Day 37 - A Penny Yaoi.

A long time ago there was a toffee sweet called a penny chew. Actually, you can still get some in a tin of quality street at Christmas, though the original was larger, about as big as an old penny coin - hence the name. It also cost a penny, so a penny chew was a very act name.   

 So, why all the talk of sweets? Well, there is a very famous saying in Japanese which was used as the title of a famous and very popular shoujo manga. That phrase is: Hana yori dango. It literally means flowers over food, but it figuratively means that someone would choose something frivolous or lacking in sensible worth over something of material worth, a sensible choice. So, for example, if you had one penny left in your purse, would you buy something to eat that would sustain you? Or would you buy a beautiful flower that you could look at and admire?  Well, a reasonable, sane, level-headed individual would always choose the food. But, we are not always sane, or level-headed, are we? So, the Japanese saying is used when someone makes a choice that is out of the ordinary or that appears frivolous in the eyes of others.    

This is all preamble to my main point which is: A Penny Yaoi. Even if I had only one penny left in my purse I would still choose to buy Yaoi over anything else - if I could buy Yaoi for so low a price that is! Surely that is not possible, is it?    

 Well, actually it is! I like to play this game every once in a while to see if I can get Yaoi for as low a price as possible. If I disregard the shipping price - can I buy Yaoi for one penny. Now of course I go onto Ebay and check prices - and some are less than standard shipping from Amazon. So they would come under the same category as a penny Yaoi. Standard shipping from Amazon is £2.80. That means anything that is £2.81 and under counts as a penny Yaoi. As shown below:

As you can see the first three books shown count as "free", and the fourth one - Menkui vol 1 - is a penny Yaoi in the real sense - it cost a penny + shipping. The first three are also what I class as penny Yaois in a broad sense as they cost less than £2.80. The last one shown is 5 pence more than shipping but when I think of how much the book should cost and then add shipping, well, 5 pence isn't that expensive, now, is it?

The other way I play this game is with Amazon. This is where true penny Yaoi can be played because almost all books from Amazon will carry a £2.80+ price tag. (Not all, as I have mentioned before - and that is when it is best to strike! And get a copy!)

Now, on Amazon, there is the Amazon price and the new and used prices. Now as I mentioned before, I don't particularly mind a second hand volume of a Yaoi that I'm not amazingly enamoured with but still happy to have a copy of - after all, in the words of the great Pokemon - Gotta catch them all!!!  Anyway, here's what Amazon looks like:

As you can see the Amazon price and the cheapest new & used price vary greatly and you must add on £2.80 to any price - including the Amazon price as it does not match the £10 free shipping fee limit. If you were buying many books it might be worth it but we are playing a game here and want a little fun! As you can see the used prices are incredibly reasonable but if we take the Ai no Kusabi novel as an example - in total in would cost £5.76 at the cheapest. But Amazon do it brand new for £7.99. For £2 more you get a brand new copy. This makes the purchase a little more difficult. Is it better to pay a little more - buy more books to get free shipping, and have brand new copies or should you risk it on a slightly cheaper alternative used copy of unknown origin and quality. No one wants to take a serious risk unless the price difference was greater in comes the penny Yaoi.

Check out Sweet Admiration. £7.99 full price plus add £2.80 if you don't purchase more up to £10. Let's be honest for £2.01 you get free shipping so obviously you would want to buy another book and not waste the £2.80 on shipping. So you have just shelled out over £10 on at least 2 books. 

But Sweet Admiration is only one penny in used and new - so you can buy the book (quality and origin unknown) for the bargain price of £2.81. Which means you can actually buy 3 penny yaois and still not spend over £10!!!

The bargain and fun of the hunt is what penny Yaois are all about! It is all about out smarting the book sellers and getting Yaoi for the cheapest price. Some people want brand new but many of these books have been sitting in warehouses for years - how new are they? 

True, I try to get a new copy of the latest releases but mainly because I am scared they will be out of print and unavailable a day after UK release. Buy now to avoid disappointment!!! Is a very true phrase! For everything else there's penny Yaoi.