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I'll keep this short. I received one of my many E-mail offers from Alakazam today. It was for a limited edition book (only 400 copies available) by Looch. "This'll be expensive" I thought to myself, not realising quite how expensive. Here's the link - http://www.alakazam.co.uk/product-The-B ... Looch.html

£290.00. Yes, £290.00. That's right. £290.00 - for a book. A book. Well, 2 books but in a nice looking box. Effectively 1 book, split in 2. I understand the need for pricing things to keep an element of exclusivity and protecting the secrets, but £290.00?? Seriously?? Is that what mentalism has become now? I think it's a shame.

I desperately want to buy it so I can find out what a £290.00 book reads like, and then spend the next few years ranting that it wasn't as good as PME which I bought for a fiver.

I am alone in thinking this is ludicrous? (put out there for general discussion)

K

£290 X 400 = £116,000. Nice little earner!

Option 1: The price is set at that level to deter secrets seekers.
Option 2: The price is set at that level to deter amateurs.
Option 3: The price is set at that level because the contents are worth it.

Regardless of any of the above, far too expensive for my pocket I'm afraid!

Mandrake wrote:£290 X 400 = £116,000. Nice little earner!

Option 1: The price is set at that level to deter secrets seekers.
Option 2: The price is set at that level to deter amateurs.
Option 3: The price is set at that level because the contents are worth it.

Regardless of any of the above, far too expensive for my pocket I'm afraid!

I'm going for option 4 - The price is that high because the author thinks he can get away with it!!

At £290.00 it'd have to contain the secret of alchemy, and even then I wouldn't buy it. At that price you could buy every single E-book Bob Cassidy has ever written, plus Corinda, PME, Switchcraft and I dare say a few other things. I can't imagine what's inside that warrants such a ludicrous price tag. I guess I'll never find out!

kevmundo wrote:At £290.00 it'd have to contain the secret of alchemy....

and a lifetime supply of bacon butties !

If Paul Daniels can package his signature act(s) into a DVD set costing £90 or so then £290 does seem disproportionately steep. I just wonder how many professionals will need to buy this book - surely they would, by definition, have developed acts of their own which would be equally entertaining and baffling? If so that only leaves the 'lower orders' of part timers, amateurs and those with loadsa money to spare. I wonder how many of the 400 will actually be bought at that price?

You're quite right. A professional wouldn't need it and most amateurs wouldn't pay for it. Not sure who the target audience is supposed to be?? I couldn't possibly justify spending that amount of money on a book. Perhaps it's just aimed at those with more money than sense. Sadly I'm only halfway there - I have very little sense, but I've also got very little money to back it up with!!

A few big name mentalists have done this over the last few years and people do seem to spend the money and Looch has said that he's down to the last few of these so it obviously works. It's way out of my price range though and I'm actually quite surprised at Looch for going down the over priced, limited edition book route. But each to their own I guess and if people have got the money and get something from the books then good for them.

I think magic, and mentalism in particular are the only arts where people expect you to pay an inflated price for something without you knowing precisely what it contains. I can think of no other arena in which someone could get away with it. We've all been there - Sucked in by by the glossy advert only to receive a pathetic unworkable method through the post. I don't mind being had for a tenner. £20 I can stomach. £50 would send me into a rage. But £290!? I've no idea what it contains but short of the elixir of life it simply cannot be worth it. Other than saying you have it, and it's a limited edition, I can't think why anyone would by it. Then again, I wouldn't pay £10 million pound for a painting when you can buy the print in IKEA for a fiver!!

Interesting concept - a first edition of The Discoverie of Witchcraft will probably cost around £800 or so and one in pristine condition considerably more. However we can buy the same stuff as a Dover Books reprint for less than a tenner or even, dare I say it, download a legitimate PDF of it for next to nothing.

https://youtu.be/8GQ5oZXPCNM. Sorry couldn't resist !

Thoughtstealer wrote:https://youtu.be/8GQ5oZXPCNM. Sorry couldn't resist !

Hahahaha!!! If only it weren't so true!!!

Spot on!!!

https://youtu.be/9SR7TRgrrRc. Here's another one I made. https://youtu.be/9SR7referred" target="_blank. Oops second try. Don't know why its not working

Very wicked - but I like it!!!

Before the book came out, Loch gave away a chapter for free... Well, some of a chapter. A fair bit was blacked out.

It was a superb way to force either the head or tail of a coin, plus a nice way of using it in a routine. I've been using this in an impromptu fashion, and it's proved very effective. And I certainly was keen to get the book when it was released...

But then I saw the price!

Very disappointing... I understand that there was a lot of work that went into it, and it's beautifully produced... but really, £290!!! That's a week away somewhere! No matter how good the book is, I can't see how that price is justified....

Hahaha! Loving the vid

I just bought a "This is the real deal. Destined to go straight into the working repertoire of every magician. Destined to become a classic" last night for the first time in ages. But at £12.99 it seemed reasonable