/2020 22:42

Agree with past poster. If you want to cozy up now though, you could send a follow up stating you bought it at full price and hope you didn’t offend.

cherrybunx0 · 22/04/2020 22:47

I dont think you were unreasonable - if you dont ask you dont get

PlanDeRaccordement · 22/04/2020 22:48

Cheeky
Money’s tight for everyone. Asking an author for a discount is the same as telling someone to take a pay cut.

HerefortheHouse · 22/04/2020 22:50

I don’t think you were cheeky.

Authors generally don’t get any royalties from anything they sell below 50% of the cover price (and when they do it’s 5-7%) so it is hard to sell for a cut price. Having said that, he probably bought from his own distributor and was making a bit - plus it sounds like you were really lovely.

Leaannb · 22/04/2020 22:51

Sorry but you were cheeky. The value of their work doesn't go down because of your inability to pay.

Areyoufree · 22/04/2020 22:52

That’s fairly standard for eBay, isn’t it? When I’ve sold items, I’ve often had emails asking if I am willing to accept a lower offer. At the end of the day, they made the sale!

krankykittykat · 22/04/2020 22:54

Yabu. Would you ask for a discount in the supermarket because money is short or expect your say energy company to give you a discount right now?

Sparklesocks · 22/04/2020 22:55

I think it’s a bit cheeky but clearly it paid off as you got 5% off. I think it depends on the person you ask as everyone will react differently, and he didn’t tell you to jog on so if he was offended it wasn’t bad enough to lose out on a sale.

ScrumptiousBears · 22/04/2020 22:57

Sometimes I wonder if authors are like this. I emailed one saying how much I liked his book, reminded me of my late father who did the same job as him (and the subject of the book). That I'd got the book from a library and did he still sell them and all I got back was a link to his selling page

Malvinaaa81 · 22/04/2020 22:58

So was it worth it for 5%.

And the fact that you've come on here indicates a measure of guilt?

browzingss · 22/04/2020 23:05

“Cheek discount” is a hilarious term.

It’s both a joke and a sign that you’ve upset him (as in annoyed). He essentially said it was brazen of you to ask as he thinks it is already fairly priced. You never know, money may be short for him too so he doesn’t want to sell at a loss.

In the seller’s defence, they must get lots of chancers and beggars messaging them, every eBay seller receives ridiculous messages from time to time. So he may have just lumped your polite message with the rest.

Did you accept the discount?

bridgetreilly · 22/04/2020 23:07

I think you were very unreasonable and he was unnecessarily kind to offer you any discount at all.

SarahAndQuack · 22/04/2020 23:09

Yes, I think you were rude.

How much did you consider 'expensive'?

It sounds, from his response, as if it genuinely was already very discounted. Academic books can go for an absolute bomb - it'd be easy to pay £100. But the author won't make very much money at all from publishing.

I agree that it probably came across as quite insulting, as if you were saying his work wasn't worth very much.

It is slightly different from general questions on ebay IMO - it's not offensive to ask someone if they'd take 30 rather than 40 for that second-hand dress, because they didn't make it themselves.

SarahAndQuack · 22/04/2020 23:12

Oh, and btw, I bet he's partly fed up because he's heard this so many times. I'm an academic and before my book was even in press I got very tired of people asking how much it would be then implying I was greedy to charge so much (pricing has nothing to do with me), or asking if they could get a free copy. My MIL is still absolutely convinced that I will 'have' to sell copies at 5.99 'like they do in Waterstones' because otherwise I will 'make no money'.

No one makes money from academic books anyway!

DramaAlpaca · 22/04/2020 23:14

Oh dear, OP, not your finest hour. That was really cheeky, borderline rude.

yerawizadari · 22/04/2020 23:21

So you wanted an expensive academic textbook, and then found out it was actually being sold by the author himself? And you actually asked for a discount? That was some serious cheek.

I would have paid the price, and complimented him by asking him to autograph it.

angieloumc · 23/04/2020 07:22

You were really very rude and it was 'cheeky'. As a pp said academic books are very expensive for a reason and the author rarely makes a lot of money from them.
I hope your 5 % was worth it; pretty poor form.

PianoTuner567 · 23/04/2020 08:00

If it was an academic book, it’s likely that he is financially worse off than you are.

peoplewhoannoyyou · 23/04/2020 08:03

I laughed at the idea of sending a "very very polite message" for something that was completely unreasonable and rude. A polite insult is still an insult...

SegregateMumBev · 23/04/2020 08:06

How much was it? What did 5% end up saving you?

Justanotherlurker · 23/04/2020 08:11

It is a bit choosing beggars territory tbh.

You where NU for asking and they where NU for turning you down.

heartsonacake · 23/04/2020 08:24

YABU and yes, you were very cheeky. Your financial situation doesn’t alter the cost of the book, so if you can’t afford it but still want it you wait until you can afford it.

I’m embarrassed on your behalf.

ExclamationPerfume · 23/04/2020 08:26

You were cheeky. The price was on there if you didn't want to pay that then you should have left the book for someone else to buy.

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