Pricing Transparency

At Classical Conversations, we believe that a great education shouldn't have to cost the earth. We strive to keep our prices affordable without sacrificing quality. This page provides an overview of what our costs are and how our prices reflect that.

The Classical Conversations Bookshop launched here in Britain in 2021, after families using the CC curricula had spent almost ten years browsing the American Bookstore, googling the conversion rate, paying conversion fees to credit card companies, waiting for international shipping, paying customs fees, waiting for it to be processed, and finally receiving orders with a sigh of exhaustion. Something had to change. 

So, in 2021, we launched the Bookshop here in the UK with all the items we used to order from America. Now, no one needs to wait forever for items to arrive from the US (unless we run out of stock, that is) or mess around with USD to GBP conversions online.

All this comes at a cost, however. In our first year, we admit, we panicked a bit. The price tag for our massive opening order to buy stock was eye-watering. At the time, sales volume was small, so we decided to follow the lead of other big, global companies and keep most of the prices the same, but swap the dollar sign ($) for a pound sign (£). This meant, for example, that the Foundations Guide went from $99 to £99. Our reasoning was simple: Americans pay more than $99 for their guides as they pay sales tax on top. The cost of living is, on average, lower in America. We used to have to pay hundreds of dollars in shipping to even see the item. And our numbers were small, so the cost per unit was high.

We recognise that it looks like we hiked prices. That wasn't our intention and doesn't reflect our costs. In reality, those prices allowed us to get to where we are today. 

Earlier this year, we went back to our spreadsheets determined to drive your costs down. Resources are important, and we want as many people as possible to be able to enjoy them. Once we crunched the numbers, we found places where we could reduce costs and share the savings with you. It was with great excitement that we announced we were lowering prices across the board to bring them roughly in line with the Pound Sterling equivalent of the US dollar. 

Our prices are now as low as we can make them while still covering our costs. So when you buy the Foundations guide for £75.00, you can sit back and smile at all your savings, both in money and hassle.

If you are in Ireland, you should see all prices converted to Euros (€). Our system automatically adjusts prices to reflect the latest exchange rate and fees associated with processing payments in Euros. This is a temporary arrangement that will be re-evaluated if and when we have sufficient data on Ireland orders to make changes. During this time, if you see something that looks odd or have another concern, please contact us using the contact form available here.

 

 

 

Please note that this page is intended to explain and summarise our actions and intentions only and should not be taken as a contractual obligation to benchmark our prices to any currency or pricing elsewhere. We reserve the right to change our prices if necessary. 

Last updated: 30 August 2022