Maps & Crazy Pricing
I love old maps, and the sense of history, of knowledge still left to uncover, that they contain within them. I adore sitting there thinking “You got this right, but you shouldn’t have connected Australia to China.”
I notice that in this blog entry I wrote:
69. DO YOU LIKE MAPS?
Sure, especially ones from centuries ago. I’d love to have one on a wall.
I’m happy to say that I now have one to put on the wall. Or, more specifically, twelve. 
When Radio and I were scouring bookshops in Birmingham as penance for losing her bet about the non-existence of the word onimous we visited Borders, and paid a quick visit to their bargain boxes.
I didn’t find any books that particularly interested me, but I did spot something that was most unexpected:
That’s right; Avalanche Publishing have produced a calendar which contains an assortment of twelve ancient maps! And the great news is that Borders had reduced the price from £10 to a measly £2!
Well, I couldn’t pick it up quickly enough! ZAP!
Proud as punch, I paid, then strutted from the shop, declaring to Radio that “I’m gonna cut these out and frame ‘em.” With wise words she responded: “Can’t you use them as a calendar first?”
A good point, so that’s what I shall do.
We took off for coffee, so that we could rummage through the calendar and have a look at what delights lay therein. I wasn’t disappointed at all: There were beautiful offerings from Europe’s finest cartographers, such that would grace any wall, and certainly will do mine. And all for £2, plus some cheap frames!
I took a quick peek on Amazon to see what they were selling at.
Unbelievably, though we were already several days into 2009, they had put the price <em>up</em>, to a startling £12! Cooler heads prevailed when I revisited again today though and saw that they had lowered the price to £8.
That’s still four times as much as I paid though! 
Visiting Amazon to check the price did leave me pondering something though: What kind of person would spend above £50 on a used calendar?
You’d think nobody, right?
Well two sellers are offering theirs for those prices, so I daresay that there must be such ridiculous precedent somewhere.
But much as I love these maps, I wouldn’t have paid anywhere near what they’re demanding, and I can’t seriously believe that anyone else would. How silly.