Thalia Austria Exploits Fixed Book Price Loophole with New Voucher Promotion
In early October, we reported that Thalia had undermined Austria’s fixed book price laws with a voucher promotion. This promotion initially launched two years ago but was only declared legal by the Supreme Court (OGH) in Austria at the end of August 2013 (4Ob57/13f).
The reasoning: Thalia.at is operated by the German company buch.de, which is a subsidiary of Thalia and Douglas, so orders are processed by buch.de. In-store pick-up is not available, meaning delivery is directly to your home address. This suffices to prioritize the free movement of goods in the EU over domestic fixed book price laws.
As previously mentioned, the legal dispute lasted over two years, with the OGH ruling preceded by five court decisions. Now, the situation is clear: Foreign (EU) retailers can sell books in Austria with discounts (over 5 percent). While Thalia had been staying quiet, they are now reverting to the familiar strategy and exploiting the unusual foreign company setup to bypass the fixed book prices.
As of yesterday, Thalia.at is once again offering 10 percent vouchers on the entire range (including books). To do this, you simply need to apply the voucher code “XMASSHOPPING13” with a minimum order value of 20 Euros. Ironically, the item that is easiest to distribute internationally is excluded from the voucher promotion: eBooks can only be purchased at regular prices.
This confirms the fears of the local, independent book trade that the OGH ruling weakens their market position. Even though the Thalia promotion is only valid for one week for now, it’s likely just a matter of time before other foreign retailers discover the 800 million Euro Austrian book market for themselves.
Amazon initiated a similar promotion years ago but retracted it due to intense protests and hasn’t relaunched it since. How long the Luxembourg-based company will watch as other booksellers fully exploit this legal loophole remains to be seen.
To rectify this unfavorable situation, Austrian politics is now called upon to put a stop to this activity. However, since the parties are still in coalition negotiations and the suddenly emerged budget gap demands full attention, it’s sure to take some time before any action is taken.
