I can see your point. Compared to the price of other leisure activities (going to the cinema, glass of wine etc) books are astonishingly good value. Equally, the level to which they're discounted probably doesn't serve too much of a point (if you want to buy and read a book, the marginal difference between £4 and £8 probably isn't that much to you). In the mind of the public (at least this member) there's probably a tipping point, probably around the £10 marker for a paperback, and £20 for a hardback, where if the price is above this it'll lead to a moment's pause - not out of affordability, or questioning value, but just expectations built up by decades of book buying.

What would be interesting would be a candid comment from a publisher on what the price elasticity of book demand is. Does halving price really lead to doubling of sales? I, for one, would be surprised.

I fear the decrease in book prices we've seen over time reflect a perception on the part of large retailers that books are pretty disposable items, not part of the core business, that can be heavily discounted below economic viability to be loss leaders encouraging more baked bean sales.